San Juan County budget described as "ugly" as officials ask departments to model 9% cuts

County Councilmember Justin told the Eastsound Planning Review Committee on Oct. 2 that San Juan County is facing a significant budget shortfall and will delay the formal public opening of the budget process until Dec. 1 to allow more time for deliberation. “The word I’m going to use is ugly, looking forward,” Justin said of the county’s fiscal outlook.

Justin said county leadership has asked every department and every elected official to identify what a 9% reduction to their budgets would look like, and to flag any state-mandated services that could not be delivered under that reduction. “We walked out of the meeting on Tuesday with asking every department and every elected official to give us an idea of what a 9% cut across their departments would look like,” he said.

The county’s current budget framework includes a base property tax levy that is allowed by state law to rise roughly 1% per year plus new construction; Justin said that the county’s projected property tax revenue is in the “8.x million” range and that the wider county fund is roughly $30,000,000. He warned that most county revenue is constrained by earmarked funds or state and federal grants, limiting flexible dollars available to cover shortfalls.

Justin also said the county will use a workshop process — rather than immediate hearings — through the next two months to determine how to close the gap and to identify which services could be maintained, reduced or require reallocation. He warned that any across-the-board reductions would need to preserve state-mandated functions: “If somebody is unable to meet their mandates ... then we can’t do that,” he said.

Committee members asked for more detail about where county revenue comes from; Justin directed members to the county’s published budget books and offered to provide further summary materials. He said additional budget discussions will take place in regularly scheduled County Council meetings and invited residents to follow those workshops for technical detail and public testimony.

Ending: County staff and elected officials will continue workshops through November ahead of the December 1 public opening; Justin said the county will produce more materials explaining revenue sources and the likely service impacts of proposed reductions.