
Commissioner Hawkins Wants Balanced Budget for Chelan County
Budget became a topic of discussion at last week's Chelan County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Commissioner Brad Hawkins established multiple motions aiming to improve the balance between expenditures and revenue. Chelan County currently has a $4.1 million deficit for its 2025 budget. None of his four motions received a second from his fellow commissioners.

"Over the last four years, that approved budget deficit is growing and growing and, over the past couple years, it [has] grown especially," Hawkins said.
He adds that there's a number of reasons why this has happened: inflationary costs, employee wage increases, and revenues did not quite hit the county's goal in 2024.
"I am concerned about that."
Hawkins says the county's financial health is in good shape, but he is worried about the deficit inflating even more.
"The reserves are solid, so I'm really grateful for that," Hawkins said. "The county's budget is growing a deficit and that is the difference in the budgeted revenues with the budgeted expenditures."
Chelan County does have a $12.2 million unreserved funds balance, which acts as a cushion. Hawkins adds that historically, Chelan County has a habit of underspending its budget.
"I think there's a comfort level with the reserves being as healthy as they are, but that's not necessarily something that will last forever," Hawkins said. He also specified there is a difference between budgeted expenditures and actual expenditures, noting that the year-over-year underspending of the county's budget has been a benefit.
Both Commissioners Shon Smith and Kevin Overbay expressed varying levels of dissent over Hawkins' budget proposals.
Hawkins took over as District 3 Commissioner in January.
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