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Washington County presents FY26 draft budget totaling $326.8 million; schools and public safety largest shares
Summary
County staff presented Draft 2 of the FY2026 general fund and related utility budgets, keeping the total at $326,805,540 and proposing targeted personnel upgrades, modest retiree COLA increases and water/sewer rate adjustments. Commissioners heard fund-level details for water quality and highways and asked for follow-ups on service-level impacts.
Kelsey Mace, Washington County chief financial officer, told the Board of County Commissioners on March 25 that Draft 2 of the FY2026 general fund is balanced and remains at $326,805,540.
Draft 2 increases several operating elements while leaving revenue estimates unchanged; Mace said property and income taxes fund about 91% of the general fund. Major line items remain Washington County Public Schools (36% of the general fund), and public-safety related services including fire, EMS, police and 911 (28%). The draft budgets include targeted personnel changes, adjustments to transfers between funds, and rate-based revenue updates for water and sewer operations.
The draft raises the retiree cost-of-living adjustment from 0.25% to 1.0% and proposes a classification change for the director of emergency management and communications (from grade 17 to grade 18). The county also proposed replacing an intended chief information officer (grade 20) with a network security engineer (grade 16). Mace said the county added part-time wages…
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