PORT ANGELES — Clallam County had a record month for sales tax collections and a “staggering” amount of camping revenue in January, commissioners learned Monday.
Building permits and septic system inspections also were brisk last month, which “bodes well” for the upcoming construction season, County Administrator Jim Jones said.
Jones delivered his first monthly “how did we do” budget report, comparing actual performance to the 2017 budget.
The county had $1.49 million in general-fund revenue and spent $3.07 million, a disparity that the 11th year administrator described as normal for January.
The three commissioners requested the monthly updates as part of an effort to work with other elected officials and department heads to reduce a $2.29 million projected draw on general fund reserves by $1.5 million this year.
Clallam County last month collected about 4.1 percent of a budgeted $36.67 million in revenue.
“My analysis is that that’s actually a little higher than we typically see in the first month of each year, 4 percent,” Jones said in the work session.
“And the reason it was higher is we had a sales tax increase, January sales tax of $418,938. It was an all-time, all-time high.”
The next-closest month for sale tax collections was about $80,000 less than January, Jones said.
January sales tax revenue is money that was collected by the state Department of Revenue in November, Jones said.
Property tax, the county’s largest source of income, is collected in lumps in April and October.
Camping fees from Salt Creek Recreation Area and Dungeness Recreation Area, the county’s main parks with overnight accommodations, accounted for about $122,000 in miscellaneous revenue in January.
“That number is amazing,” Commissioner Randy Johnson said.
Jones agreed, saying winter camping at Salt Creek and Dungeness has been “staggering.”
“Both of our parks have a significant amount of use in the winter — both of our big camping parks — which is cool,” Jones said.
Building permits and septic inspections were also high for the dead of winter, accounting for most of the $50,300 received for all licenses and permits.
“We’re seeing building permits in January,” Jones said.
“What’s it going to look like hopefully in April, May when the building season really starts? It should explode.”
As usual for January, property taxes, grant reimbursements, charges for goods and services and the sale of county timber were low compared to the 12-month baseline, Jones said.
“They don’t normally come in strong until March and April, and those are the biggest generators of our revenue, collectively,” Jones said.
On the expense side, Clallam County used $3.07 million from its general fund, or 7.9 percent of a budgeted $38.96 million.
January expenditures are typically closer to the 8.33 percent — or one-twelfth — monthly baseline than revenues, Jones said.
Salaries and benefits, the county’s largest expense, were “somewhat lower” than the baseline because 5.67 budgeted positions had not been filled.
Clallam County’s general fund supported the equivalent of 296.49 full-time workers in January compared to a budgeted 302.16.
“Next month, I expect to firm up tentative agreements with two department heads to not fill 2.5 of those 5.67 unfilled FTE [full time equivalent] positions, getting us some of that much needed net operational savings we planned on,” Jones said in an executive summary to his report.
After the work session, commissioners held a joint meeting with Port of Port Angeles commissioners to hear quarterly updates from the Composite Recycling Technology Center, Small Business Development Center and Economic Development Corp.
Port commissioners also presented proclamations to Clallam County Commissioner Bill Peach and Forks City/Planner Rod Fleck for their commitment to timber issues such as state Department of Natural Resources-management of 92,500 acres of county trust lands.
County commissioners postponed a scheduled discussion on strategic planning because of scheduling conflicts that arose at the end of their four-hour meeting.
The strategic planning discussion will begin at 9:30 a.m. today in Room 160 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles.
The regular business meeting will follow at 10 a.m.
County board meetings are streamed live and archived at www.clallam.net. Click on “Board of Commissioners” and “Meeting Agendas &Minutes.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
