PORT TOWNSEND — The Board of Jefferson County Commissioners approved more than $1.3 million in changes to budget at the end of the county’s first quarter.
Finance Director Judy Shepherd presented appropriations and extensions to the board on Monday.
Appropriations across the general fund and other funds amounted to $1,156,992 in revenue, $1,295,640 in one-time expenses and $255,450 in ongoing expenses.
A total of $1,142,895 in one-time expenses has been added into the general fund budget, Shepherd said.
“The impact to revenue for the general fund is at $596,455,” Shepherd said.
The unforeseen revenue is primarily grant money, Shepherd said.
Other funds saw $560,537 in revenue and an additional $152,745 in expenses in the first quarter.
“They’re amendments that we have to do through the year that bring our budget more into line with what we’re actually doing and with expenditures that we didn’t anticipate,” Shepherd explained. “We do our budget early fall, and then it’s approved by the first week of December. There’s a lot of things that get fleshed out during the budget process, but then there’s also those contracts that have to be renewed, if things have changed.”
So far this year, the county has received $259,782 in opioid settlement funds, Shepherd said.
“This has been kind of challenging,” Shepherd said. “We don’t know when we’re going to get the money, then we get the money, then there’s all this figuring out, ‘What kind of money did we get? Did we get distributor funds, did we get manufacturer funds, pharmacy funds?’ It’s taking a little bit to get this figured out.”
Distributor funds have been designated to go to Discovery Behavioral Health, Shepherd said.
“The manufacturing funds, we’re just kind of sitting on them, waiting to figure out what we’re going to do,” Shepherd said.
The passed list of appropriations also included an almost $290,000 transfer in settlement funds from the general fund to the county’s chemical dependency fund.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) has received a residential substance abuse treatment grant of $146,000. Shepherd said it’s for substance abuse treatment at the jail.
JCSO also received a $179,073 grant for medications for opioid use disorder or medications for alcohol use disorder, Shepherd said.
The sheriff’s office will receive an amended total of $110,783.82 for stun guns and cameras, $15,842 for traffic safety equipment and $32,900 for uniform stipends.
The coroner’s budget was amended to almost $38,000.
Meanwhile, $50,000 was appropriated to assist in the startup of a child advocacy center.
The Jefferson County District Court, which will receive an overhaul of some juror systems, will see almost $84,000, mostly in one-time appropriations.
Parks and Recreation will receive a transfer of $190,410.
“This was an ongoing transfer that was missed when we were doing the original budget,” Shepherd said. “When you have a lot of ongoings and you have four appropriations, sometimes it’s challenging to catch them all, but we’re making it good.”
Non-departmental contract updates, approved by the board, added up to more than $250,000 above the county’s initial budget.
County Administrator Mark McCauley said the appropriation process will take place three times instead of four this year, with no update occurring at the end of the second quarter.
________
Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@seuimgazette.com.
