County Board Reviews 2013 Budget, Levies

Press release

The Washington County Board of Commissioners reviewed the county’s proposed property tax levies and budget for 2013 at a meeting Dec. 6, and invited members of the public to comment on the proposed budget and levy.

Seven county residents spoke at the meeting.

The board has been reviewing the proposed budget and property tax levy since Sept. 11, when it adopted a preliminary levy and budget for 2013. The budget was presented to the board after departments worked with the county’s administration through the spring and summer to craft it. After the Sept. 11 meeting, the board could lower the levy, but it could not raise it during a final vote. A final vote on the 2013 budget will be taken Dec. 11.

The recommended budget calls for no increase in the county property tax levy or the levy for the Land and Water Legacy Program. Non-property tax revenues, which include fees for services and state and federal funding, are projected to remain at the same level as in 2012. The proposed budget includes a net county tax levy of $86.1 million, and non-levy revenue of $80.1 million. It calls for operating expenditures of $142.8 million, and capital expenditures of $18.3 million. The proposed budget is made up of a 2.1 percent increase in operating expenditures and a decrease of 13 percent in capital expenditures. Proposed total expenditures would decrease slightly.

The proposed Regional Rail Authority levy for 2013 is $574,800; the Washington County Housing and Redevelopment Authority proposed levy is $3.3 million.

Those who own a home valued at $250,000, assuming its value dropped 8 percent from 2012 to 2013, should see a $23 reduction in the county portion of the annual property tax bill, if the budget is approved.

The proposed budget would maintain the per capita levy at $360, which is within $4 of what it has been for the past four years. Operating costs per capita will increase slightly to $593 per capita in 2013, but remain below the $618 per capita amount in 2009.

Impacts on the 2013 budget include revenue changes that see reduced intergovernmental revenues of $590,500, and increased county program aid of $1,312,100. The budget also calls for increased fees for services of $611,700 and an increase in the debt service levy by $329,400. On the expenditure side, proposed changes include increased wages and benefits of $2,445,500, increased direct payments of $776,200 to clients and service providers in the human services area, and reduced capital expenditures of $2,740,700.

The budget calls for an increase of 10 positions in the county, with almost half of those needed to reopen county libraries on Mondays, after the libraries were closed Sundays and Mondays in 2012. Six of the other positions will be paid for with funding other than the property tax levy. Part of the need for additional workers is being driven by continued increases in applications for health care assistance and food support assistance, which continue to grow, and which the county is required to process. Restoring the library hours will require $284,000 in funding to hire the necessary staff to open the library doors on Monday, and one library, the R.H. Stafford Library in Woodbury, Sunday afternoons during the school year.

The proposed budget calls for an increase of $1.3 million in County Program Aid from the state to $6.8 million for the year; however, with the uncertainty of the state’s financial state, the county is budgeting that money to be used for one-time expenditures, such as road repair and vote-counting equipment.