Winners will take office with leaner budgets, fewer employees
Elaina Thompson of the Islands Oil Spill Association saw what was coming and planned accordingly — and did so just in time.
San Juan County residents voted overwhelmingly in April to turn down a property tax increase that would have, in part, helped support discretionary services that are not required by law. The county council blamed the failed tax measure, inflation and stagnated revenue for a $3.8 million deficit. It balanced the 2027 budget, approved Oct. 5, by reorganizing departments, leaving vacant positions unfilled and reducing support for Islands Oil Spill Association and other nonmandated services.
The nonprofit oil spill responder found ways in advance to make up for the funding it would lose. Thompson, the association’s executive director, said she’s written $100,000 in grants and started to build a fundraising infrastructure to ease the organization’s dependence on county funding.
“We’re gonna be all right,” she said. “I’m just thankful the county is only cutting one-third of the funding they give us, versus 100%, because that would have been catastrophic.”
Residents of San Juan, Skagit and Whatcom counties can expect more of the same as county officials — including candidates that prevail on election night — enter 2027 challenged to maintain levels of service with leaner budgets and fewer employees.
Here’s a look at how the candidates in contested races across the three counties say they’ll tackle the money woes.
Eliminating duplicative expenses
Natasha Warmenhoven, who is seeking a second term as San Juan County auditor, said in campaign materials that her goals include deploying the county’s enterprise resource planning software, which would integrate financial management, revenue collection, human resources and utility billing into a single shared system.
Heather Lee, former chief deputy auditor, said the county’s new software is a duplicative expense because the county already has software that was never fully rolled out. That’s $150,000, she said, that could have gone into the general fund.
Warmenhoven wasn’t available for comment, but said in her campaign materials that the current software “is reaching its end of life.”
Lee said she’ll resume some practices of her former boss, the now-retired Milene Henley.
“She really dug down deep into the budgets and sent a balanced budget every year,” Lee said. “She sat down with individual departments and, as she called it, ‘dusted the crumbs away.’ The current auditor is not doing that. She’s not taking the time to really dissect budgets with individual departments and provide insight and guidance into what I believe are crucial activities to the county right now.”
Warmenhoven said in her campaign materials that she worked closely with the county council and department heads on the 2024-25 and 2026 budgets amid “significant economic pressures.”
Finding efficiencies, new revenue
Whatcom County is facing projected general fund deficits of $8.3 million in 2027 and $14.3 million in 2028. County Executive Satpal Sidhu, who is in the middle of his second term, has directed all departments to plan for 7% to 10% expense reductions, a hiring freeze, suspension of discretionary overtime and voluntary employee furloughs.
By law, local governments can raise property taxes 1% each year. But they can choose to bank, or hold off, on those increases until later. Sidhu proposes implementing banked increases to help balance the budget.
Skagit County officials say rising operational costs and constrained general funds have created a $10 million gap heading into 2027. The county is considering separating mental health, developmental disabilities and veterans assistance levies from the general fund levy, potentially raising an additional $1.3 million.
Skagit County auditor candidate Jeremy Harrison-Smith, who is Northwest Washington regional representative for the governor’s office, proposes expanding use of electronic payments, cross-training employees and creating a joint front desk for the assessor, auditor and treasurer’s offices.
Mark Hulst, also a candidate for Skagit County auditor, is a former Mount Vernon City Council member who chaired the council’s finance committee. He said some auditor employees have reached out and shared their frustration with him, and it revolves around customer service.
“They don’t feel that they’re providing adequate customer service and they’re looking for somebody that can bring a solution to that,” Hulst said. He said if he’s elected his first order of business will be to “sit down with employees, find out what’s working well, find out where the obstacles are, hear their ideas on how to overcome those obstacles,” he said. “They’ve got institutional knowledge. I’m the new guy coming in as an administrator. I need to learn what their obstacles are. We want to work through those.”
Hulst said he would cross-train employees so they can help out in, say, recording and licensing when the workload is heavy and return to their regular positions when it’s not. Licensing is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; he would expand those hours.
Hulst said good customer service can translate to a measurable increase in revenue. “If you’re open longer for the public to be able to come in and do vehicle or vessel licensing, that’s increased revenue,” he said. “I can’t give you a dollar amount, but when you face a $10 million budget shortfall, you’re looking for anything you can.
Sometimes savings are hiding in plain sight, according to Lee, the San Juan County auditor candidate. She said her county could save $500,000 over 10 years in printing costs if it printed documents in black and white rather than color. “I know this sounds like such a minor issue, but when you’re printing 5,000 to 6,000 copies of a publication that goes out to the community, it really adds up,” she said.
Skagit County Treasurer Jackie Brunson, who is seeking reelection, said she implemented electronic excise filing, digitization of records and cross-training staff to improve customer service and operational efficiency.
“I have also reduced banking costs and continue seeking innovative ways to streamline processes and better serve taxpayers,” she said in her campaign materials.
Skagit County treasurer candidate Timothy Garrison, a business owner, said in his campaign materials that he will focus on “eliminating fraud and protecting every taxpayer dollar by thoroughly reviewing and scrutinizing transactions that come through the treasurer’s office.”
Soft handoffs, not goodbyes
San Juan County eliminated its funding support for the WSU Extension Forestry Program, noting that the San Juan Islands Conservation District performs many of the same tasks, such as invasive species control, wildfire preparedness, and technical assistance for woodland and forest landowners.
