Washington County budget close to completion

WASHINGTON — County supervisors passed a number of budget-related action items at their regular meeting Tuesday morning at the Washington County Courthouse.

The first was an amendment to fiscal year’s 2023 budget, a routine vote the county takes in most years to correct over-allocations and under-allocations in its planned budget. State law forbids local government departments from exceeding their allocated expenditures at the end of a fiscal year.

"When we do the budget, we’re budgeting for up to 18 months into the future,“ County Auditor Dan Widmer said. ”It’s pretty difficult to anticipate everything.“

Washington County Deputy Auditor Michelle Hyman said the biggest adjustments were needed in the ambulance department, roads, and the sheriff’s office.

Supervisors also completed their second public hearing on the budget for next fiscal year, and gave a final stamp of approval on pay scales for elected officials, which were unofficially decided in January.

Decision-makers said they were frustrated with state-level decisions that lowered county revenue from slow-growing property valuations, as well as the recent tax exemption of utility transmission line infrastructure, the latter of which generated around $9 million in FY 2020 for Washington County, according to County Budget Director Cyndie Sinn.

“When we have struggles with our budget, it’s not just struggling to pay for services that we offer,” Sinn said. “It’s also things like that, on the state side, that’s eroding our tax base.”

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