Auditor Higgins and Assessor Mills announce plans to resign

DAYTON–Auditor Anne Higgins and Assessor Chris Mills both informed the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) of their plans to resign Monday, August 15.

Higgins informed commissioners that her resignation will be effective at the end of the month. Mills’s resignation will be effective September 30 with plans to retire.

Commissioners responded that both were expected and they expressed appreciation for their work for the County.

Higgins updated that the departmental budgets were due and thanked those that got them to her on time to allow her move forward with the budget review process. She said the estimated Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is 3% for employees and 5% for elected officials. The addition of a Human Resources department is currently coming out of the Commissioner’s Office budget unless another funding source is decided.

Sheriff Joe Helm and Prosecutor Dale Slack affirmed the importance of traffic stops for apprehending criminals. As a result, Clerk Diane Dill from District Court reported the large increase in criminal filings. Carla Rowe provided the finance report for the second quarter. The Board of Health (BOH) convened for the first time with the additional members and appointed Commissioner Chair Marty Hall as chairperson for BOH and contracts were reviewed for various programs. A public hearing was held to approve a franchise agreement for providing the broadband utility as required for the fiber broadband construction project through the Port of Columbia. A lease agreement for the WSU Extension building adjacent to the current office location was approved.

Helm and Slack reported that with the added deputies, there has been an increase in traffic enforcement resulting in the apprehension of criminals. “We’ve gotten an insane amount of criminal cases out of them being proactive,” Slack said. District Court Clerk Diane Dill added the court is busy with the criminal filings and reported by the end of July there were 131 cases filed compared to last year’s total of 111. Helm thought it would be a record number by as much as 25-50% despite the law changes restricting officers. Commissioner Marty Hall responded, “Well, hopefully we’re going to notice less crime.”

The quarterly financial report was presented by Treasurer Carla Rowe. She stated, “Currently our revenues are on target, and there are no immediate concerns.” Her report specified that as of the of June the current expense cash and reserve is up at $3,356,000 over last year at $2,377,000. Property tax collection is at 51% which is similar to last year. Sales tax year-to-date is down to $258,000 from the previous year at $267,000. Revenues without sales and property taxes are up from last year at $793,000 compared to $748,000.

The Board of Health convened for the first time with the addition of three newly appointed Board members - Chuck Beleny, Debbie Davis, Nancy Laughery. Laughery was absent.

The first order of business was to select a chairperson. Commissioner Charles Amerein suggested in order to provide continuity through the transition from the previous Board of only commissioners to the six-person board, that the Commissioner Chairperson Marty Hall should be selected as chairperson for the BOH. The suggestion was approved unanimously.

The Board also reviewed two contract changes - one with the State Department of Health for an increase to the COVID funding by $884,000, and another with Walla Walla Department of Health for additional funding of $2800 for the ABCD Dental Program for community outreach and education.

A contract renewal was also reviewed with Tri-Cities Community Health, a non-profit that provides no-cost support to cooperating organizations. This is for the purpose of assisting and training Columbia County Public Health employees to enroll residents in Medicaid and Qualifying Health Programs (QHP) for food stamps, insurance and other programs.

The termination with the Walla Walla County for the Environmental Health program was discussed. Walla Walla County decided to work with the State for quality improvement using new designer software and program for septic systems. However, Public Health Administrator Katie Roughton said they will revisit a possible collaboration for septic services once their new system is established in the near future. She proposed developing a county position possibly shared with Garfield County for septic services. She pointed out that they are still contracted with Columbia County for support in epidemiology needs. Also, according to Roughton, there are food techs available for restaurant inspections and the like.

A public hearing was held to approve a franchise agreement for providing broadband utility to the County as is required before construction of the fiber broadband project through the Port of Columbia.

A lease agreement was approved for the WSU Extension Office to move to the vacant building adjacent to their current Main Street office. The current lease expires at the end of the month. The new lease offers a similar rate with less maintenance responsibilities for the lessee.