Maine county asks voters to borrow $11M to cover years of budget mismanagement

Washington County asks voters to borrow $11M

Washington County Sheriff's Office in Machias. Photo by Linda Coan O'Kresik of the Bangor Daily News.Washington County is asking voters to approve an $11 million bond issue to help fill a multimillion dollar gap in its budget caused by years of mismanagement. Inaccurate recordkeeping and slow audits caused officials to repeatedly overestimate the county’s reserves and underestimate how much it needed to raise taxes to cover its expenses. After u…

Maine county asks voters to borrow $11M to cover years of budget mismanagement

Washington County is asking voters to approve an $11 million bond issue to help fill a multimillion dollar gap in its budget caused by years of mismanagement. Inaccurate recordkeeping and slow audits caused officials to repeatedly overestimate the county’s reserves and underestimate how much it needed to raise taxes to cover its expenses. After using up millions from a federal COVID-19 stimulus bill and taking out millions more in short-term loa…