Summer 2024 Newsletter
In April 2024, the District took over full responsibility for its financial operations. Prior to April 2024, we relied on the county to manage our finances, similar to other local taxing districts such as fire, library, and the port. Tasks such as managing our accounts, processing payments, and handling payroll, were previously done in collaboration with the county.
This has been a challenge primarily because we have grown so much with the purchase of Village at the Harbor in 2022 and the launch of home care services in 2024. We continue to be responsible for San Juan Island EMS. The addition of five Medicaid beds at Village at the Harbor, varying pay schedules, more complex budgets across multiple business lines, numerous employee types, and the overall need for more complex financial management; all led the district to begin this process in 2023.
The transition from San Juan County managing our finances to managing them in-house through Tyler Technologies was a major accomplishment that took over a year. The District did not take on additional staff to manage this process, which saved significant costs but extended the workload of our employees. We are happy to announce that cutover proceeded without incident on April 1st, 2024.Early in July 2024, the county auditor’s office announced that they were cutting most financial services to all junior taxing districts at the end of the year. Given our size and the complexity of our own transition, we’re grateful that we were able to complete this project prior to this announcement.
Good administration forms a sound basis for successful operations. This project adds tremendously to our capabilities.
We’d like to especially thank Finance Director Stephen Wambsganss who oversaw the project, Human Resources Specialist Hannah Johnson who handles payroll, and Administrative Specialist Laura Jack who does accounts payable and receivable. Each of these employees went above and beyond, and this would not have happened without them. The broader leadership and administrative team put in hundreds of hours as well.
Anna Lisa Lindstrum, Board Chair; Nathan Butler, Superintendent; Evan Perrollaz, Deputy Superintendent