Deschutes County treasurer and CFO report midyear portfolio and budget outlook; county prepares FY26 budget talks

Deschutes County Treasurer Bill (surname redacted during public presentation) and Chief Financial Officer Robert Tinto presented December 2024 treasury and midyear financial reports Wednesday, providing an economic overview, portfolio metrics and a fund-by-fund status update as the county begins FY26 budget preparations.

Treasurer Bill told the board the county's invested portfolio balance at month end was about $365.7 million, with a weighted term to maturity of about 1.07 years and a maximum maturity out to roughly three and a half years as staff seeks to lock in favorable longer-term yields. The state Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) rate was 4.85% at month end and staff reported the LGIP rate was later reduced to 4.7% in early January; First Interstate Bank short-term deposit rates were reported at about 4.3% after a similar reduction. The treasurer said the county seeks approximately $40 million in short-term liquidity for operations.

On the county's finances, CFO Robert Tinto presented unaudited year-to-date figures through December (roughly halfway through the fiscal year). General-fund revenues were reported at about $46.8 million (90.5% of budget), with total general-fund expenditures at about 35% of budget; the county is projecting a year-end positive variance partly because of one-time transfers such as federal ARPA and opioid-settlement funding that were accounted into the fund. Total projected general-fund savings at year-end were roughly $4.5 million above the original budgeted target, largely reflecting those transfers and vacancy savings.

Tinto highlighted vacancy and position-control metrics: total FTE was listed at 1,256.46 and the county's vacancy-savings rate was around 10.5% year to date; departments have been asked to consider whether vacancies should be filled now or deferred as the board prepares limited-growth targets for next year.

The report identified several funds and departments with projected funding gaps or future budget pressures: juvenile services showed a funding gap on top of a requested limited-growth target; adult parole and probation had a funding gap even though a relatively small portion of its budget is supported by the general fund; health services projected a funding gap of about $1.4 million beyond its limited-growth target and will be part of upcoming budget discussions. The transient-room tax (TRT) fund and the county's health-benefits fund were presented as largely on track; the treasury report noted that higher long-term yields recently had a positive effect on county investment income.

Tinto reminded the board the annual retreat and budget-discussion meeting is scheduled for next Monday, where departments' limited-growth requests and savings targets will be discussed in greater detail.

Speakers quoted or summarized in this report were present at the Jan. 22 Deschutes County Board of Commissioners meeting and are listed below.