A walk through the county budget is a lesson in civics — a hodge-podge of state mandates, local priorities, pooled funds, capital investments, and reserves. The budget is a financial plan for roads, general upkeep of basic services, public health, parks, and specific services offered to those in need. It’s a line-item accounting where tax dollars and user fees from Whidbey islanders mix with tax money from the far corners of the state and of the nation.
It’s not an easy read, but it can be surprising at times. For example:
• More than 50 percent of the county’s $19.5 million general fund goes toward law enforcement, prosecution, and courts.
• About one-third of the county’s overall $63.3 million budget goes to the building and maintenance of roads (mostly with state and federal dollars).
• The Planning and Community Development department more-than-pays for itself through user fees and other revenues, estimated to be $1.9 million this year.
• The county revenues list identifies nine different taxes which combine, along with various user fees, interest income, state grants, and reserve accounts to pay for general fund spending.
• Approximately 5 percent of property taxes or $273,000 in 2003 went uncollected, although $170,000 in delinquent taxes from previous years were finally paid.
The timeline
The county’s budget process begins internally in July and must be ready for the first public review in early September. It starts with department directors, who are put on notice in early July that they have one month to crunch the numbers and put together a preliminary budget, including expenditures and estimated revenues for the year.
They drop their plans on Budget Director Elaine Marlow’s desk, who then has one month to compile the information “in a format the board is used to working with,” she said. The three county commissioners get the budget in early September and begin a two-month process of individual budget workshops with each department head.
This is where the public can learn the most about each department, Marlow said. “The directors go through their budget requests and make the case for what it is they’re asking for,” Marlow said. “The workshops are really informative and, unfortunately, the public doesn’t come to them.”
By the end of October, the departments provide better updated revenue forecasts and the commission settles on a preliminary budget in early November. A public hearing is set four weeks later, usually the first Monday in December, and a final budget, along with a final levy, is adopted.
It’s all highly public, involving a wealth of information about how government is operated.
The budget has two main components: the general fund (called current expenses), and a set of individual funds that covers health, public works, capital improvements, and a long list of other smaller funds. The individual funds are broken up partly due to audit demands and partly for convenience.
“It makes it easier for us to track the activity in the funds and understand the finances of the program,” Marlow said.
Editor’s Note: This is the second of three informational articles explaining the county budget. Today: Where does the money go? Saturday: Where do the funds come from?
The Island County budget is separated into two parts: current expenses, which funds most county services, and individual funds, which includes public works, public health, capital funds, and a bunch of small dedicated funds.
The county budget: A lesson in civics
