Franklin County wants outsider to sort out bicounty finances

Franklin County wants an outside auditor to help determine just how much Benton County subsidizes bicounty operations.

Benton County put a price tag to its contention it subsidizes Franklin County by nearly $662,000 a year because it doesn’t fully charge its neighbor the cost to administer joint operations such as Superior Court, the juvenile justice system and human services.

On Wednesday, Franklin County commissioners directed the county administrator to work with his Benton County counterpart on bringing in an outsider to comb through the numbers.

“There is disagreement on what we think is fair and they think is fair,” said Franklin County Administrator Keith Johnson.

David Sparks, the Benton County administrator, was skeptical. He called it “ridiculous” for Franklin County to expect Benton County to pay for an outside audit.

Benton and Franklin counties have a long history of cooperating on bicounty operations.

Generally, Benton County administers programs such as the courts and human services and bills Franklin County for its share under interlocal agreements. Benton County’s elected leaders assert the agreements fail to fully account for the real cost to administer the programs. Calling it an illegal use of public funds to use one county’s resources to support another, they have sought to terminate or amend the agreements.

The dispute dates to 2014 when the two sides began arguing over human services. It continued in 2015 when Benton County notified its neighbor it was terminating the agreement for the bicounty Office of Public Defense at the end of the year.

It received no response and the office dissolved in December. The split became permanent in January when the two counties failed to negotiate an extension.

Now, the Benton-Franklin Superior Court system is under scrutiny. The two counties combined with neighbors at the time of Washington statehood to operate a massive regional judicial district. The Benton-Franklin Superior Court is 65 years old and can only be split by the Washington Legislature, which Benton County Commissioner Jerome Delvin has expressed interest in pursuing.

Franklin County commissioners counter that the subsidy complaint is new and that their county is ready to pay its fair share, if “fair” can be worked out.

“We insist on it,” Franklin County Commissioner Brad Peck said Wednesday.

Franklin County Commission Chairman Rick Miller agreed, adding that the two counties need to sit down to discuss the issue. That’s a key sticking point for Benton County, which accuses Franklin County of refusing to meet.

There was a thawing this week when Miller and his Benton County counterpart, Shon Small, made plans to meet to discuss a larger gathering of the full boards.

While Franklin County leaders say they’re committed to joint operations, they hinted at a future split.

“If it makes more sense to have separate operations, we can have those conversations,” Peck said.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Franklin County wants outsider to sort out bicounty finances."