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Cowlitz County finance director outlines January cash flow, plans for budget amendment
Summary
Finance Director Kathy Funk Baxter told commissioners that January spending reflects routine internal-service billing and that a public hearing on a budget amendment (including a new construction fund request from the Port/Facility Development entity) is set for tomorrow.
Kathy Funk Baxter, Cowlitz County finance director, delivered the monthly financial update and previewed a budget-amendment public hearing scheduled for the next day, citing timing effects from accrual reversals and the county's internal-services billing cycle.
Baxter told commissioners the general fund showed limited revenues in January (about $2.0 million) and higher expenses (just over $10.0 million) because internal service department charges are routinely billed in January. "January is the month where we pay our internal service department bills," she said, and added that accrual reversals from 2024 complicate year-over-year comparisons.
Baxter said the county received $451,000 in special assessments for the Noxious Weed program in 2024 and that overall cash and investment balances started the year at roughly $318,000 on hand plus investments. She also briefed the board on sales-tax trends: 12 months of sales-tax collections totaled about $11.5 million for the past year, roughly $1.1 million lower than 2023. The finance director said the 2025 budget was set flat with 2024 to avoid assuming growth.
On property taxes, Baxter said no 2025 property-tax collections had been received as of January but the county recorded collections of past-due amounts for prior tax years. She explained the county records reversals and accruals in January for revenues that are received later in the year (for example, sales taxes that arrive with a lag).
Baxter reviewed program- and department-specific items behind the upcoming budget amendment. Among adjustments she listed: transfers and carryovers for projects not completed in 2024 (for example, jail RFID outfitting and work at the Hall of Justice), newly received grants and a planned new construction fund for a public facilities district (PFD) project pending bond refinancing and finalized plans. She said risk management will repay a one-time subsidy it received in 2024 tied to a timing change in assessments.
For other county funds, Baxter said the county had about $77,000 in unspent budget authority from 2024 that rolled forward, and that most program expenses are personnel and interfund services, not supplies. She also told the board that recording fees and transactions in January showed an increase compared with January 2024, and cited stable retail sales tax collections despite declines in construction-related sales-tax receipts.
Baxter asked commissioners to approve the public hearing for a budget amendment (scheduled for the next day) and said she would bring a revised resolution to establish the new PFD construction fund requested by the district.
Ending: Baxter said financial statements will become easier to interpret as the year progresses and accrual reversals settle into the usual February/March cycle. She offered to provide further detail on specific line items and will track the budget amendment through the public hearing process.
