OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
July 2025
To the Citizens of Washington County
As County Administrator for Washington County, it is my privilege to serve our community, and I would like to reaffirm our tireless commitment to support our residents, businesses and visitors. The approved budget for fiscal year 2026 of $506.1 million applies resources in a responsible and effective manner and prioritizes this administration’s core values of transparency, accountability, and sustainability. The budget reflects community involvement and input while demonstrating fiscal responsibility and strategic community and infrastructure investments in key focus areas: public safety, capital improvements and economic development. An important role of the County Administrator is to develop a budget that identifies and invests in the priorities of our community. Budgets are an expression of our values; and the approved budget supports efficient, community-focused services. This budget also recognizes the efforts put forth by our county employees who work hard each day to make Washington County the best place to Live ● Work ● Play .
Washington County’s financial health and its economy are strong. Rating reports from the three largest bond rating agencies continue to reflect their confidence in Washington County. Washington County’s AA+ rating reflects its financial resilience assessment of ‘aaa’ . This assessment incorporates a high midrange level of budgetary flexibility assessment and assumes maintaining available reserves at approximately 20% of general fund spending. Other positive credit factors include a strong liability
burden, fixed carrying costs metric for debt service and annual pension spending at 9.4% of governmental expenditures (85 th percentile). This AA+ bond rating allows us to garner low interest rates that ultimately save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, which in turn is reinvested in our community. Outcome-based strategies were used in the development of the fiscal year 2026 budget. This strategy ensures that division budgets align with the County’s goals of making Washington County the best place to Live ● Work ● Play . In preparation of the budget, Budget and Finance Staff and I met with all of our departments and many of our partner agencies to review their
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