County staff: $26.4M in ARPA obligated; property tax relief fund sits at about $779,000

County staff told the Washington County Board that the county has obligated its ARPA funds and reviewed the general fund reserve policy and the county's property tax relief fund.

Aaron Dahl, a county staff member, told the board that "we got $26,400,000 in ARPA, and it was all obligated by the 2024." He said the ARPA money that remains must be spent "by the end of this year" and that a fuller report will be presented at the next meeting because the ARPA packet did not make it into the meeting materials.

Dahl also presented the fund balance report, noting that the county targets a reserve of 12 to 16 percent of operational expenditures and that amounts above that level move into a property tax relief fund up to 20 percent. "About 779,000" currently sits in that property tax relief fund, Dahl said. He described the 12–16 percent guideline as a best-practice operational reserve and said the county treats amounts above that level as property tax relief funds.

Supervisors asked whether budget transfers are drawn from the property tax relief fund and how the biennial budget uses the fund. Dahl said general fund transfers come from that reserve and that the board typically budgets the use of roughly "half $1,000,000" in the second year of the biennium; he and other speakers indicated this is commonly treated as a planned use of about $500,000 in the budget but described the wording in the report as "half $1,000,000." County Executive Joe Man added context, saying the property tax relief fund was created after the 2008 recession to smooth tax impacts in downturns and called the fund "unique to Washington County."

Board members asked follow-up questions about the mechanics of the reserve and how one-time spending from the property tax relief fund has been used in recent budgets to fund temporary positions and to reduce the property tax levy. Dahl said that the fund has been drawn down on multiple occasions and that the board typically adjusts the budget or does a cleanup to modify planned uses if needed.

Dahl said a full ARPA spending report will be provided at the next meeting so supervisors can review how the $26.4 million has been allocated and spent.