Washington County 2014 Budget Info

From Washington County:

The Washington County Board of Commissioners began its review of the 2014 budget Aug. 6.

The proposed budget, presented by Kevin Corbid, deputy administrator, includes a proposed tax levy that will result in the owner of a home valued at $207,000 — one that increased in value by 2.4 percent from last year, the countywide average for residential property — seeing a decrease of $4 in the county’s portion of the property tax paid in 2014.

The recommended budget has a property tax levy of $86.7 million, a .66 percent increase from 2013.

The levy is part of an overall $147.4 million county operating budget for the coming year, and a $23.1 million capital expenditures budget.

If approved, the levy increase would be the first county property tax levy increase in four years, after the levy was reduced in 2012 and remained flat in 2011 and 2013. The levy increase is less than the 1.2 percent increase allowed under state law.

Key initiatives for 2014 include restoring Sunday hours to the Hardwood Creek and Cottage Grove libraries during the school year, in addition to maintaining hours at the R.H. Stafford Library that was re-opened Sundays in 2013, and increasing funding for road pavement preservation. A number of improvements will be made to county parks, service centers and roads, and the technology used to do county business. The county is also responsible for funding elections in even years, which adds expenses. The county will be able to reconstruct more roadways in 2014, due to more funding from an increased wheelage tax.

Staff will be added in the county, from deputies to patrol the county’s parks, to nurses who care for inmates in the county’s jail, to community corrections personnel who ensure public safety for residents. In all, just more than 19 positions will be added to the county’s workforce for 2014, as additional staff will be needed to implement MnChoices, a new assessment for services for the elderly and people with developmental disabilities mandated by the state.

These positions are in addition to 10.5 positions that were added in 2013 to carry out increased mandates of the federal Affordable Care Act. Those staff members will manage the expected 2,600 new health care cases and the conversion of 9,500 existing cases to the new state MnSure system. County safety net services continue to be in high demand, after years of slow economic growth since the recession. The number of health care and food support cases continue to grow, but at a lower rate than occurred at the height of the recession. Also, service demands simply grow as the population grows.

This year, the Legislature made a number of changes to laws governing counties that will affect the budget. Washington County is scheduled to receive $9 million in aid from the state, an increase of $2 million from the previous year. This aid equals what the state provided to the county in 2003. Since then, the aid has been reduced from that amount by as much as $3.5 million a year, at the same time that the county’s population was growing. The additional state aid reduces the burden on the property tax to fund statewide mandated programs.

Other state laws that affect the 2014 budget include a limit on how much the county may increase its levy, increases in how much the county is required to pay for services for regional treatment centers, and changes in absentee voting laws.

In addition to reviewing the overall county budget, the board also began reviewing proposed individual department budgets. At the Aug. 6 budget workshop, the board saw the proposed budgets for the departments of Administration, Accounting and Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology. In the coming year, the Human Resources Department will focus on reviewing health care options, and labor negotiations. The Department of Accounting and Finance will focus on expanding the capacity of a new financial system, and integrating electronic payment options. The Information Technology Department will focus on a new records management system for the Sheriff’s Office.

In the coming months, the board will review other individual department budgets.

The County Board will make final decisions on the budget and levy in December. The board’s will approve a budget that supports the county’s vision to be a “Great Place to Live, Work and Play…today and tomorrow.” The board will follow the county’s mission of providing quality services through responsible leadership, innovation and the cooperation of dedicated people.