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2025-09-10 All-day budget meetingsAll-Day Budget Meetings September 10, 2025 9:02 a.m. Present: Commissioner Brummer, Commissioner Pollock, County Manager Ryan Barrett, Becky Butler, Sherri Dokken, Alex Murray, Jared Larson, Fionna Velazquez, Kate Chatterton, Graham Gowing, Treasurer Arny Davis, Shelly Stewart, Community Development Director Mindy Brooks, Sarah Hensley, Bradley Clark, Dahkota Harmanson, Judge Andrew Toynbee, Angie Hodge, Coroner Warren McLeod, Chelsie Niemcziek, Gabe Anzelini, Amanda Price, Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer, Public Health and Social Services Director Meja Handlen, Chief Chris Sweet, Brittani Halverson, Drug Court Manager Stephanie Miller Citizens Budget Committee members: Usha Sahadeva Brooks, Tim Wood, Bill Serrahn, Paul Crowner, Michael Blessing, Bill Serrahn Guest(s): Recorder: Rieva Lester Public comment: None. Facilities (9:02 a.m. start time) Director and representative(s) present: Alex Murray and Jared Larson. Details: Alex Murray provided an overview of the services Facilities provides. Alex noted that Facilities’ 2026 preliminary budget, which is estimated at $4.9 million, reflects a scant 2.06 percent increase over the 2025 budget, which was $4.8 million. He said Facilities is striving to keep expenditures manageable, despite adding additional responsibilities and grappling with increases to insurance premiums, utilities, fuel costs, repairs, materials and postage rates. Bill Serrahn suggested allowing citizens to “adopt” county parks. Alex Murray noted the county uses park hosts to offset the costs of maintaining its parks. Treasurer’s Office (9:37 a.m. start time) Elected and representative(s) present: Treasurer Arny Davis and Office Manager Shelly Stewart Details: Arny Davis said the Treasurer’s Office is requesting an additional roughly $155,000 to cover costs associated with its conversion to a new tax assessment system. Discussion ended at 9:52 a.m. Community Development (10:28 a.m. start time) Director and representative(s) present: Community Development Director Mindy Brooks, Office Manager Sarah Hensley, Permit Tech Lead Bradley Clark Details: Mindy said Community Development is proposing 3 percent increase to all permit fees and an 8.5 percent increase to Planning permit fees as well as a $10 technology fee on all permits to cover funding gaps. She said those actions will cover increased costs for COLAs, gas, software, etc., as well as a fourth planner for urban growth area (UGA) permit reviews. Mindy said Community Development also is requesting a General Fund transfer totaling $513,578 to cover costs – including position costs – that cannot be covered by fees. Clerk’s Office (11:03 a.m. start time) Elected present: Clerk Scott Tinney Details: Clerk Scott Tinney said expenditures in the Clerk’s Office budget reflect wages and salaries, interfund rates and professional services. Scott said the preliminary budget represents a decrease from the previous year’s budget, primarily due to attrition. IT (11:20 a.m. start time) Director and representative(s) present: IT Director Gabe Anzelini and Business and Office Manager Amanda Price Details: IT Director Gabe Anzelini said IT is proposing an increase to ER&R rates to include monitors and to cover future anticipated equipment replacement costs. He noted that current rates do not fully cover costs associated with 911. Gabe said IT is requesting additional funding to contract with Pure Storage to replace aging storage equipment that is no longer supported. He said there are two contract options: • Six-year refresh: 734,000 upfront, plus an additional $330,000 every six years. • Three-year refresh: 589,000 upfront, plus an additional $198,000 every three years. At noon, Commissioner Brummer recessed the meeting until 1:30 p.m. Human Resources (1:30 p.m. start time) Director and representative(s) present: HR Director Angie Hodge Details: Angie Hodge said HR is requesting a $122,644 budget increase to cover the following: • NeoGov applicant tracking system: $13,220 • Governmentjobs.com subscription: $3,877 • Training budget: $2,000 • Laptops: $5,550 • Hire administrative assistant to help with records management: $98,000 Coroner’s Office (2:04 p.m. start time) Elected and representative(s) present: Coroner Warren McLeod and Chief Deputy Coroner Chelsie Niemcziek Details: Warren McLeod said the Coroner’s Office is requesting a budget increase of $34,459 to move a part-time deputy coroner to a full-time employee position. BOCC (2:49 p.m. start time) Elected and representative(s) present: Becky Butler, Ryan Barrett Details: Becky Butler and Ryan Barrett reviewed budgets for the BOCC, County Administration, Distressed Counties, Air Pollution, Senior Services contribution, the Board of Equalization and Washington Association of County Officials (WACO) and Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC). Mental Health Tax (3:30 p.m. start time) Director and representative(s) present: Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer, Public Health and Social Services Director Meja Handlen, Chief Chris Sweet, Brittani Halverson, Drug Court Manager Stephanie Miller Details: Program representatives outlined how the Mental Health Tax is used to fund Drug Court, Family Recovery Court, the Nurse Family Partnership program, mental health and substance use disorder treatment in the jail, juvenile medical services, and the Mental Health Alternative through the Prosecutor’s Office. Meeting adjourned at 4:17 p.m.