MACHIAS — The Washington County Budget Committee is sounding the alarm over what they’re calling a financial crisis.

County officials say the county is nearly $8 million in debt and could soon run out of money unless voters approve a plan to fix it.

Officials say they didn’t realize the full extent of the problem until late last year when an audit of 2021 was finally completed.

“It wasn’t that the county offices weren’t trying. We had difficulty finding auditors. One was hired, one was fired… and once we finally got the audit for 2021 that’s when it was brought to our attention that we were short,” said Sen. Marianne Moore, a Republican representing Washington County.

To address the shortfall, voters will see a question on the November 4 ballot asking whether to approve an $11 million

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