It’s great to see so many Island County residents interested in the county budget and willing to express their opinions through messages to county officials and the Whidbey News-Times, as well as online at the newspaper’s Web site. It’s vital that citizens express their opinions at a time when county leaders may have to make severe cuts based on what they feel are the community’s priorities.

At the same time, it’s more important than ever for residents to educate themselves about county government and the budget. It’s evident from many people’s comments that there is some misunderstandings about how local government works. Island Transit, for example, is not part of county government, so making riders pay won’t allow the county to hire more deputies. The county can’t use Conservation Futures funds or tourism money for anything outside those programs. The Beach Watchers program is not funded through county current expense funds, so cutting the program wouldn’t help. The county only receives a little over 7 percent of property taxes that property owners pay in the county.

Volunteers are in the process of putting together a civic engagement process to educate voters about what the county does. The county’s Web site has a lot of information about the budget, county departments and mandated services. The commissioners plan to have a forum Tuesday, July 13, at 6 p.m. at Skagit Valley College, Hayes Hall, Room 137, in Oak Harbor. It will ultimately be up to voters to decide whether to increase property taxes to keep the county funded at the current level.