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Thursday, Sept. 11,2014 - Mason County Journal - Page A-11
Preliminary budget
requestsexceed
revenue by S7M
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@masoncoun com
Expenditure requests ex-
ceed projected revenue by
$7 million in Mason County's
first look at its 2015 current
expense budget.
The preliminary budget
projects total revenue for 2015
to be $62.8 million and total
expenditures to be $72.1 mil-
lion. The total budget includes
the current expense fund.
The preliminary budget
shows that Mason County will
collect less revenue but spend
more money than in each of
the previous two years.
The Mason County Board
of Commissioners got its
first look at the document
during a briefing Monday
morning and discussed it
again at the commission's
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
Mason County Chief Finance Manager Ed Baker briefs the
Mason County Commission on Tuesday on the county's
preliminary 2015 budget.
regular meeting Tuesday.
The preliminary budget, re-
leased each September by the
Mason County Auditor's Of-
fice as is required by state law,
includes projected revenue for
2015 and budget requests from
department heads and elected
officials.
The commission plans to
take public comments on the
preliminary budget at its
6 p.m. Sept. 23 meeting in
commission chambers at 411
N. Fifth St.
In the current expense
fund, which includes general
government expenses, public
safety and other departments,
total revenue is projected to
be $26.6 million with expendi-
tures at $33.6 million.
According to information
provided to the commission
by Chief Finance Manager Ed
Baker, total county revenue
for 2015 is projected to be
$4.4 million lower than what
was budgeted for 2014 and
$3.4 million less than what
was collected in 2013.
Meanwhile, total expen-
ditures will increase from
$32.1 million budgeted in 2014
to $33.6 million in 2015.
However, Commissioner
Terri Jeffreys noted that a $5.2
million reserve amount was in-
cluded in the 2014 budget, while
no reserves were included in the
2015 preliminary budget.
This could mean the in-
crease in expenditures from
2014 to 2015 is much larger
than it appears in the pre-
liminary budget, Jeffreys said
Tuesday.
"When we take (the reserve)
out, it somewhat masks the
(increased) requests of the de-
partments," she said.
The Mason County Sher-
iffs Office shows the largest
budget increase of current
expense-fund departments,
growing from $10.3 million in
2014 to $15.4 million on 2015.
Most of the Sheriffs Office
budget, at $11.3 million, is al-
located to salaries and benefits.
Baker said this week he ex-
pects the county could have an
ending current expense-fund
balance, or reserve, of about
$9 million at the end of 2014.
Baker said Tuesday he did
not add the $9 million project-
ed ending fund balance into the
2015 budget because he wanted
to put only 2015 expenses and
revenue into the budget.
Almost 39 percent of the
county's total revenue in 2015
will come from property and
sales taxes. Charges for goods
and services account for nearly
20 percent, and grants, entitle-
ments and subsidies make up
about 13 percent.
Salaries and benefits make
up largest expense for
the county, accounting for
46.9 percent of all expenses
and almost 71 percent of cur-
rent expense-fund expendi-
tures.
Hiker missing in Olympic
National Park found safe
STAFF REPORT
news@masoncoun com
A hiker missing for
almost four days in
Olympic National Park
was found safe Monday
morning aider arriving at
the Elwha Ranger Sta-
tion.
Kelly Hall had scrapes
and bruises but was oth-
erwise unharmed.
Hall began his hike on
Aug. 30 at the Obstruc-
tion Point Trailhead near
Hurricane Ridge and
was supposed to meet
with family members on
Sept. 4 at the U.S. Forest
Service Slab Camp trail-
head.
According to Olympic
National Park staff, Hall
said he lost the trail in
foggy conditions in the
area of Grand Pass and
went the wrong way.
Hall was able to fig-
ure out his location and
hiked along the Lillian
River to find the Lillian
River trail. The route
included eight miles of
strenuous, off-trail trav-
el, according to Olympic
National Park staff.
While the trek took
Hall longer than expect-
ed, park staff said he was
well equipped with food,
a water filter, maps, a
compass and other es-
sential gear.
He eventually met up
with a group of hikers
who gave him a ride to the
Elwha Ranger Station.
Search parties from
the National Park Ser-
vice; an aircraft and crew
from the Washington
State Patrol; and vol-
unteers from Olympic
Mountain Rescue, Clal-
lam County Search and
Rescue, German Shep-
herd Search Dogs of
Washington State, and
Kitsap County Search
and Rescue contributed
to the search.
We invite you to be the power that makes great things
happen by living united and investing in what matters
today; bringing neighbors and resources together to
advance the common good right here in Mason County.
221 W. Railroad Ave. Suite-12, Shelton, WA 98584 -U~IE I~lll~0
360-426-4999
unitedwaymasonco.org
VolunteerMason.ong
Uko uS on Facebook,
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BOATING UNDER THE BRIDGE
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Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
A couple last week enjoys the sunny solitude on the dock next to the Harstine Island bridge, as
boaters choose speed while jetting underneath the bridge.
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