Lewis County Department Leaders Plead Their Cases in Budget Talks

Posted

The first of three all-day budget meetings with the Board of Lewis County Commissioners was held this week as department heads and elected officials discussed what they need for the 2018 budget year.

Four of the seven offices that presented their budgets requested increases after commissioners asked everyone to keep their 2017 adopted budget level for the upcoming year as they work toward adopting a structurally balanced budget that does not use reserves.

Several offices mentioned that with increasing health care and retirement costs, as well as an uptick in costs shared across all departments, they actually have less money to spend for the 2018 year then they were allotted in 2017. 

The requests ranged from more Sheriff’s Office deputies to an increase in the county’s contribution for the Washington State University Extension office. 

Reactions were varied. 

The Prosecutor’s Office refused to make changes to its proposed budget. Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer stated he could be held liable if he goes over his budget.

Talks about moving the WSU Extension Office out of the courthouse and into the Twin Cities Senior Center also progressed, although no decisions were made.

In all, there is $930,144 of budget increase requests for the 2018 year.

Budget Analyst Becky Butler said the requests would be placed on a list and commissioners Gary Stamper, Edna Fund and Bobby Jackson will have to make decisions on which ones will be approved. That won’t take place until the remainder of the budget meetings wrap up at the end of the month. The next all-day meetings are scheduled for Sept. 27 and 28.

This year, the commissioners appointed a citizens advisory committee to help provide an outside perspective as they make decisions on what to fund. 

As the county tries to bridge a $1.2 million gap between its expected revenues and expenditures for the 2018 year, a reduction in services will likely take place.

Mitch Townsend, from the advisory committee, said the task at hand for the commissioners is a tough one.

“It seems like everyone is trying pretty hard to cut as much as they can to the bone,” he said after the budget meetings concluded. 

Bill Marshall, another committee member, agreed.

“What I see today is there’s not much to cut from,” he said. 

The county has worked to ease away from its use of reserves. In the current year, the lowest amount of reserves was used to balance the budget since 2011. 

The 2017 budget was adopted utilizing $1.9 million in reserves. That number is estimated to decrease to around $629,189 by year’s end. 

“We have a lot of great people and a lot of smart people that work in this county, which has one goal in mind — to take care of the people in Lewis County,” Commissioner Jackson said. “Regardless of what a lot of the stuff in the air is outside of this courthouse, I appreciate that you came because you get to see what it’s like for us in this position and you get to see the tough decisions we have to make every single day.” 

The goal of the meetings are to give commissioners a better view at what specific departments and offices are facing as work continues on the 2018 budget.

 

Prosecutor’s Office

The 2018 preliminary budget numbers show the Prosecutor’s Office is expecting $661,518 in revenue and has $3,183,006 in expenditures. The office employs 27 full-time equivalent employees. The Prosecutor’s Office has requested a $75,000 increase to pay for a paralegal to process public disclosure requests.

The county recently created a new position of a public disclosure manager, but even with the role, departments and offices are still required to delegate employees to compile the records requested.

“We do not have an available person to fill the roll, nor the funds to hire the position,” states the budget request increase. 

Prosecutor Meyer said that although his budget looks large, he only has control of about $124,000.

“In essence, my office is an unfunded mandate,” he said.

The Prosecutor’s Office is not a “fixed cost office” because there is no way to tell how many violent crimes will take place or how many interpreters or experts will need to be hired. 

As an example, for this year Meyer predicts his office will spend $12,000 on interpreters even though the expense was budgeted at $8,000. It’s just one of the unpredictable costs that vary on a year to year basis. 

“I use the prior year expenditures to try to make an educated estimate as to what this year’s expenditures are going to be at,” Meyer said.

Because of increases in his office, Meyer told the commissioners there is no way for him to devise a budget that does not go over the 2017 adopted budget level. 

Meyer said his office is $27,000 over the initial limit set for the 2018 budget, even with one less employee. 

“I cannot come in with a zero budget,” he said. “It will not happen because under the (Revised Code of Washington) if I go over budget I’m personally liable for that… What you are asking me to do is cut about 20 percent of the budget I have control over.”

