Cowlitz County finance director outlines fourth‑quarter budget amendments; staff propose sheriff tech fund, tourism reserve transfer

Cathy Funk Baxter, Cowlitz County finance director, presented a fourth‑quarter budget amendment packet to the Board of County Commissioners and summarized numerous line‑item adjustments across county funds.

Baxter said total recommended adjustments increase the general‑fund ending balance by about $346,000 for the items in the amendment. She detailed department‑level adjustments: sheriff office line‑items (offsetting ins and outs), a correction to district court judge pro tem and interpreter budgets, a corrected assessment for office of public defense association fees, and program adjustments in health and human services tied to contract and fund consolidations.

Major items highlighted:

- Dissolution and transfer for tourism: a long‑standing cumulative reserve that previously held 50% of lodging tax receipts (saved for the Johnson Ridge facility) will be dissolved and about $915,333 moved into the tourism fund, leaving tourism with an estimated fund balance of roughly $1.2 million.

- Budget stabilization and reserves: a transfer of…