County finance director says reserves remain above policy but projects a multiyear decline; calls for department budget review

County finance staff presented the monthly finance report and a multi‑year outlook, telling commissioners that preliminary 2024 actuals suggest the county will end 2024 with an estimated general‑fund balance of about $19.1 million and forecasting a 2025 year‑end balance near $13.9 million under conservative assumptions.

Presenters explained that early‑year deficits in reporting are driven in part by timing: property‑tax receipts and several large transfers are concentrated in April, and internal service charges and post‑closure solid‑waste transfers were recorded early in the year. Solid waste activity showed about $3.8 million in receipts through March and roughly $16 million in expenses through the same period; the difference was attributable largely to sizeable post‑closure transfers (the county budgeted roughly $11.5 million in these transfers for the year).

Key points from the briefing:

- Revenue lines: general‑fund tax revenue is budgeted at roughly $32.9 million; through the first quarter the county had received about 7% of that budgeted total. County road property tax receipts are budgeted at about $14 million for the year.

- Preliminary 2024 results: county staff reported revised 2024 revenues of approximately $60 million against expenses of about $63.8 million, producing a roughly $3.5 million reduction in fund balance versus the prior year. That preliminary result underlies the finance director’s estimate that the county’s beginning balance for 2025 will be about $19.1 million.

- Forecast for 2025: using conservative revenue assumptions and department spending patterns, staff projected a 2025 year‑end general‑fund balance of about $13.9 million. That figure remains above the county board’s one‑month reserve policy but below some external best‑practice guidance (the state auditor’s office suggests about two months of reserves).

- Department spending patterns: county budgets across general‑fund departments were underspent by roughly $7.8 million relative to their adopted budgets in 2024, primarily because direct‑labor lines and overtime budgeting overlap and because several positions remained vacant. Staff asked departments to prepare scenarios showing what a 5% or 10% reduction in budgets would mean operationally to inform the 2026–27 budget process.

County staff outlined the forthcoming budget schedule: department budget entries in July and August, public workshops in September–October, levy hearings in late November, and a target to adopt the 2026 budget in December. The finance director also said staff will present a second‑quarter budget amendment public hearing request (the hearing will be scheduled for May 27 in the county’s calendar) that will include, among other items, a proposal to dissolve an obsolete purchasing services fund created when the county maintained a print shop.

Commissioners asked about the potential impacts of declining reserves on bond ratings and other fiscal metrics; staff said a sustained decline would be a risk to bond ratings but that no immediate bond issuance was planned.