This week, San Juan County Council looked at potential court cuts in an ongoing department-by-department effort.
In the wake of a failed property tax measure in April and projections of a $3.7 million budget deficit, the San Juan County Council has begun making some tough decisions about what services to cut.
“I knew there was going to be cuts, but I had no idea the revenue projection was going to come in as low as it did,” Councilmember Kari McVeigh said last week. “All of a sudden, we’re faced with this kind of bad 2026 — which we did make almost $2 million worth of cuts — and an even worse 2027.”
Due to the state property tax code, high inflation and other factors, San Juan County predicted a $6.2 million budget deficit for 2026 and responded with nearly $2 million in cuts. Since the levy lid lift measure failed in April, county officials are bracing for a new $3.7 million deficit through 2027.
The failed measure aimed to boost the property tax rate from $.54 to $0.85 per $1,000 of assessed value — a rate voters approved in 2019 — and generate $4.5 million annually. This meant about $22 more per month for the median homeowner.
Cuts to courts
Throughout June, departments will present their budgets and potential cuts to provide the council with the whole picture to weigh community needs.
To help balance the 2026 budget, the San Juan County Superior Court cut the judge pro tem budget by 35%, office supplies by 23%, small tools by 100%, livestreams of court proceedings by 100%, attorneys for petitioners in protection orders by 52%, travel outside of San Juan County by 100% and conferences and training by 100%, according to Superior Court Judge Kathryn Loring at the June 9 council meeting.
To look at what may be cut next year, staff highlighted what remains that is not under state mandate. Court reporters cost $14,500. Attorneys for petitions in civil protection order proceedings cost $4,600. Guardians ad litem in high-risk family law costs $6,435.
Court staff is currently bare bones, Loring said. Every year they’ve asked for more staff hours and the answer has been no.
In the 2025 legislative session, the state approved the option of an additional .1% public safety sales tax, which likely would apply to courts. The council will continue to discuss if it wants to go in that direction.
Next to go
The budget discussion will continue at the June 15 council meeting.
The council will first put “non-mandatory” programs on the chopping block, McVeigh said, but potential cuts are extensive.
“Parks are not mandatory. Fair is not mandatory. Children’s vaccines are not mandatory. Senior services are not mandatory. Victim services are not mandatory,” she said. “There’s so many things that the county does that are not mandatory but important to the wellbeing.”
Other funding that could be among the first to go is for the Agricultural Resources Committee, Washington State University Extension’s 4-H program and Master Gardener Foundation of San Juan County.
“I’m being deluged right now from Master Gardeners saying, ‘Please don’t cut it. Please don’t cut it.’ The list is long,” McVeigh said.
The people’s ask
The April property-tax measure failed by about a 60% to 40% margin, with 4,551 no votes and 2,950 yes votes.
“I think it was the perfect timing against it,” McVeigh said. “I think that the war in Iran played into this. I think the escalation of gas prices and the economy in general, which is why the county needed the levy. But I think that we have a lot of people in San Juan Island, they had just passed the fire district levy and the school district levy. So, I think there was a lot of levy fatigue from people.”
An organized campaign in support of the levy might have helped, she said, but ultimately, “it was just this absolute perfect storm and headwinds that at this point were clearly not something we could overcome.”
Per state law, municipalities can only increase property tax by 1% per year unless they get the approval for larger increases from voters. Meanwhile, costs continue to rise at a much higher rate. In addition, federal funding has ceased for many services such as Washington’s Women, Infants and Children program.
The state, which is also experiencing a deficit, passes mandates to the county.
“The only way to get it paid is to go to the people,” McVeigh said. “Any way you look at it, you’re paying taxes and taxes. I get it. It’s a structural problem. It’s a leadership problem in the state and national levels. And so here we are.”
Letters to Salish Current show support for the levy lid lift measure.
The quality of island life is no accident, wrote Katie Fleming of San Juan Island. “It’s the result of sustained investment in parks and programs, environmental stewardship and long-term planning around sustainability and climate change.”
Sustaining employees will allow the county to pursue external grants to fund infrastructure efforts to support affordable housing and energy security, wrote Chom and Chris Greacen of Lopez Island. “The investment in this workforce will pay for itself many times over the moment a crisis strikes and we are well prepared.”
Clinton and Kathryn Gautier of Friday Harbor share a combined 45 years of experience with 4-H, they wrote. “As homeowners and property taxpayers, we understand the weight of any tax increase. However, we also value the return on that investment. In our rural community, 4-H is where youth learn financial literacy, civic responsibility and the public speaking skills needed to advocate for themselves.”
However, not everyone was convinced.
Letters to the Journal of the San Juan Islands shared concerns about the cost of the special election, accusations of biased messaging and the role of government compared to nonprofits.
“Good intentions left unchecked have led to an insatiable entitlement for more and more tax money, treating property owners like personal ATMs rather than responsibly scrutinizing their own budgets and making difficult decisions necessary to live within their means,” wrote Lauren Cohen of San Juan Island.
San Juan Islander David Jenkens spoke to levy fatigue. “When San Juan County seeks funding above an existing budget, the first solution proposed is another levy lid lift,” he wrote. “School levy, hospital levy, EMS levy, Fire District levy, Library levy. Doing without it is framed in urgent, drastic terms. It almost sounds as if Sheriff, EMS, hospital, and all county services will shut down without a YES vote. This is not true.”
According to San Juan Islander Stephanie Johnson O’Day, continuing to increase taxes will make the islands only affordable to the wealthy.
The county has yet to discuss if the next levy ask will be lower or come with greater campaigning.
“We are being compelled to live totally within our means, and those means are not very much,” McVeigh said at the June 9 meeting. “It will be very Solomon-like decisions on how many babies get split. And unfortunately, I don’t think the general public understands this that well, that 2028 doesn’t look any better. So anything that we do now has to think about the level of service. Because if we cut all (non)mandatory, by 2028 we will be at a level of service of all mandatory. I hope that we don’t have to do that, but I didn’t want to do this now.”
—By Sam Fletcher