As Island County enters its annual budget cycle, preliminary numbers show rebounding tax revenue.
Growing revenues over the last couple of years will likely allow the county to slowly add back services that were cut during the economic recession that began in 2008.
Sales tax revenues are strong, mainly because of an increase in the house construction and remodel industry, said Budget Director Elaine Marlow.
As a result, permit revenue is above estimates. In addition, sales tax the county receives from the City of Oak Harbor are also showing steady increases.
“That’s good news, not only for the county but for the local economy,” Marlow said. “When we have a strong local economy, the county is able to provide more services.”
Marlow said the “big unknown” moving forward is what state revenues will be available to counties, which rely heavily on the state to help provide funding for law and justice, human services and public health. The McCleary supreme court decision requiring the state to fully fund education may result in a shifting around of state monies, Marlow said.
This year’s “wish list” of supplemental budget requests from department heads total just over $2 million from the current expense fund and another $800,000 from other funding sources. Last year’s supplemental requests were almost half that amount at $1.2 million from current expense.
This week, the county begins discussions about which of these requests will be funded. Over the past few weeks, county commissioners held preliminary budget meetings with department directors to build their perspective on the county’s overall needs, Marlow said.
Nearly every department is asking for additional ongoing funding, something they haven’t been able to do for a while, Marlow said.
Because early returns are positives, she said, the county is seeing requests they haven’t seen before.
“The board has always had to prioritize where they put supplemental finances,” Marlow said. “Last year, the big push was law and justice.”
The board reversed a decision to place a law-and-justice levy on the November ballot after discovering they had accumulated a fund balance that would allow them to pay for new sheriff’s deputies.
In keeping with promises from county commissioners to restore 2009 staffing levels, the sheriff’s department is asking for $107,760 ongoing for two additional deputies. The sheriff had four deputy positions funded last year.
Other big ticket requests include a one-time $300,000 allotment to upgrade the county’s emergency response radio system to simulcast, allowing law enforcement and county public works staff to be on the same frequency.
Human resources is requesting $294,000 one-time for a three-year contracted labor relations specialist to assist the county in negotiating with the county’s seven unions.
Commissioners have stated their desire to update the county’s website and internet capabilities, so central services is requesting $120,000 one-time for a website upgrade. Central services is also requesting ongoing funds for a data manager, a help desk manager and an intranet developer, totaling $288,000.
Facilities is requesting a one-time $50,000 to develop a facilities master plan, the last of which was done in 1995.
Public works is requesting a total of $130,000 for the development of a Geographic Information System and a staffed coordinator. The GIS would allow the county to better manage their geographical data and improve communication with customers, according to county documents.
