Chelan County Commissioners Approve $51.5 Million Budget For 2023

Chelan County commissioners have approved a budget for 2023 of $51,549,616. 

Commissioner Bob Bugert says the process has included belt tightening across the board for county departments. 

"I think we can safely say that all departments had reductions in this," said Bugert. 

Most all departments from the Sheriff's Office to the County Auditor saw cuts. 

Most of the cuts were made by eliminating unfilled positions in the county rather than making reductions to programs. 

Nine unfilled positions that are paid for out of the general fund were eliminated. 

Total revenues for the year are projected to be just under $49 million, with the county using $3.7 million in 2023 from the general reserve to balance the roughly $51.5 million budget 

About $3.2 million of the $3.7 million is being carried over from the past two years. 

The county will actually start the year with a positive balance of roughly $13.5 million, which is where the $3.7 will be drawn from. 

Commissioner Kevin Overbay says economic development is a crucial part of  spending that generates money for the county. "Economic development is a huge piece that we need to make sure that we make the investment in, because it comes back to us at budget time," said Overbay.  

Chelan County administrator Cathy Mulhall presented commissioners with the budget at their Monday meeting. 

The final version will include the return of public education and parent education funds into the general fund from the Washington State University Extension of Chelan and Douglas Counties. 

The three Chelan County commissioners passed the 2023 budget in a vocal agreement Monday morning.  The total year ending figure is $61,186,859, which includes $9.8 million the county expects to have in the general reserve.