More people who used a Thurston County budget simulation tool supported fulfilling budget requests, rather than rejecting them, for public works, employee raises, law enforcement and more.

The county launched the tool three weeks ago to solicit public feedback on which General Fund budget requests the Board of County Commissioners should approve, since it has a $4 million surplus.

Results from the tool informed the board's deliberations during budget meetings last week, as the board prepared to finalize its midterm budget adjustment for 2023, the second year in its biennial budget.

Though many requests received public support, the hard part was balancing the budget, said senior budget analyst Jennifer Smith during an Oct. 24 meeting.

"You hear a lot from people, 'If I were in charge, I would do this,'" Smith said. "And then when they actually have to see what it is they are trading off, it's not as easy as they think it would be."

In all, 159 people submitted budgets via the tool as of the Oct. 21 deadline, according to county documents. However, the tool received 923 page views and the average user spent more than 11 minutes on the site.

Over 300,000 people live in Thurston County, according to the Washington state Office of Financial Management. Despite the relatively low participation, Smith said she felt encouraged by the feedback the tool prompted.

"I think my biggest takeaway is that people are truly interested in what we're doing and it's not always complaints,"...

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