Chelan County Commissioners Holding Workshop To Solve $4 Million Budget Hole

The Chelan County Commissioners will be holding a workshop to discuss the County's annual budget tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 6).

Commissioner Kevin Overbay says they'll have a lot to sort out this year, since the funding being requested by the County's 25 elected officials and department heads is more than projected revenues.

"Based upon the current projections we've got almost fifty-one million (dollars) coming in and fifty-five million in asks. So we have what we call a budget hole of four million dollars. So we have to see if the revenues are accurately being projected, as well as looking at the expenditures. So we need to decide what we have to do, what would we like to do, and do those asks make the cut for this year."

Aside from thinning some of the proposed line items in the County's budget for the next fiscal year, Overbay says they will also be mindful of making certain there's plenty of money in the County's rainy day fund.

"We like to leave a reserve balance of about ten million dollars annually because you just never know. I know that back in around 2008 or 2009, we ended up laying off around forty-five County employees during that time and we don't want to see that again. That's why we want to have a healthy reserve in there to help stave off any trouble if we have a downturn in our economic piece."

The workshop is designed to be the culmination of the County's budget hearings and will take place on the heels of two consecutive days of public budget meetings.

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