PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s latest draft budget spends $388,324 in reserves to cover a shortfall in its $32.37 million day-to-day general fund.
The proposed budget eliminates county furlough days and includes no layoffs, County Administrator Jim Jones said.
The draw on reserves would leave $9.61 million in the rainy day fund, of which $9.12 million is restricted by county policy.
Jones presented the draft at the commissioners’ work session Monday.
The three commissioners will hold public hearings on the budget at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Dec. 3 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angles. A final budget will be adopted by resolution either Dec. 3 or Dec. 10.
Commissioners Mike Chapman and Mike Doherty said they intend to vote in favor of a 1 percent increase to the property tax levy for general government and a 1 percent increase to the road fund tax levy.
“I’ll vote for the road levy and not for the general government levy,” Commissioner Jim McEntire said.
A 1-percent increase to the county’s $9.95 million general purpose tax levy would generate $99,506 in revenue.
The 1-percent increase to the $6.72 million road fund levy would generate $67,160 in new revenue.
The draft budget puts most non-emergency service employees back on a 37.5-hour work week.
Concession agreements that the county made with its unions in late 2011 will expire Dec. 31.
Those concessions included a 40-hour work week and 16 unpaid furlough days in both 2012 and 2013.
In today’s meeting, commissioners will consider approving labor agreements with Washington State Council of County and City Employees Local 1619, which represents patrol deputies and limited commission sheriff’s employees.
Any new labor agreement will be handled as a budget revision early next year rather than the 2014 budget.
“We’ve already passed the deadline,” Jones said.
“We can’t do that much work between now and the budget hearing date.”
Salaries and benefits will account for more than 72 percent of all spending in the general fund, according to the draft document.
Law and justice departments will spend $18.82 million — or 58.9 percent — of the entire general fund.
Clallam County will have the full-time equivalent of 364 employees next year. Of those, 273 are funded by the general fund and 91 are supported by other funds.
The county had 413 full-time workers when the economy tanked in 2009.
Much of the budget discussion Monday revolved around the 10-year capital facilities plan, a nine-page list of projects that will be funded by real estate excise taxes and the capital projects fund.
“Some of these were placed relative to grant funding cycles that are available to us in the coming years,” said Joel Winborn, county parks, fair and facilities manager.
The projects were distributed over 10 years throughout two special real estate excise tax, or REET, funds and capital projects.
“I tried to do it in a fashion that made sense based on what type of project that it was,” Winborn said. “REET 1 and REET 2 are fairly specific as to what you can and cannot do, whereas in capital we have a little more flexibility than that.”
Real estate excise taxes will fund a $410,000 face-lift of the historic and main courthouse buildings and the Deer Park underpass project next years.
Commissioners went through the list of projects line by line.
“At the end of the 10 years, we do come out in the positive on all three funds,” Winborn said.
The draft budget will be posted on the county’s website, www.clallam.net, by Wednesday evening.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsula
dailynews.com.
