With one last budget amendment for the year, the Lewis County government will use reserves and leftovers to cover an increase in expenses for the last quarter of 2025.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners approved the county's last quarterly budget amendment of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 22.
The amendment saw the county tap into fund balances to cover some new or larger expenses that outgrew the county’s expected revenues. Expenses include legal fees for outside counsel and increased costs for public defense and liability insurance.
The two present Lewis County commissioners, Scott Brummer and Lindsey Pollock, approved the amendment unanimously after a public hearing featuring a staff briefing from Lewis County Budget Administrator Becky Butler.
According to Butler and attachments included in the county commissioners business meeting agenda, the budget amendment shows county revenues increasing by approximately $1.5 million while expenses increased by roughly $2.3 million.
The budget amendment showed increased revenues coming from fees and reimbursements. It also covered some large transfers between the county’s different funds. In those situations, the county is simply moving money around to use it where it is needed most.
Around $770,000 of the budget increase is not covered by a transfer from another account or paid for by an increase in revenue and will be paid for using fund balances. Fund balance is the amount of money the county has left over from previous budgets. The money is unspent and unallocated. It is often treated as a reserve for the county to help close gaps in emergencies.
Notice of the recent budget amendment was first published by the county in The Chronicle on Tuesday, Dec. 2, and again one week later, Dec. 9. At the time, the county was expecting a smaller increase in expenses with the increased expenditures weighing it around $1.6 million and increased revenue not far behind at about $1.35 million. However, according to Butler, additional costs came up in that time without much of an increase in revenue.
“Subsequent to the notice being published in the paper, the need to amend other funds became necessary,” Butler said during the hearing.
In the weeks between the release of the two notices and the date of the hearing, county expenses increased by $695,735. Revenue increased by just shy of $200,000.
According to the chart released by the county describing the changes to the county budget, rising costs are driven mostly by rising legal expenses and increased insurance and benefits costs. The largest expense listed is a transfer between county funds in the amount of $756,651. The expense will take that sum from the county’s Equipment Rental and Revolving Fund and deposit it into the county’s Solid Waste Capital Reserve Fund to help pay for equipment for the county’s Solid Waste Department.
The county’s use of fund balance is the result of nine cost increases of between $30,000 and $160,000. The rest is the result of many smaller expense increases. The two largest increases to be covered by fund balance and the only with a cost more than $100,000 will pay for increased public defender costs and a year-end adjustment for risk rate and retirement plan costs.
The county will shell out exactly $155,257 from its General Fund balance to pay for the increasing costs of indigent defense. Increases for public defenders have been expected following a recent decision by the Washington State Supreme Court. To see previous reporting on the subject, visit https://tinyurl.com/2narw3e8.
The county will pay out $124,208 for increased costs for personnel retirement plans and risk insurance. A total of $63,979 is headed to Lewis County Superior Court to pay for sick time and vacation time payouts to county employees due to “employee transitions.” Exactly $60,000 will be transferred out of the county’s general fund to the Middle Fork Water System, an aging water system the county has been looking to address in recent months.
Finally, $58,075 will go to the Lewis County commissioners’ budget to pay for higher than expected costs for outside legal counsel. The county employs outside legal counsel for lawsuits outside the realm of the Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. All of these funds and additional minor expenses will come from the county General Fund balance, resulting in a total use in the amount of $480,964.
The rest of the more than $770,000 used in county fund balance comes from many smaller increases of the county’s other smaller funds that pay for its different departments.
The county is using $289,315 of fund balances from its other funds. $62,500 will go to the Veterans Relief Fund citing increased costs for the Veterans Memorial Museum. $60,000 is allocated for the County Insurance Fund. The cost is listed as paying for increased costs for pensions and workers’ compensation.
$40,000 will go to the county’s Emergency Management Fund to cover extra costs for response and recovery following recent flooding in Lewis County. Another $37,049 will go to the Southwest Washington Fair Fund, once again for increasing retirement and risk costs for employees.
