Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers presented his proposed 2025-26 biennial budget to the Snohomish County Council Wednesday morning.

According to a news release from the executive’s office, this is the first biennial county budget, which focuses on sustaining core services and avoiding cuts to staff or programs, even as costs outpace government funding and federal recovery dollars end. The proposed budget including all funds is $3.065 billion for the next two years, and the proposed general fund budget is $700 million.

“The good news is I am proposing a balanced budget without any layoffs,” Somers said. I’m grateful for all of our county staff and the great work they do,” Somers said. “Snohomish County is the most efficient large government in the state of Washington because of our employees’ commitment to public service. But we’re facing challenges. We have inflation impacting our bottom line, the end of pandemic-relief funding, a systemic budget gap and a growing population to serve as the county approaches 1 million residents within the next 16 years. The proposed budget prioritizes maintaining staff and service levels in the face of financial strain.”

The budget moves on to the Snohomish County Council for deliberation and public hearings. Typically, the council approves a budget by the end of November.

 “We appreciate the work the executive and his team have put into the proposed budget,” said Snohomish County Council Chair Jared Mead. “I look forward to launching the council process and ensuring we are doing all we can to serve the needs of Snohomish County’s residents.” 

 Among the proposals outlined in the executive’s 2025-26 budget are: 

– Keeping public safety a priority, with over 75% of the general fund directed toward law and justice agencies, including the sheriff’s office and courts, to maintain current service levels.  

– Partially funding three new positions out of the general fund that are critical for operations: one to ensure the county can meet requirements of a state law change on protection orders, another to ensure appropriate oversight of the county’s Enterprise Resource Planning replacement project, and a third to ensure radio capabilities are sustained in an emergency. No other new positions are paid for by the general fund in this proposed budget, the news release said. 

– Continuing efforts to protect the land and water, including fixing culverts to improve habitat for salmon and other species and collaborating with the Tulalip and Stillaguamish Tribes as well as state, federal and local partners on the Sustainable Lands Strategy to better support fish, farms and flood management. This includes major projects like the Chinook Marsh restoration. 

– Preserving existing programs focused on addressing the drug crisis, including the work of the Multi-Agency Coordination Group, the Office of Neighborhoods, the Snohomish County Outreach Team, the Diversion Center, the Carnegie Resource Center, Recovery Court (which is celebrating 25 years in October) and projects to expand treatment and housing opportunities. The current efforts rely on existing revenue, and additional resources would be needed to strengthen the county’s response to the drug crisis.

– Providing much-needed direct health services through the Snohomish County Health Department, such as the STI Clinic that has served more than 1,000 people so far in 2024 during its first year.