Finance and HAPO Center staff reviewed the HAPO Center’s 2026 draft budget at the county budget workshop and commissioners raised concerns about inconsistent coding and large year‑to‑year swings in several line items.

County staff pointed to abrupt changes in a handful of HAPO budget lines between years — for example, a professional‑services line that jumped from roughly $220,000 to more than $1.1 million in one year and other lines that showed negligible or missing charges in one year and significant spending in another. Commissioners and staff agreed those patterns commonly reflect expense flows being grouped into a single line rather than consistently coded to the operating categories that best reflect the underlying activities.

Why it matters: The HAPO Center budget includes county contributions (a county transfer plus an expected contribution from City of Pasco hotel/motel tax revenues) and large operating and catering expenditures; accurate line‑item reporting matters for board oversight, for intergovernmental subsidy negotiations and for building a renewal‑and‑replacement reserve.

Staff concerns and next steps: Finance staff recommended reviewing monthly actuals and reclassifying expenses into appropriate lines so the board can see realistic recurring operating costs (utilities, landscaping, catering, catering contractor payments, maintenance contracts and insurance). Commissioners asked staff to reconcile 2024–25 actuals and produce a clearer year‑to‑date projection for 2025 before finalizing the 2026 proposal. County staff also noted Pasco’s hotel‑motel advisory board had recommended additional funds for the HAPO Center, which could influence final revenue projections.

Quotes: “This is why folks from the general public have a hard time reading a government budget,” one commissioner said, noting that mis‑coded lines can make a fund appear artificially small or large in specific categories.

What’s next: County finance staff said they will produce a corrected, line‑item view that pulls monthly detail and will work with HAPO Center management and Pasco to confirm any external hotel‑motel revenue commitments before the budget is finalized.