Douglas County finalizes 2023 budget

• The addition of four new sheriff's office employees: deputies, a detective and other office staff.
• A full-time coroner that was recently added due to a state requirement since the county's population has grown.
• Union-negotiated raises.
• A part-time interpreter in Douglas County District Court.

Among the largest increases to the final budget include the Douglas County Office of Public Defense, which added three attorneys, two support staff, office space and two vehicles, according to the November news release.

The budgeted expenses in the final budget are $25.8 million — about $704,000 more than initially projected in the preliminary budget.

All budgets — offices like assessors, clerk, commissioners, elections, sheriff, treasurer, auditors, administrative services and public defender services — went up due to an increase in the cost of medical insurance next year, an almost 11% increase, said Karen Goodwin, Douglas County chief accountant, in an email.

Other changes between the preliminary and final budgets include $254,000 more in administrative services for a total of $991,351, which was the result of adding a new position, safety officer, Goodwin said.

Expenses also went up by about $104,000 for the public defender office as they budgeted the purchase of two vehicles, Goodwin said. Other non-departmental expenses went up as a result of expenses related to the opioid settlement.

In the sheriff's office budget, the final budget was $71,675 more than the preliminary budget due to the increase in medical insurance, bringing up the final total to $7.1 million.

On the revenue side of its budget, the sheriff's office is projected to double its revenue compared to last year's projected amount with $1.4 million in total revenue.

The sheriff's office intends to contract with Chief Joseph Dam in Bridgeport to provide reliable security services, but the deal has not been finalized, said Sheriff Kevin Morris in an email.

The county will amend the revenue and expenses related to this contract at a later date if the contract does not come to fruition, Goodwin said.

Countywide, total revenues are about $26 million — roughly $3.7 million more than what was budgeted in 2022 and about $63,792 more than the preliminary budget.

The increase in revenues between the preliminary and final budget is attributed to funds received from the opioid settlement the county signed to earlier this year, Goodwin said. The county is expected to get around another $50,000 next year.

Chelan and Douglas counties will receive more than $2 million over the next 17 years, the result of a 2019 lawsuit filed by the state Attorney General's Office in King County Superior Court against three opioid distributors.

The state alleged the three Fortune 15 companies made billions of dollars shipping large amounts prescription opioids into the state even when they knew or should have known the drugs would "end up in the hands of drug dealers and those suffering from substance use disorder," according to an Attorney General’s Office news release.

The counties signed the settlement agreement in August.

The majority of the county's revenue comes from "non-departmental" revenue which includes sales tax, property tax and state-shared revenues.

The projected 2023 general fund, or ending fund balance, sits at about $21.2 million, according to the county budget.