PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has revised its policy for making budget changes to bring it in line with state law and promote transparency.
Commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday to approve amendments to County Policy 505 — Budget Changes and Modifications — that establish a five-day waiting period for disbursing funds after debatable budget emergencies are approved by the board.
The new policy also requires that copies of all budget modifications be made available to commissioners prior to their ratification.
A five-day waiting period is required by state law to allow citizens to petition budget emergencies in Superior Court.
No petition had been filed since the county changed its practice in 2002.
“There was no challenge within the five-day legal limit, so there was no loss,” Commissioner Jim McEntire said.
“All this does is just make sure that there will not be the possibility of a loss given this process here.”
Discovered lapse
County Administrator Jim Jones discovered the lapse in internal controls earlier this year and reported the error to the state auditor and county prosecuting attorney, both of whom recommended that the policy be updated.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Mike Chapman suggested a new policy for budget modifications.
He complained that the old policy allowed Jones to sign a $3 million budget modification in May that redesignated Carlsborg sewer funds to other projects without a board vote or public discussion.
Although the money couldn’t be spent without a vote, Chapman said the loophole in county policy allowed the inappropriate transfer of millions of dollars from one budget line to another.
The new policy requires that all budget modifications be provided to the board prior to their approval on the next week’s consent agenda.
Any commissioner can pull a budget modification off the consent agenda for discussion.
“Initially, we talked about a dollar amount, but I think this process alleviates the need to specify a dollar amount,” Chapman said of an August pitch to require a board vote for budget modifications that exceed $50,000.
“This allows the public to know that the budget has been modified.”
Commissioners received no public comment on a resolution amending the budget policy in a public hearing Tuesday.
Salaries advisory
Commissioners in a second hearing nearly approved a policy amendment that would have paved the way for a citizen advisory committee that would suggest salaries for elected officials.
They elected to pull the amendment from consideration for further discussion after Chapman raised concerns.
The Clallam County Charter Review Commission recommended that the board create the advisory committee.
The new committee would consist of seven members appointed by the commissioners.
It would convene Feb. 1 in election years and make its recommendations 30 days prior to the filing deadline.
Salaries for judges are set by the state.
Chapman: Concerns
Chapman said he would support the resolution because no elected official testified against it, but he had concerns about the idea.
“I think that it’s unfair to only look at elected officials’ salaries and not look at the whole county family’s salaries,” Chapman said.
He added: “I think that it’s unfair to expect people to try to make decisions to run for office when they may not know [the salary] 30 days before the filing.”
Chapman suggested that the committee make its recommendations by April 1 to give candidates more time to consider a run for office knowing what their salary would be.
Commissioners are expected to discuss revised language for the establishment of the salary committee next Monday.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