Meyer told The Chronicle that even if he left everything the same as this year’s budget, there are increases because of employees who will move up pay grades. Health care and retirement costs are also going up.

The majority of the area Meyer cut money from to try to reach the set levels were from interfund services that all offices are required to pay. He specifically reduced the amount of interfund fees for facilities for his office and the Child Support Enforcement building his office runs. That’s not allowed, according to county budget staff.

“The budget we submit is asked to be a proposed budget,” Meyer said in response to direction to fix his interfund rates. “I’m not proposing that budget. The budget that I’m proposing is the budget that is there.”

Central Services Director Steve Walton said that bill had to be paid and told Meyer to cut other types of discretionary funding such as a request for $5,000 for uniforms, or suits, for his staff. 

“As soon as we’re not paying for any other uniforms in this county I’ll take that out,” he said, adding that his staff is required to dress up for court, and therefore, the suits are indeed a uniform.

The discussion on the budget of the Prosecutor’s Office will continue.

Since Meyer has been in office he has either returned or helped the county save about $2 million in taxpayer money, he said. 

“I jealously guard the money that the taxpayers entrust to me,” he said. “I’m not going to spend a dime more than I need to but I need to have quality people. I need to keep quality people and I need to make sure we have the ability to prosecute the cases that come before us.” 

 

WSU Extension Office

The WSU Extension Office’s 2018 preliminary budget has $25,120 in revenue and $256,000 in expenditures. The office employees 1.6 full-time equivalent positions. The office employees 1.6 full-time equivalent positions.

The office also has 6.8 full-time equivalent positions funded from sources outside of the county budget. Those positions provide programming for 4-H, livestock and dairy, community and economic development and forest stewardship, among other services.

The office has requested an increase of $7,500 to meet the suggested level of county contributions to outreach education program development. 

Sheila Gray, the director of the extension office, stated the office is not designed to be a revenue-based agency. The majority of her salary is paid through WSU, but the county also pitches in. The request would bump up the county’s contribution of her salary to the requested amount of about $24,000. 

In 2015, the county contributed 44 percent, or $234,384, to the WSU Extension Office’s $528.217 budget. 

“We are looking at how we can reduce the cost of the program but still provide the service,” Butler said. 

The commissioners have discussed moving the extension office out of the courthouse and into another building as a cost savings measure. The space at the courthouse is valued at $12 per square foot, one of the highest rates in the county. Currently, a portion of the Twin Cities Senior Center is being eyed as the new location of the office. 

The move would open up training space downstairs in the courthouse, Butler said. 

Gray said she could not find many advantages to moving. The office has occupied its space since 2002 so it has been a familiar location for the people of the county, she said. With a lot of equipment and supplies, she said moving would be a chore for the office. 

“I do understand the financial aspects, but I do believe for what we provide to the community overall that the cost is worth it for us,” she said of remaining in the courthouse. “Other than financially, no, frankly at this point I don’t see a positive in moving. Being co-located at the senior center may provide some advantages, but I’m not sure it will be over the advantages we currently have.” 

Gray stated her office has very little “wiggle room” to make adjustments in the budget because of increases to interfund rates associated with facilities and information technology. 

At the end of the budget meetings, commissioners said they would look further into rehousing the extension office after a comment from a member on the citizen advisory board who was in favor. 

 

Coroner’s Office

The Coroner’s Office has revenue in the amount of $28,000 and expenditures totaling $439,300 for the 2018 preliminary budget. The office has two full-time equivalent positions and nine on-call deputies. The office is requesting a $30,133 increase for the autopsies performed by forensic pathologists and decedent removals made by the contract mortuary. 

The county averages about 50 autopsies a year, but it has been as high as almost 80 in the past. 

If the increase is not approved, the Coroner’s Office would have to do body removals themselves, which would have a higher cost, according to Coroner Warren McLeod.

Without a contract, it would cost the Coroner’s Office about $80,000 for decedent removals just to first purchase and equip two vehicles for the job. It would also result in two fewer people per 24-hour shift. Instead, a contract between $36,000 and $39,000 a year supplies the people and the vehicles needed to do the work. 

