MARIETTA – The Washington County Commissioners passed their budget for the 2019 fiscal year Monday, including an overall increase of 3.5 percent. That makes the county budget $58,914,913 in 2019.

The anticipated revenues in the county’s general fund are $16,367,548, an 8.5 percent increase from 2017. These extra funds in both the general fund and total budget come from two main areas of revenue, said commissioners.

First, the sales tax revenue going into the fund is estimated to be a 2.5 percent gross increase from last year. The increase changes last year’s trend of losses in the sales tax revenue of almost 2.5 percent.

The other is the an increase in property taxes. Washington County Auditor Bill McFarland said the main reason for the increase is the county paying off the juvenile detention center loan.

“We can move the money we used to pay for that into the county’s general fund,” he said.

Another reason for the increase in revenue from property taxes is a new monthly payment system for back property taxes. McFarland said the new program has been received very well by the public, getting more funds into the county’s coffers more quickly.

The 2019 budget will also have money for pay raises for county employees, but they won’t be guaranteed for every worker. Commissioner David White said the 2.5 percent increase in each department’s payroll budget will be used at the discretion of each department’s director.

“They will determine who deserves a pay raise and who doesn’t,” he said.

The largest expected expenditure from the general fund is the operation of the Washington County Jail. The correction facilities budget for 2019 is $3,196,589, almost 20 percent of the entire fund.

Even though expense budgets have remained the same for all county departments going into the new year, some new expenditures will have a slight negative effect on the county’s bottom line.

Two new employees coming to work for the county will mean an increase in the payroll. One new employee will work with the jail transporting inmates to court or transferring inmates to other facilities.

The second new employee will work with buildings and maintenance. The $10-an-hour employee will be responsible for the upkeep of the Children Services building, which is currently being taken care of by a contracted worker.