2023-01-24 Budget MeetingBudget Update
January 24, 2023
2:03 p.m.
Present: Commissioner Brummer, Commissioner Pollock, Commissioner Swope, Becky Butler, Nic Scott,
Erik Martin (2:21 p.m.), Steve Wohld (2:21 p.m.)
Guest(s): None
Recorder: Tammy Martin
Public comment: None.
Becky Butler said revenue for the general fund accruals will be in at the end of February 2023 and final
numbers will be available March 2023. There is a use of fund balance of $870,000. This could change
based on year-end reconciliation.
Becky said there are two months left to collect sales and use tax and mental health tax. Payroll has been
completed for 2022. Timber revenue may be short due to the lack of logging. There are contracts that
may be extended as well.
Becky said she is working on the ARPA report and reporting is due January 31, 2023. She has been
partnering with Berry Dunn. Becky is concerned about the project reporting not matching the GL
reporting. She said documenting all previous filed information and all changes will be very important.
Becky said the NACO analysis says ARPA recovery funds need to be obligated by December 31, 2024 and
expended by September 24, 2026. The previous analysis said funds needed to be expended December
31, 2026. Becky has reached out to NACO for clarification. Becky said in the last federal spending bill,
said $10 million was a standard allowable amount to use, now it says $10 million or 30%, whichever is
greater. Lewis County took the standard $10 million as the best option. The latest Federal spending bill
has added funding for Treasury support calls related to the spending.
Becky said the first bill for the city of Vader has been submitted and the Roxy Theater has started its
project and the city of Napavine has started their project as well.
Erik Martin reminded the Board there was a Covid leave policy that expired December 31, 2023 from
ARPA funding. Erik has asked the Board to extend the leave policy to March 31, 2023. Becky said the
remaining balance would be used in other ARPA related areas.
Broadband Update: Becky said an engineer has been hired for broadband. Engineering will be done by
phase in order to avoid supply issues. They are looking at all options to get the broadband project
completed. Becky estimates the broadband project is behind almost a year. Larry Boehm was recently
hired as a project manager for the broadband project. Becky said there were two responses to the
archaeologist RFP and a decision will be announced shortly.
Budget process recap: Becky said the last budget process felt crunched for time and she asked for
feedback from the Board. Becky feels the committee provides positive feedback. Commissioner Pollock
suggested being clear about the role the Citizen Budget Committee plays and the expectations of the
group is important. Commissioner Swope appreciated having different views from the committee
provides. He suggested having a separate decision making time from the question and answer period.
Erik said he feels having the committee is valuable towards government transparency.
Staffing: Becky said she is working with HR for recruiting during the first quarter.
New Business: Becky said there will be new opioid settlements to be disbursed to local governments.
These each have different reporting timelines and will be challenging to track. She figures that creating a
separate fund for those settlements will make tracking easier. These will cover current costs within the
state’s response plan.
2023 Legislation: Commissioner Swope suggested the other Commissioners show support by opposing
the peace officer bill. Erik suggested the Board consider Jenn Libby-Jones’ mention of the 911
dispatchers changing of retirement to the PSERS2 plan. At this time, dispatchers are not classified as first
responders. Becky also said there was a request for support for court security as a general fund ask.
Meeting adjourned 3:07 p.m.