The annual contract for pathologist fees is $88,000 a year. That includes two board-certified forensic pathologies, 70 autopsies and unlimited consults. Without a contract for the services, that amount would cost the Coroner’s Office $129,750 to provide those services. 

McLeod said the budget expenditure limitation was set at $459,778 for 2017. For the 2018 year, the limitation for the office was set for $439,300 and interfund fees increased. 

“Basically you asked us to operate at $28,000 less next year than we did this year,” McLeod said. 

The office’s revenue amount decreased by $6,000 from $34,000 meaning the office likely won’t hold its class that provides training on recovering bodies and evidence collection. 



The office also did not receive a Coverdell Grant that was applied toward training. It’s only the second time since 2011 that the grant was denied, McLeod said. 

 

Sheriff’s Office/Jail

The 2018 preliminary budget for the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office shows revenues at $430,195 and expenditures at $7,654,500. There are 54 full-time equivalent employees. The Sheriff’s Office also runs the jail, which shows revenue of $1,906,573 and $7,458,500 in expenditures. There are 55 full-time equivalent positions at the jail.

Both the Sheriff’s Office and the jail have increases in their requests for the upcoming year.

The Sheriff’s Office is requesting $320,126 to pay for two deputies and the replacement of fingerprint machines. The jail is seeking a $22,248 increase for the replacement of fingerprint machines and an additional $150,000 from the jail mental health services fund to offset the cost of NaphCare medical, which is utilized by inmates who need to see a mental health professional. 

According to Sheriff Rob Snaza, medical costs at the jail for the Sheriff’s Office are about $1 million annually. 

Some of the revenue for the Sheriff’s Office is generated through concealed weapons permit licensing and serving papers and writs. The office is also contracted to provide services to various jurisdictions such as Vader and the United States Forest Service. 

The Sheriff’s Office receives about $130,000 to monitor the 538 registered sex offenders in the county. 

“It’s the job of the Sheriff’s Office to check on every single sex offender,” Sheriff Rob Snaza said. The Sheriff’s Office utilizes reserve officers for that task to save money. 

Almost 74 percent of the budgets is for salaries and benefits, Snaza said. 

The Sheriff’s Office is currently working to fill existing vacancies. In 2007-08, the Sheriff’s Office lost 19 positions, nine of which were deputies because of previous budget cuts. 

“With law enforcement responsibilities and service to our citizens ever increasing, we are asking to refund four deputy positions within the Sheriff’s first term, two of which would start in the 2018 budget cycle,” states the request submitted from the office. 

Snaza said the request is nothing new. 

“The reason I’m asking for two right now is because we are currently sitting at 1985 staffing levels,” he said. “You guys have heard it three years in a row. I just appreciate the consideration.”

About $269,600 of the increase requested would be for two new deputies. That would include their salaries, benefits and everything needed to equip the new personnel. 

The remainder of the $320,126 increase request for the Sheriff’s Office would fund the replacement of a fingerprint machine for $11,124 and a mobile fingerprint machine for $12,384. A grant with the Washington State Patrol would reimburse 90 percent of the cost. 

Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said the fingerprint machines will soon become obsolete once support for Windows 7 stops within the next couple of years. 

The same is true for two fingerprint machines utilized at the jail, which cost $22,248 to replace.

Butler, the county’s budget analyst, asked Snaza how he would feel about a three-tenths of one percent tax for public safety that could offset cost.

Snaza said it would take a lot of effort to get something like that passed, but said it could benefit district and superior court, the Prosecutor’s Office and law and justice as a whole.

 

Clerk’s Office

The preliminary budget for next year for the Clerk’s Office shows an estimated $639,896 in revenue and $1,233,739 in expenditures. The office employs 15 full-time equivalent

positions.

The office is not requesting an increase for the 2018 year. 

The revenue of the Clerk’s Office is generated from a portion of the fees and fines that are paid through the courts in order to pay for services such as making copies of paperwork and processing passport applications, among other items, according to Clerk Scott Tinney.

The majority of the expenditures are made up from salaries, benefits and interfund costs, such as IT, which is one of the highest in the county because of the amount of computers and software the Clerk’s Office utilizes. Another major cost for the office is postage for jury notices and court-related material, according to Tinney.

