Washington County is asking voters to approve an $11 million bond issue to help fill a multimillion dollar gap in its budget caused by years of mismanagement.

Inaccurate recordkeeping and slow audits caused officials to repeatedly overestimate the county’s reserves and underestimate how much it needed to raise taxes to cover its expenses. After using up millions from a federal COVID-19 stimulus bill and taking out millions more in short-term loans, the county is now deep in debt that it needs to refinance.

Communities across Maine are already livid over rising property taxes , and Washington County is one of the most politically conservative and poorest counties in the state. The bond issue is being pitched to voters by the county commission as being the only way to dig out of the hole

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