Washington County staff used the Jan. 8 roundtable to present the county's budget timeline and communications plan ahead of the 2026 fiscal-year adoption process.

Philip (county staff) told the board the proposed budget rollout is scheduled for April 27 and described options for community outreach, including elected-to-elected briefings and town-hall style public sessions to be timed before the budget committee's public hearing. Philip said the county aims to provide similar baseline information to elected peers and community-based organization leaders: "That same information that your board of directors have received is also being communicated by Tanya when she's meeting ... with the executive directors of our community based organization," (staff).

Staff also outlined the formal question-and-answer timeline for the budget committee: first-round questions due May 6; staff responses due May 15 at noon; the budget committee's second-round questions due May 15 at 5 p.m., with the full set of compiled questions due May 18 at noon. Staff said it will republish calendar slides to make committee dates clear in the packet.

Commissioners reacted to the schedule and communications approach: Commissioner Fye urged maintaining robust outreach despite a lighter projected cycle this year, warning that constituents and partner jurisdictions could still be affected by ongoing cuts. Several commissioners agreed the county should preserve active communications and consider an April–May cadence for town halls or an elected-briefing session.

Why it matters: The April–May schedule anchors public engagement opportunities ahead of formal budget hearings. The Q&A deadlines define when departments will need to assemble information and when the public and elected officials can expect responses.

What’s next: Staff will republish the budget calendar slides, hold a February budget sync-up, and continue planning communications and town-hall formats for the spring budget outreach.