Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Washington County approves festival grants, trims some budgets and funds library computers
Summary
At a June 11 budget work session, the Washington County Board of Commissioners approved $2,000 allocations to three local festivals and the food bank, reallocated $30,000 from school transportation to coach pay, kept Drug Court funding at $5,000, and authorized ~13 library computers amid other departmental budget adjustments.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners on June 11 approved multiple small budget adjustments as part of a recessed budget work session held by Zoom and in person.
The Board unanimously approved Commissioner Riddick’s motion to add $2,000 each to the Bear Festival, May Daze and the Peanut Festival and the same amount to the county food bank. Commissioners later approved purchase of 13 computers and software licenses for the county library for approximately $9,613; that vote passed 3-2, with Commissioners Sexton and Johnson opposed.
Why it matters: These allocations shift modest county resources toward local events and library technology while the Board continues broader budget deliberations ahead of a follow-up session scheduled for June 15.
Other budget decisions included a 4-0 vote to reassign $30,000 from school transportation to coach salary supplements after Commissioner Johnson moved the change. The Board considered but did not adopt Chair Phelps’s proposal to raise Drug Court funding to $10,000; that motion died for lack of a second, and the Board instead voted to maintain the Drug Court appropriation at $5,000 (Commissioner Johnson moved; Chair Phelps voted no).
During department reviews, staff flagged several items for future consideration: Finance Officer Missy Dixon is seeking an updated quote from Southern Bank on county banking services and Manager/County Attorney Curtis Potter noted the Professional Services line could cover opioid-settlement costs or outside legal fees for Board of Adjustment hearings. Social Services staff indicated a reduction in a psych-evaluation line from $20,000 to $10,000.
The meeting left several personnel and compensation items for closed-session discussion and set a continuation of the budget work session for June 15 at 6:00 PM.
