‘To eliminate negative impacts, additional revenue is needed’

The intent of these workshops is to educate the public on the complicated budget issue, answer questions and give residents a chance to provide input on potential solutions. County administrators recommend that attendees plan on staying at least one hour to learn about the county’s budget issues and discuss with county commissioners and fellow residents.

Hood River County has been struggling with its budget for a long time: Since 2006, it had to pull over $7 million out of its Reserve Fund to balance each year’s budget, despite significant cuts.

County commissioners and staff agree that there are four reasons why the county is facing such a high budget shortfall:

The county had an approximate $1.6 million General Fund budget deficit in the 2017/18 fiscal year and the current General Funds deficit is about $1.46 million.

A draft of the county’s 2018/19 budget presented in April detailed approximately $918,810 in cost reductions and left out much-needed capital improvements, such as vehicle replacement.

“The proposed General Fund budget does not reflect the status quo. It reflects a dismantling of county operations and significant diminishing of capacity to deal with events, issues and problems, as well as day-to-day services,” state County Administrator Jeff Hecksel and Budget and Finance Director Sandra Borowy, in a signed message prefacing that budget document.

Most of the budget discussion is focused on the General Fund, which provides operating expenses, services and employee payrolls for most services except roads.

The total General Fund for the 2018/19 fiscal year is about $12.8 million. The largest chunk goes to personnel services, which include employee salaries and benefits, at 62 percent (approximately $7.94 million).

Capital outlay — money spent on fixed assets such as land and facilities — is 2.6 percent (about $332,800) of the General Fund and the remaining funds goes to other expenses such as materials and services.

Within these other categories falls the county’s largest single expense: Payment to NORCOR for jail services, at about 12 percent (around $1.54 million) of the total General Fund. The county’s $200,000 contingency (1.6 percent of the total General Fund) also falls in this category — but the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) recently voted to pull an extra $31,276 from that fund to support the County Veteran’s Service Office.

The budget committee added many of the proposed cuts back into the budget before it was approved — including funding for the Oregon State Extension Services, the museum, the county’s Forest Trail program, GIS web mapping, code enforcement and Sheriff patrol deputies — but the county had to pull $721,000 from its rapidly diminishing Reserve Fund to balance the budget.

The BOCC resolved to limit withdraws from the Reserve Fund to a maximum of $750,000 in the next two years until solutions can be found, Hecksel said. If the county is able to stick to this limit, Hecksel estimates that the county will likely have $750,000 left in the Reserve Fund in 2020.

Capital improvements also remained out of the budget.

The 2018/19 budget assumes that the county will receive no new voter-approved revenue details a number of cuts meant to decrease reoccurring costs, but “to eliminate negative impacts, additional revenue is needed,” Borowy and Hecksel said in the budget message.

A retail marijuana tax that would add an estimated $20,000 to the General Fund is on the November ballot and the commissioners hope that the upcoming workshops will give them a chance to gauge public opinion on some potential revenue sources, including a potential food and beverage sales tax that could be on the March ballot.

For more information on the upcoming workshops, contact county administration at administration@co.hood-river.or.us or 541-386-3970.