ST. GEORGE — Washington County is looking at a potential 2024 budget of up to $186 million that continues to grow with the county and covers capital projects related to public safety and emergency services.

Capital projects being funded for the next year include an expansion of the Purgatory Correctional Facility, a dedicated storage facility for the county’s Emergency Management department and the interior renovation of the county’s Boulevard Office Building.

While it would have been easy to raise taxes this year, Commission Chair Adam Snow said, county officials have spent over 1,000 hours cutting back on what was initially over budget.

“This was a difficult year,” he said, adding that inflation has impacted the county just as much as everyone else. However, after all the hours of work on “cutting and tightening the budget again and again,” they came up with something that wouldn’t necessitate a tax hike.

Indeed, because of the new growth, this year’s general tax burden for county residents went down as more people moved to the area and helped spread around that burden, Snow said.

Overall, many of the fund items in the proposed budget see either slight increases here and there or small changes compared with the previous year.

A public hearing for the budget is set to take place during the County Commission’s Dec. 19 meeting at 5 p.m. at the new County Administration Building.

Highlights of the 2023 budget

While the budget is a fluid document and therefore subject to revision until it is officially adopted by the commission, the estimated total amount of the 2024 budget, for now, is around $186 million, Washington County Clerk/Auditor Ryan Sullivan said, adding he doesn’t believe that amount will change much over the coming weeks.

The amount is higher than the 2023 budget that started the year at an estimated $165 million.

“I know the public gets vocal when you have an increased budget,” Sullivan said. “I think a lot of that can be overcome with some education.”

The county has no proposed tax increases for 2024 and much of the new revenue has come from growth, Sullivan said.

“As new properties come on line and contribute to the (tax) base, the more revenue flows in,” he said during the commission meeting.

General fund

The budget’s general fund, which primarily funds public safety and the county’s administrative services, is estimated to run near-$44 million, which is $1.2 million more than the previous year’s budget. Expenses within the general fund appear to be largely stable from 2023 moving into 2024 with the exception of the County Clerk/Auditors Office.

Sullivan’s office will see an increase of over $417,000 for the next year due to it being a presidential election year.

The majority of the general fund comes from property and sales taxes and use fees at a combined $26.8 million. The remainder comes from various other fees and taxes the county collects.

The bulk of the general fund goes toward public safety at 53% and covers most of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Purgatory Correctional Facility. This is followed by related items like the County Attorney’s Office at 14% and the county justice court and public defenders at 4% each.

“Over half of the general fund goes to public safety, so you can see Washington County backs (the blue),” Sullivan said.

Convention and tourism

The budget’s convention and tourism fund makes up a notable chunk of the budget at $23 million over the previous year’s $20.8 million. Much of the revenue comes from transient room taxes collected from stays at hotels and other lodgings. This accounts for $15 million, which is $1 million over 2023. State law requires that nearly half of the transient room taxes collected go to promoting visitation to the area.

“A lot of sales tax for cities and the county comes from the tourists,” Snow said in reference to the county’s work on getting tourists to visit and spend money locally. “They spend a lot of money. If you didn’t have that, your residents would be paying that tax – so tourists actually do contribute a fair amount and offset things residents would have to pay for.”

It has been estimated by county officials that money brought into the county through tourism and major events saves residents between $1,200-$1,400 on their property taxes each year.

Municipal services

Municipal services cover services to the unincorporated communities within the county and provide additional funding to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for patrol. It also funds public works, fire control, community development and related services.

The 2024 budget estimate for this fund is $11.9 million, which is slightly less than 2023’s estimates. Of the proposed amount, the Sheriff’s Office accounts for $8.85 million of it.

Other funds of note

The county’s assessing and collecting fund comes in at $9.6 million and covers the county assessor and treasurer offices with a projected increase of over $500,000.

County recreation comes in at $7.8 million over 2023’s $6.17 million and covers events like the county fair and the maintenance of Legacy Park, Confluence Park, the Shooting Sports Park, the county’s portion of the Dixie Convention Center and various other county-related events and facilities.

This is followed by the county’s B and C road fund at $5.8 million and doesn’t change much when compared to 2023.

The county library system gets a projected $5.17 million in 2024, which is a slight jump over 2023.

Additional funds and expenses that make up the remainder can be reviewed in the slides provided below this article, courtesy of Washington County and the Community Education Channel.

Capital projects of note

The Purgatory Correctional Facility will see an expansion that has been in the works for some time now. It involves the addition of a dedicated medical wing and housing unit with up to 62 beds. The bookings area is also being remodeled to enhance officer and inmate safety.

The expansion will help the county better care for any sick inmates while also saving on costs associated with transporting them to the hospital and having sheriff’s deputies standing guard while there, Snow said.

The Emergency Management department is getting a building to store equipment like trailers, sandbags, radios and so on. It is set to be built in the Legacy Park area in Hurricane.

The Boulevard Office Building at the corner of 200 East and St. George Boulevard is being renovated inside for future use by the county’s Justice Court and the United States District Court. The latter will be leased space there.

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