Washington County outlines $20.5 million general-fund gap; proposes levy increases, PERS pickup and other steps

Washington County budget staff told the county’s Budget Committee on March 18 that the county faces a roughly $20,500,000 general-fund shortfall and outlined options to close the gap, including a proposed public-safety local option levy, a library levy replacement measure and a plan for the county to pick up employees’ 6% PERS contribution.

The proposal came during an orientation-style update by Tanya Angie, budget officer for Washington County, who told committee members the county must “align the organization with our fiscal resources” and that staff and the Board are pursuing a mix of reductions, investments and revenue changes to achieve a balanced proposed budget. “We are committed to transparency, and that is part of this conversation with you all tonight,” Angie said.

The nut of the problem, Angie and Interim Chief Financial Officer John Steyer told the committee, is that expenditures are projected to grow faster than revenues. County assumptions show expenditures rising about 5.5% while revenues are projected to grow about 4.1% over the five-year forecast, with personnel services projected to rise roughly 6% and health insurance costs budgeted at about 12–12.5% for the coming fiscal year (staff said a 15% calendar-year increase is possible the following year).

Why it matters: Washington County’s property-tax structure is constrained by earlier state ballot measures, and the county retains a relatively small share of each property-tax dollar (16.3¢ of each dollar, staff said). That limits the county’s ability to close gaps through normal property-tax growth; Measure 5 and…