Skagit County holds public hearing on quarterly budget amendment; auditors' rule pushes one-time recording of sheriff body-camera contract

Skagit County held a public hearing April 14 on a quarterly budget amendment; the board heard highlights from Trisha Lope, the county's budget and finance director, before the public hearing requirement was met.

Lope said the largest single amendment in the general fund was a roughly $1 million addition for a five-year body-worn camera contract for patrol deputies. “The state auditors requires us to record the full expense in the first year of purchase,” she told the board, explaining that the county will pay the expense over five years but must record the full amount in 2025.

Lope said a similar, smaller amendment was included for the jail camera system for the same accounting reason. Public Health funds saw a net increase tied to new grant awards; Lope said that increase was the result of grant funding that arrived or was identified after the budget was adopted.

The County Road Fund amendments corrected accounting errors carried from budget adoption and included requests to roll over some 2024-ordered goods and services to 2025. Lope also said ferry maintenance and haul-out bids returned higher than expected, and the county is budgeting to replace two outdrives and purchase a lost propeller.

Lope told commissioners the county received $1,700,000 in LATCF (local assistance and tribal consistency funds) and allocated $1,000,000 of that to the County Road Fund to pay for an 11-culvert bundle. She said most ARPA funding had been allocated and reported to the federal government.

Lope said the county changed its quarterly amendment process earlier in the year to include a departmental work session so commissioners could ask questions in advance; this public hearing fulfills the legal requirement for a public hearing on the amendment. No formal board action on the amendment was recorded in the public transcript for the afternoon session.