The 2016 budget “is one of the largest policy documents we have, and I am super-proud of it,” Commissioner Jill Johnson said during Monday’s public hearing.

Commissioner Helen Price Johnson later added, “We found common ground as a board and came forward with a really balanced budget for 2016.”

The new budget “includes more revenue, which means the county can provide more services to its residents,” said Elaine Marlow, the county’s budget director, in an earlier interview.

The budget is 8 percent larger than last year’s. It remedied some salary inequities, funded improvements to the jail and the sheriff’s department and continued support for the 4-H program, which Johnson called “essential for teaching youth about accountability and leadership.”

The county’s financial reserves “are stable and strong,” she added.

The commissioners voted to collect an additional $20,107 over this year’s take, spread among the entire base of Island County property taxpayers, in its current-expense levy. That represents a 0.25 percent increase over this year’s current-expense tax levy.

They agreed to collect an additional $83,948 for its road levy and an additional $6,916 toward the Conservation Futures Fund.

Each of those numbers represents a one percent increase over this year’s tax.