2014 preliminary county budget: Departments $1.3 million in red

Whitman County elected officials and department managers received some unwelcome news about the 2014 budget Tuesday morning.

Administrative director Gary Petrovich told commissioners during a budget discussion that the projected budget deficit is estimated at a little more than $1.3 million, a sum which equals one tenth of the 2013 budget.

The projected deficit is the difference between the county’s projected revenue and the proposed budgets of county departments.

Petrovich said the deficit results from decreased revenue and increased expenses.

“We’re looking at a significant deficit here,” he...