Skagit County Commission District 3 candidate Keith L. Wagoner said that’s an example of a “soft handoff,” something that was done successfully in his hometown of Sedro-Woolley, where he served as mayor. The city took over operation of the local senior center after the county said it had to let it go.
“The city said, ‘We’ll pay for that position. We already own the facility. It will be transparent to the people who need that’,” Wagoner said. “That’s how you cut services. We don’t just slam the door on people and say, ‘Goodbye.’ It’s very important to get that soft handoff, and whether that means to food banks or service organizations or religious-based organizations, we need to find the easy way so we’re not just slamming the door on people. And it’s going to require some work on the county’s part.”
Evaluating spending
Katherine Bryant Ingman, the San Juan County Council candidate, said across-the-board staff reductions are not an equitable approach to balancing the budget.
“We need to look at management and administrative costs because a lot of the frontline services and programs that happen for citizens in San Juan County are administered in large part by some of the entry level and lowest-paid county employees,” she said. “I think investing in maintenance of our infrastructure now is really important. We have aging buildings. We have buildings on some of the smaller islands that don’t have enough space for county staff. All of those things need to be addressed.”
Jennifer Swanson, also a San Juan County Council candidate, said the county council evaluated expenses department by department based on whether a service was mandatory, “and I think that it’s the right thing to do — to go back, evaluate spending and see where reorganizations or cuts can be made. I think the first ask was like a 9 or 10% decrease by each department, and that was kind of a blanket cut as opposed to looking at each department individually and what they’re offering, and kind of treating each one individually.”
Looking ahead to the next budget cycle, she wants to identify potential revenues that the county can be increasing. “I think that there’s opportunities, especially within the Department of Community Development,” Swanson said. “Some of their permit fees have not been adjusted for a number of years. There’s an opportunity not just to make cuts, but to look at where you can increase revenue for the county.”
Finding alternatives
Budget cuts in Whatcom County will affect law and justice there, with the Sheriff’s Office losing nine positions, including six patrol deputies.
Whatcom County prosecutor candidates propose measures to reduce the time it takes to bring cases to trial: consistent charging standards and case assignment based on the prosecutor’s experience and specialization (Jesse Corkern); and “training, mentorship and steady leadership” in the department (Ryan Swinburnson).
Corkern, the county’s senior deputy prosecutor, said in campaign materials he supports establishing a community court, an alternative court for low-level offenses that would connect defendants with substance use disorder treatment, mental health support, housing assistance and employment or education resources. Defendants would be required to complete community service or restorative justice projects that benefit the community.
Swinburnson is director of the Whatcom County Conflict Office, which assigns lawyers to defendants when the public defender cannot take a case. He supports expanding access to alternative therapeutic courts and establishing a veterans treatment court for military veterans suffering from addiction and mental health challenges.
Easing business regulations to spur growth
Wagoner said Skagit County needs to make the permit process less onerous in order to spur business and job growth.
“Wherever there’s discretion — for example, in permitting — the county needs to take a softer touch,” he said. “I did this when I was mayor of Sedro-Woolley. We had strict rules about how you could build. I went to our planning department and said, ‘Figure out ways to say yes to encourage business and housing development. Figure out ways to make it easy.’
“I think we need a bit of a culture change at the county level. I hear from constituents every day: ‘The county did this to me. The county’s unreasonable. The county wants to fine me.’ We’ve been really good at enforcement and really bad at getting permits done in a timely fashion, so that’s a culture change that needs to happen.”
Skagit County Commissioner Joe Burns, who was appointed to fill a vacancy and is seeking a full term, could not be reached for comment. But in his campaign materials he said Skagit County should be a place “where local businesses can grow, and young families have a reason to stay. That means protecting taxpayer dollars, planning responsibly for growth, and focusing on solutions to affordability.”
Economic development is the priority for commission candidates in the Port of Bellingham, which plans to invest $36 million in 2027 to modernize the Bellingham Shipping Terminal, backed by a $23.5 million federal BUILD grant.
Tor Benson, a candidate for District 4 port commissioner, formerly served as an elected planning and zoning official in Petersburg, Alaska and has worked in commercial fishing and shipping logistics. His priorities are reversing the financial downturn and loss of flights at Bellingham Airport and Shipping Terminal, which are expected to run at a loss for the third year in a row. Other priorities: planning for a variety of uses within the port district, including housing, industry, agriculture, recreation, commerce and fisheries.
Paul Burrill, the candidate for District 4 port commissioner, chairs the port’s Marine Advisory Committee and is a commercial fisherman. He said he’s committed to strengthening workforce development in marine trades, aviation and first-responder services, and expanding marine and aviation opportunities.
Chris Elder, candidate for Bellingham port commissioner from District 5, is a natural resource consultant. “We grow our economy by investing in working land industries, restoring salmon habitat, and creating good jobs,” he said in campaign materials. “Environmental stewardship is essential to that work. I’ll continue supporting cleanup of legacy contamination and hold new development to the highest standards … Trade, strategic airport opportunities, defending our working waterfronts — I’ll push for these priorities with transparency and accountability.”
Shawn Ensley, also a candidate for Bellingham port commissioner from District 5, lists among his priorities “creating living wage jobs, investing in projects with clear purpose, and ensuring the Port stays focused on its mission statement: To promote sustainable economic development, optimize transportation gateways, and manage publicly owned land and facilities to benefit Whatcom County.”
—By Richard Arlin Walker