County okays $325.5M budget for 2026, but concerns remain

EPHRATA –  Grant County commissioners on Wednesday approved a $325.5 million budget for 2026 that – among other things – will continue construction funding of a new jail in Ephrata, begin development of a new coroner’s office/morgue facility in Moses Lake, provide a 2.7% cost-of-living wage increase to employees, and spur discussions over hiring practices, travel, and insurance costs.

On paper, the new budget appears largely status quo, reflecting just a 2% increase over the $318.9 million budget adopted for 2025. Under state law, counties and municipalities in Washington are required to adopt annual budgets by Dec. 31 for the new fiscal year.

But over this past week, commissioners Kevin Burgess, Cindy Carter, and Rob Jones and county administrator Tom Gaines voiced ongoing concerns on several issues.

They have implemented a hiring freeze and informed other county elected officials and department heads that filling any existing employee vacancies or establishing new positions must now go through a “performance management review” process to assess need and costs. The commissioners also want more information about any proposed out-of-state travel expenses.

Within the overall budget, the commissioners used $5.6 million in reserves to balance a $70.5 million current expense fund. Of that, about 58%, or $41 million, goes toward the county’s law enforcement and criminal justice costs. Those include the sheriff’s office ($18.5 million), jail ($9.87 million), prosecutor’s office ($4.8 million), public defense ($4.56 million), and juvenile services ($3.27 million).

Other offices and departments funded by current expense monies include facilities and maintenance ($4.8 million), district court ($4.65 million), assessor ($2.2 million), clerk ($2.07 million), building/fire marshal ($1.94 million), planning ($1.87 million), superior court ($1.75 million), commissioners ($1.6 million), auditor ($1.6 million), coroner ($1.42 million), human resources ($1.18 million), treasurer ($1.17 million), elections ($567,812), WSU Cooperative Extension ($436,082), and the county museum ($165,760).

Last Monday, Carter said expenditures contained in the draft budget exceeded projected revenues by over $6 million. Which, she said, “is a little terrifying.”

“Our job is to start whittling down because that budget is not sustainable,” Carter said at the time. This morning, she added, “We’re trying to manage the budget as well as we can without (employee) layoffs.”  

Jones agreed, saying, “The budget’s not healthy.”

He wants more information on proposed expenditures by the county’s various offices and departments. Because, Jones cautioned last week, “You’re never sure about revenues.”

In a new budget, the county must estimate the revenue it will receive from a combination of property, sales, and excise taxes; investment income; monies from various permits, licenses, fees, and fines; bond sales; and federal and state allocations and grants.

Those pay for operations and nearly 800 employees working in 10 offices overseen by other elected courthouse officials, an equal number of county departments, and over five dozen designated funds and proprietary accounts.

In Washington state, municipalities and counties are generally limited to an overall 1% property tax increase over the previous year. However, an individual homeowner’s tax bill may vary due to an updated assessment valuation of their property.

The 2.71% COLA salary increases start Jan. 5 for non-union personnel, and on designated dates within their collective bargaining agreements for union-represented employees. The money is earmarked in a $1.5 million fund for employee “training, growth, and recognition.”

The county is also facing an estimated 14% increase in insurance costs. That was a surprise, said Gaines, because they were initially told the increase would be about 1%. Gaines said a meeting was scheduled Tuesday with representatives from Ephrata-based Clear Risk Solutions, the county’s insurance pool administrator.

“I want to hear from them,” he told commissioners. “What that surprise meant to this county and how it affected us in a very negative way.”

Fund reductions in the new budget from last year include cutting the tourist advertising budget by nearly $178,000 (from $510,000 to a little over $332,500), trimming fairgrounds funding by about $100,000 to $2.34 million, and dropping grant administration funding from $4.44 million to just over $3 million.

Major capital projects include ongoing construction of the county’s new jail, which began with site preparation in 2024 and is expected to be completed this spring. The $155 million project is being financed through two long-term bond sales – $88 million in 2022 and $60 million in early 2025 – that are being paid off by the county’s share of a 3/10ths-of-1% sales tax increase approved by voters in 2019 for local criminal justice costs.

The county has also allocated over $6.6 million for construction of a new morgue to be located in Moses Lake on Kittelson Road. The project is currently in the design phase with no specified occupancy date, said Gaines.

For years, the county morgue has been housed at Samaritan Hospital, and there were initial plans to create a similar facility within a new replacement hospital that is nearing completion. But the county subsequently withdrew from that arrangement due to size, cost and feasibility considerations, said Gaines. In early December, the county agreed to pay $184,000 to  Grant County Hospital District No. 1, which operates Samaritan, for costs incurred by the district during its design of the new hospital. 

Under the agreement, the county will vacate the existing hospital by March 7 and temporarily use a refurbished space housed in the former jail work release facility near the Ephrata Airport. Gaines said arrangements are also being made with other counties around the state for interim morgue use.  

The county also has a number of other proprietory funds with specific revenue sources and expenditures, the largest being county roads at $30.5 million. That is followed by integrated services for mental health, drug and alcohol counseling ($21.8 million), solid waste ($15.2 million), vehicle fleet/equipment rental ($12.8 million), emergency communications ($6.2 million), technology services ($6.01 million), developmental disabilities residential housing ($3.75 million), New Hope Domestic Violence services ($3.29 million), and economic enhancement/strategic infrastructure improvement funding ($2.66 million).

Grant County is among the majority of counties in Washington with three elected commissioners whose primary duties include levying taxes and adopting an annual balanced budget that includes operational budgets submitted by appointed department heads and budget proposals from other elected county officers.