Washington County commissioners plan October work on service-level assessment as budget pressures mount

Washington County commissioners at their Oct. 2 roundtable discussed how to prepare for a likely smaller 2025 budget as federal and state funding changes reduce expected revenue, and agreed to an Oct. 30 session to review the county’s service-level assessment ahead of a November revenue forecast.

The conversation, led by the board chair, centered on updating the board’s guiding principles and priorities to give the county budget officer useful direction as she and staff prepare the proposed budget in spring 2025. Commissioners said they expect less federal and state funding and noted the county’s existing property-tax growth will not cover rising service costs.

Why it matters: commissioners said current conditions make this year’s budget cycle harder than recent years and that clarifying what services are mandated versus discretionary will be key to prioritizing limited resources. Several commissioners urged more detailed review of service levels so the board can be a more effective “thought partner” with the budget officer, rather than adding service requests late in the process.

Key decisions and next steps: the board agreed to an Oct. 30 roundtable focused on orientation to the service-level assessment tool and two staff-prepared views of county services; commissioners said they expect a November five-year revenue forecast and then further work on draft guiding principles, with a target to finalize them in early December but acknowledging the timeline may extend into January. Staff also said the county’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) project is scheduled to go live in December.

Discussion highlights: commissioners and staff emphasized three themes: (1) uncertainty and likely reduction in federal and state funding, (2) the need to distinguish mandated services from discretionary offerings as the board considers where to scale back, and (3) the role of the budget officer in packaging scenarios for the board. Commissioners expressed concern about the strain on county staff tasked with detailed contract and grant reviews amid shifting state and federal guidance.

Several speakers recommended a framework for evaluating service options (for example, “A/B/C” tiers or buckets that identify services to maintain, scale back, or discontinue), and said that some programs now provided within mandated operations could be reduced without eliminating the mandated obligation itself (for example, a county may be required to operate a jail but not required to operate particular in-jail programs). One staff speaker noted the county does not have funds to backfill foreseeable federal or state program losses.

Numbers and timing mentioned in the roundtable included an Oct. 30 orientation to the service-level assessment, the county’s five-year forecast arriving in November, a work session on Dec. 9 referenced for phased projects, and a tentative goal to have revised guiding principles available for board consideration in early December (with commissioners acknowledging that further work could extend into January). Commissioners also referenced a recent $4,000,000 reduction in behavioral funding as an example of program-level revenue loss affecting outcomes.

What was not decided: the board did not adopt or approve new guiding principles, nor did it make any formal motions or votes at the Oct. 2 roundtable. Commissioners agreed on the need for further review and set procedural next steps but left substantive prioritization for future sessions once staff provides the November forecast and the Oct. 30 service-level review.

Context: commissioners compared this process to last year’s budget cycle and said last year’s high-level guiding principles were insufficiently detailed for the current environment. They praised management for not counting “hopeful” revenue in the budget—unlike a neighboring county mentioned in the discussion—and said the board needs to be prepared for hard choices about service levels and workforce impacts. The board asked staff to provide two accessible views of the service-level assessment for the Oct. 30 meeting and to continue preparing scenario packages for board review in the winter.

Ending: commissioners closed the discussion by confirming the Oct. 30 roundtable, the November forecast and further work toward revised guiding principles. No formal votes or policy changes were taken at this meeting.