“There’s not a lot in the expenditures that we have much control over,” he said. “It’s all pretty much a fixed cost.”

As employee wages go up, the Clerk’s Office is faced with maintaining its current operations. Reductions in the Clerk’s Office budget would be hard to come by unless staff positions were cut, Tinney said. 

“I don’t know how we can sustain our operation if we cut people,” he said. 

In recent years, public records requests have taken up a lot of the staff’s time, Tinney said. 

 

Information Technology

The information technology department at the county has a 2018 preliminary budget of $1,998,949 in revenue and $1,961,557 in expenditures. There’s a change in fund balance of $37,392 for the equipment rental and revolving fund. Each department and office is charged a rate for the ER&R, which is then funneled into an account to pay the replacement of equipment when it is needed.

The IT department employs 15 people. No increase was requested for the 2018 year. 

The department’s largest source of revenue is the interfund rates charged to other departments and offices for IT work.

“For our rate structure what we do is try to make it as fair and consistent as possible,” Steve Wohld, director of information technology services for the county, said. “… If people want their rates lower, they can reduce their equipment.”

The main expenditures for the IT department, much like the Clerk’s Office, includes salaries, benefits and interfund costs, according to Butler. 

The department has a lot of federal and state requirements it has to meet for handling certain data. All the employees must be certified.

The department also provides outside agency support to cities and other municipalities as well as defending county information from outside attacks. 

Wohld said the department recently “thwarted 300 some attacks from the Ukraine alone.” 

Discover Lewis County, the county’s online tourism effort, is also provided through the IT department. 

The cost to maintain the site has decreased over time.

In 2017, county budget documents show $188,350 was spent on the site, which included lodging tax funds. That number has been cut for the 2018 year with expenditures estimated at $82,034.

“The commission actually informed me that it was going to be a tighter budget year,” Wohld said. “What you’ll see in the IT budget is a significant cut from this year’s expenditures to next year’s expenditures (for Discover Lewis County).”

Discover Lewis County currently has 1.5 full time equivalent positions, but for 2018 that number will be reduced to one full time equivalent position. Two employees will dedicate half of their time to the project. 

After scrutiny on how much the tourism effort cost, a tracking mechanism was created toward the end of 2016 to extract the numbers of the operation which were previously imbedded into other areas of the IT’s budget.

“Those numbers, we couldn’t extract out easily,” Wohld said. “We made a clean cut in 2017.” 

In 2016, the departments says numbers show the cost of Discover Lewis County at $22,487, though it’s clear that number doesn’t include the 2.5 full-time equivalent positions dedicated to the project. 

The tourism effort has been credited by those who support it with increasing the amount of lodging revenue that is funneled into unincorporated areas of the county. 

In the first eight months of 2015, $154,991 was generated in lodging revenue. In 2016, that number rose to $195,338.33, or a $40,347.32 increase from 2015. For the first eight months in 2017, lodging revenue is at $236,264.70, another increase of over $40,000 from 2016.

Although Wohld said he doesn’t totally credit Discover Lewis County for the increases, he does believe the tourism promotion has helped boost the numbers. 

 

Commissioners Budget

The Board of Lewis County Commissioners, 2018 preliminary budget shows a revenue of $615,250 and expenditures of $894,297 — a number that also includes costs for the budget staff. The office employs 8.25 full-time equivalent positions.

There were no increase requests for the office. 

Revenue is generated from rent of the transfer station, which is captured into the board’s budget and then deposited into the general fund. Other revenue also includes a lease for the drive-through space of WSECU in Chehalis.

The majority of the expenditures, like most budgets, is the cost of salaries and benefits of the commissioners and the employees in the office. Each of the three commissioners currently make $82,624 in salary and $29,599 in benefits. 

Professional services for items like Code Publishing, which posts the county’s ordinances, is $19,000 a year, with the next biggest expense outside of interfund rates at $5,000 for spotted owl mitigation.

Commissioners and their staff have a $15,000 travel budget.

The budget department’s budget is also included under the board. 

The department has kept an open position vacant to generate cost savings, Butler said.