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Washington County budget committee directs $2 million from general fund balance to reduce projected shortfall
Summary
At a Washington County budget committee meeting, members voted to apply $2 million of the general fund balance to the proposed general-purpose budget, reducing a projected shortfall officials described as roughly $6.1 million; staff will refine figures and forward the budget to the county commission for final consideration.
The Washington County budget committee voted to apply $2 million of the county’s general fund balance to the proposed general-purpose fund budget, a move members said would reduce a projected shortfall that participants described as roughly $6.1 million.
The committee’s action instructs county staff to adjust the draft budget and forward the package to the county commission and mayor’s office for further consideration and public hearings. Committee members discussed several different shortfall figures during the meeting and asked staff to finalize the exact numbers before the full commission acts.
Committee member Chad Fleener moved to revert the proposed general-purpose budget to the commission with use of $2,000,000 from the general fund balance to reduce the gap; the motion was seconded by another committee member and carried, with one member recorded as voting no. Members and meeting records gave varying estimates of the shortfall during discussion, including references to a $6.1 million gap and an “approximately $6.4 million” figure. Meeting participants and a staff calculation also cited resulting deficit estimates of about $4,069,342 and about $4,138,342; the committee described the adjusted gap as “about $4.1 million.”
County staff said they will refine the numbers and make the adjustments the committee approved before sending the revised budget to Mayor Grama and the full county commission for consideration. Meeting participants noted several next-step dates on the county budget calendar: a budget committee meeting scheduled for June 11 at 9 a.m., a public budget hearing advertised for June 18 at 9 a.m., the full commission’s budget consideration on June 18 at 6 p.m., and the regularly scheduled commission meeting on June 23 for any remaining business.
Committee members also stated that departments had been given guidance to include a 3% pay increase in their budgets; that guidance was described as coming from the mayor’s office and used in departmental budgeting.
The committee’s motion was procedural: it forwarded a revised draft to the next level of review rather than approving a final, adopted county budget. Staff were tasked with finalizing exact amounts before the commission’s upcoming public hearing and vote.
