The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Wahkiakum County commissioners will hold their annual public hearing on their 2015 budgets next Monday, 10 a.m. in the commission's meeting room.

Commissioners went into the budget preparation process thinking they were looking at a revenue shortfall for the Current Expense Fund, which covers most courthouse services, and the preliminary budget shows $900,000 deficit that the board will have to clean up during the week. Estimated Current Expense revenues are $4.5 million, while expenditures are $5.4 million.

Overall the treasurer's predicted 2015 revenues are very close to those budgeted for 2014. Timber revenue will be down approximately $400,000, but property and other taxes are predicted to increase $300,000, and the commissioners are shifting $200,000 from the County Road levy to the Current Expense Fund.

Overall, most departments have budgets close to those of 2014.

Separate from the Current Expense Fund, the Road department budget totals $5.6 million. That's down from $9.9 budgeted for 2014; the reduction reflects the completion of new ferry construction.