One main theme emerged during Clallam County’s 2025 budget town hall: government budgets are complicated.

Clallam County commissioners, staff and citizens convened at the county courthouse on Oct. 23 for a presentation and dialogue on next year’s administrator-recommended budget.

The county has three main budgets, administrator Todd Mielke said: the capital budget, the transportation budget and the general budget, which was the topic of discussion.

The current version of the 2025 general fund budget predicts revenue of about $55.354 million with expenses of about $55.772 million.

“This is not the final version,” Rebecca Turner, the county’s deputy chief financial officer, told the crowd. “We still have costs that we need to nail down. We still have revenues that we need to shore up.”

Once those changes are made, the draft budget will be presented to the commissioners at 9 a.m. Nov. 18.

Chief Financial Officer Mark Lane said the county’s largest source of revenue is taxes, including sales tax.

The county collects a 1% general fund sales tax and a few one-tenth of 1% sales tax additives, such as the chemical dependency/mental health tax.

The sales tax additives are restricted funds that can not go to the general fund and can only be used for qualifying projects.

The county recently has used House Bill (HB) 1490 funds, HB 1506 funds and chemical dependency/mental health funds to support Peninsula Behavioral Health’s housing project for individuals with behavioral health challenges.

None of that money came from the general fund, Turner said.

While taxes are the biggest revenue source, Lane said the county’s biggest expense is “people costs.”

Next year, the county has budgeted for about 334 full-time employees. The county charter requires the formal budget to act as if every one of those positions is filled.

However, staff said that scenario is very unlikely. The county is predicting an expected payroll underspend of about $1.6 million, which will be treated like a footnote in the formal budget, Turner said.

Other budget reductions also are being worked on.

After the preliminary budget was developed, each of the 18 county departments was asked to reduce its impact to the general fund by 7% through revenue enhancements, transferring expenses to other funding sources or reducing expenditures, Mielke said.

Revenue enhancements could be revising outdated rates and fees, receiving new grants and more, Mielke said.

Nine departments are still working on the 7% goal. Their changes will be incorporated into the next version of the budget, commissioner Mike French said.

“The 7 percent exercise has caused a lot of angst around the county, but it’s what we need to do, and it’s brought up a lot of really good points,” Turner said.

There also are potential budget impacts that don’t have dollar amounts attached, such as county assistance for distressed districts, said Eleanor Hill, payroll administration and benefits coordinator.

Mielke said he was unsure what that might entail, but the county is aware that districts such as Clallam County Fire District 5 and the Forks Hospital District are facing large financial struggles.

“We’re seeing, in the last six months, more of the taxing districts entering into a period of financial distress,” he said.

The county also is working to have reserves of 25% by the end of 2025; current budget assumptions predict 23%.

If the county is able to maintain a 25% reserve, Mielke said it can get better interest rates for bonds, which might become necessary.

“All three commissioners are very protective of that reserve, that 25 percent target,” French said.

Citizens asked about the economic impact of the Economic Development Council (EDC), Clallam Transitand the potential for wrongful death lawsuits.

John Worthington asked if the county could end its agreement with the EDC, arguing it isn’t beneficial to the county.

“I firmly disagree,” French said. “The EDC is a good organization to support, with remarkable return on investment.”

Commissioner Mark Ozias said the county’s annual contract with the EDC has a specific set of agreed-upon deliverables that it provides to the county.

A citizen asked how Clallam Transit’s recent decisions to extend its zero-fare program and hire security for the Gateway Transit Center will impact the general budget.

Although all the commissioners are on Clallam Transit’s board, Clallam Transit is a separate entity which the county does not fund, Ozias said.

French said the DNR should be allowed to follow its own policies and decide which timber land is harvested and which isn’t.

“The board has fiercely advocated for the importance of timber revenue for junior taxing districts,” Ozias said. “I doubt there’s been another county that’s pushed as hard or advocated as fiercely for the importance of that revenue source.”

Jeff Tozer asked if commissioners had ever sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Interior opposing transferring land into a tribal trust land, exempting it from property taxes.

Ozias said he could not recall if that had happened in his almost nine years of being on the board.

The board’s strategy is to focus on relationships with the tribes, French added.

Another citizen asked how the county would protect taxpayers’ high settlements in the event of a wrongful death lawsuit.

French said the county’s insurance has a $500,000 deductible. That would likely be paid for by the $1.5 million sitting in the human resource risk management reserve fund, Lane said.

In the meantime, Mielke said the county is doing “everything it can to avoid being in that situation,” including things like body cameras and law enforcement certifications.

The proposed budget will be presented to the commissioners on Dec. 3 and adopted at that time or on Dec. 10.

For more detailed budget information, individuals can visit the county website budget page: clallamcountywa.gov/1724/County-Budgets.