Yakima County financial director details personnel vacancies, internal-service funds in 2026 budget preview

Brian Carlson, Yakima County financial services director, told the Board of Yakima County Commissioners on Aug. 5, 2025, that personnel turnover and the county's internal service funds'commonly called the "5 hundreds"'are central to closing the county's structural budget gap as staff prepare the preliminary 2026 numbers.

Carlson said the county's general-fund authorized positions group has an annual turnover rate of roughly 8 percent, which translates to about 30 vacant positions and roughly $3 million in all-in salary-and-benefit costs. "Personnel is very much about what we do, obviously, with dollars, but always, in terms of finding the people to bring us to solutions," Carlson said. He said capturing a portion of vacancies will be a critical part of the budget plan.

The director described the "5 hundreds" as the county's internal service funds'including ER and R (fleet/engineering), IT, HR, insurance, financial services and other centralized services. Carlson said these funds have about $34 million in beginning-2025 fund balances countywide, with ER and R and IT holding the largest shares. He said the balances are intended to support scheduled replacements of vehicles and technology but that fund-balance targets and policies will be reviewed.

Carlson presented a simple scorecard of budget pressures and potential offsetting measures. He said the county has relied on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in recent years to cover a roughly $5 million subsidy for jail-related costs; "there's no more ARPA," he said, and that amount will need to be found elsewhere. On the potential savings side he suggested targets including freezing some vacancies (he gave a $1 million illustrative target for vacancies), shifting some positions to other funding sources, and reviewing internal-service billings to the general fund (another potential $1'$2 million target). He said legal and accounting reviews will be required for some options.

Commissioners and other officials emphasized the scale of the choices ahead. A commissioner said the county faces "tough decisions" because state tax rules limit local revenue growth and local governments are being asked to maintain core services while facing higher costs.

Carlson closed by saying the board will see further personnel detail and preliminary 2026 numbers at the next meeting and that he will continue developing actionable options and policies to manage a "managed descent" rather than a disruptive cutback.

Ending: Carlson said the county will revisit personnel lists, internal-service fund policies and preliminary 2026 numbers at future meetings. He asked departments and elected officials to bring potential savings or reallocation proposals to the board as the budget process continues.