PORT TOWNSEND — The three Jefferson County commissioners unanimously approved the 2016 budget at a meeting Monday.
The total budget lists $47.29 million in revenue against $52.65 million in expenditures, for a $5.35 million deficit.
In the general fund, the budget projects $17.37 million in revenue matched to $18.06 million in expenditures, for a $689,743 deficit.
With other funds, $29.92 million in revenue goes toward $34.58 million in expenditures, causing a $4.66 million deficit.
Coverage for deficits will be drawn from reserve funds or income sources to be determined, according to County Administrator Philip Morley.
The preliminary draft budget was approved at the Dec. 7 commissioners meeting, which added revenues from the hotel-motel fund and county fair, adding up to $305,000 against new expenditures of $304,715 for salary and benefit adjustments, domestic violence prevention funds, the addition of a corrections officer and the county fair.
Salaries, benefits
People and places dominate the budget, with 56 percent of the general fund allocated for salaries and benefits and some capital improvements required for safety reasons.
Jefferson County will have 269.5 total full-time equivalent employees in 2016, 25 fewer than 2008 levels, according to a Dec. 7 budget presentation.
A number of county employees were laid off during the 2008 recession when revenues were short, which the county uses as a point of comparison.
Public safety enhancements benefiting the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office would include the hiring or promotion of two new sergeants at the jail and resulting in the presence of a supervisor on all shifts.
Also budgeted is $577,000 in capital improvements to the jail and $147,000 for the sheriff’s office.
Necessary improvements concern safety and security, with a goal of limiting courthouse access to one entrance in 2016.
The budget allocates $285,000 to change the courthouse entrance, although a complete facility renovation, including a seismic retrofit, has been estimated to have a $9 million cost, Morley said.
State funding
Morley said the amount of state funding channeled to local governments is up in the air on two fronts: First is the potential implementation of I-1366, a Tim Eyeman-sponsored state initiative which could result in a 15 percent reduction in Washington sales tax revenue.
The legislature might also cut funding to local governments to fund education as ordered by the 2012 McCleary decision.
Another “challenge,” according to Morley, is the county’s road fund, which has been impacted by reductions in federal timber revenue.
Morley said that last month’s washout of Oil City Road in West Jefferson County cost about $200,000 to repair. That one repair used almost all of the expected $224,000 allocated by the six-year transportation impact plan.
According to the presentation, the road fund balance for 2016 is estimated to be a little more than $3 million. A $1 million deficit is projected by 2021.
Funding parks and recreation has long been unstable and relies on the work of volunteers or maintenance and upkeep. Morley said that funding and sustaining parks has yet to be addressed.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
