County Council Adopts “Hold-the-Line” 2014 Budget

— from Stan Matthews, County Information and Internet Manager —

At its December 3, meeting on Lopez Island, the San Juan County Council unanimously approved a “hold-the-line” 2014 County budget.

At $15.5 million, the County’s 2014 Current Expense Fund Budget, which covers the County’s core operations, is virtually identical to the previous year’s budget. The overall County budget, which includes the road fund and state and grant funded functions, totals $53.3 million, nearly $2.5 million dollars less than the 2013 budget.

“It’s a conservative budget that concentrates on our current obligations,” said County Manager Mike Thomas. “Given the economic realities we have to deal with, we had to tighten our belt one more notch.”

The 2014 budget reduces the County’s staff by the equivalent of six full-time employees (FTE) to approximately 220 FTE. Most of the reduction is due to the decrease in the size of the County Council, and the elimination of positions from the solid waste department because of the County’s transfer of its solid waste facilities to other entities. But the belt tightening hit several departments, including reductions in authorized staffing in Information Technology and Administration.

“We appreciate the cooperation of the County’s departments in bringing this budget into balance,” said Council Chair Jamie Stephens. “At the end of the day, we were pleased with the way the budget turned out. Next year the Council will continue to look for ways to increase efficiency and improve the way we deliver services. We also need to look ahead at renewing the County’s levy lid lift.”

The lid lift, approved by voters in 2009, will expire in 2015 if not renewed by voters. The revenue from the lid lift currently accounts for approximately 20 percent of the County’s property tax income. The lid lift revenue is earmarked for parks, senior services, 4-H programs for youth, the community services corrections program, and other programs that could otherwise be in jeopardy if budget cuts were required.

As a result of last year’s Charter changes, the responsibility for preparing the preliminary 2014 budget was assigned to the County Auditor. Budget preparation had been under the oversight of the County Administrator since 2007.

Auditor Milene Henley described the budget preparation process this year as smooth, but added, “We had to make difficult choices, which the Council has confirmed. The basic problem the County faces is that revenues are not growing as fast as the cost of simply providing the same level of service.”