Washington County Commissioners met Thursday and what began as a very run of the mill meeting, took a sudden turn during public comment. Washington County Controller April Sloane took the microphone and announced results of her audit of county spending for the first quarter of this year. Sloane indicated troubling results from last year and the beginning of this year. According to Sloane, the county jail was just over $1 million over budget in 2023. The county is already exceeding its 2024 budget by approximately $1 million. Sloane alleges that the ransom paid to rectify a cyber attack earlier this year was illegally funded by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). She further questioned some payroll usage of ARPA funds. She also stated that nearly $46,000 in hotel taxes were not collected in 2022. Most recently Sloane stated that a salary request from Chief of Staff Daryl Price was sent back for review before being presented to the salary board. That review of numbers saved taxpayers $12,000 in annual salary for one position. Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman says that Sloane’s statement is inaccurate. Spending is up because of the use of the $98 million the county received through ARPA and that all expenditures are legal under the act. He further stated that if anyone has a dispute with the spending of those funds, they can file a complaint with the District Attorney. Sherman says that he and his colleagues will do everything in their power to keep that ARPA money in Washington County.