Commissioners weigh revenue, cuts and park funding after budget retreat

County finance staff on Monday summarized ideas generated at a June 23 budget retreat designed to reduce general-fund expenditures and identify new revenue sources, and commissioners asked staff to research feasibility before committing reserves.

Kathy Funk Baxter, the county finance director, told the Board of County Commissioners that retreat participants produced roughly five pages of suggestions but that none of the items had been researched for feasibility. “None of the items were researched, as far as feasibility,” Baxter said, adding that some proposals could affect collective-bargaining agreements and would require further study.

The retreat identified a set of options including asking departments to negotiate vendor prompt-payment discounts, reviewing facilities billings, updating district court billing rates and shifting certain costs to dedicated revenue sources. Baxter said one example discussed was vendor prompt-payment discounts: “I think it was a 2% discount, net 10,” she said, and that department finance staff would have to contact vendors to determine whether contracts allow such discounts.

Commissioners emphasized caution before spending reserves. A commissioner who identified ongoing concern about state policy called recent state actions the root cause of county budget pressure and said the county should avoid raising taxes locally to offset state-level changes. The speaker said, in part, that “we're in this position because we have had leadership in Olympia ... They replaced economic principles with political agenda.” (Speaker in transcript not identified by name; quoted as spoken during the meeting.)

Baxter described a revenue source that has supported local infrastructure: the county's rural sales-tax rebate, which she said brings in about $2,000,000 a year and that the county has used to support water, sewer, parks and rail projects. Baxter said the state Office of Financial Management's population projections now classify the county as no longer rural and that qualification for the rebate can continue “for up to 25 years,” but she asked staff to obtain written confirmation from the state on whether the rebate will continue into the next fiscal year.

Commissioners discussed a specific park request: the commissioners and staff said they previously provided a $50,000 one-time contribution to the Rotary/Scott Hill Park project in Woodland and considered using rural rebate funds to finish park infrastructure so phase one could open. Baxter said she would seek an authoritative state answer on the rural rebate before recommending that the board commit additional reserves.

Baxter also outlined the county’s schedule for the coming budget cycle: the first Tuesday in September will include presentation of the estimated revenue and expense budget and workshops with departments later that month and in October. She said she would review the retreat suggestions for “low-hanging fruit” and make research recommendations to the commissioners.

Discussion points recorded during the meeting included: - Vendor prompt-payment discounts to secure small percentage savings on large contracts. - Facilities billing review and district court billing rate adjustments as potential revenue sources. - Transfers from the mental-health tax receipts to replace some general-fund expenditures. - Potential use of rural sales-tax rebate funds to finish the Scott Hill Park project in Woodland, balanced against the need to preserve a buffer for unforeseen needs.

No formal motions or votes were recorded on these items during the meeting; staff were directed to research feasibility and return findings to the board.

The board scheduled department-specific budget workshops in September and October and asked finance staff to prepare copies of retreat materials for distribution at the next meeting so commissioners and department heads could identify items for further investigation.