Dec 19, 2012 3 min read

The Washington County commissioners expect to adopt a $71.5 million general fund budget today, and although the spending plan contains no property tax increase, it is not without controversy.

The county planned on receiving a total of $470,000 in 2012 and 2013 from offenders that is first forwarded to the state and remitted back to the county and the court to offset costs, including salaries of probation department employees.

The Washington County courts have, in the past, turned over the money to the county treasury, but the county treasury did not receive the 2012 allocation of $235,000.

“That’s almost half a mill in taxes for us,” said Commission Vice Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan of the two-year total. “What are our options in trying to get this money paid back to us?”

Under the budget that is on the commissioners’ 10 a.m. meeting agenda, the county’s tax levy on real estate will continue to stand at 24.9 mills.

But Commission Chairman Larry Maggi said the nearly half-million dollars would go a long way in ameliorating the amount of money that the county will have to transfer from its surplus to balance its 2013 budget.

Roger Metcalfe, county finance director, said the county requested $235,000 from the probation account back in April, and was told by Deputy Court Administrator Thomas Jess that he didn’t know when the money would be turned over.

Jess said he recalled Metcalfe hoping that the issue could be worked out.

At the crux of the matter is a dispute over salaries, Jess said Wednesday.

“We have supervisors making less than the people they’ve supervised,” Jess said, noting that after a budget discussion last January and his public comments about a pay plan for county employees at a March meeting of the Washington County salary board, there has been no resolution.

“We were expecting there would be some discussion in effective operation of the offices,” Jess continued. “I have tried to talk to the commissioners. In the 10 years I’ve been here, it’s always been a problem. We’ve tried to have discussions but they haven’t been fruitful. We’re still willing to discuss it with them.”

President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca also raised the issue in a memo to the commissioners, Jess said.

Commissioner Harlan Shober said after the meeting, “There are so many expenses that are out of our control. With everything being cut back, it puts more pressure on the local municipalities and on the county. When you have $4.5 million coming out of the fund balance, you’ve got to start cutting back. Cooperation among all of us is necessary to run good government. Keeping the courts running is one of the main roles of the commissioners.”