Columbia County finance update: collections, bank concerns and a payroll reclassification

County finance staff (Alicia, speaker 12) presented the year-end financial summary, reporting a strong overall collection rate (about 96.96% for the 2025 tax year) and Q4 sales tax receipts of roughly $144,000. Staff said the county ended the year with just under $3,000,000 in cash and investments and outlined interest income and transfers that supported the balance.

During the presentation, Treasurer/finance staff raised concerns about recent service issues after Wheatland Bank’s transition and said she moved $8,000,000 to Banner Bank to draw attention to the problems. "On January 2, I moved $8,000,000 out of Wheatland Bank because I was irritated with them," the treasurer said, adding that she would continue to pursue remediation but was not prepared to move all county accounts immediately.

The board also handled routine business: Commissioner (speaker 1) moved to approve the January 2026 meeting minutes and the motion passed by voice vote. Later, the board approved a payroll reclassification moving McKenna Culley from grade 5 step 2 to grade 8 step 1 effective Feb. 1 after a motion and voice vote.

What comes next: staff will continue to monitor the Wheatland Bank relationship and report back; the reclassification will be implemented in payroll with the amended grade and step.