Public safety costs fuel debate over Chelan County budget

CHELAN COUNTY — With the 2027 budget process underway, the Board of Chelan County Commissioners disagree over how to address a $6.5 million preliminary gap between budget requests and projected revenues.

The board expects the gap to be reduced as they work through the budget process this fall. However, between department budget hearings Oct. 6, Commissioner Brad Hawkins voiced concerns that it wouldn’t be reduced enough by the time of adoption.

“I don’t know if I’ll be in a position to vote for this budget in December,” Hawkins told fellow commissioners.

Hawkins argued that the board should be aggressively working toward reducing the county’s deficit between expenditures and projected revenues. He noted their progress over the past several years, reducing the deficit from $4.1 million in the 2025 budget to $1.9 million in the 2026 budget. For 2027, he hoped to get the deficit to around $1 million.

“The reason I don't want to carry a budget deficit going forward is so we'll have more ability to absorb the unforeseeable,” said Hawkins.

Commissioners Kevin Overbay and Shon Smith cautioned against balancing the budget at the expense of county staffing and services. Overbay also emphasized that the current figure is preliminary, as departmental requests often exceed what the county ultimately authorizes and spends.

“We still have a lot of budget ahead of us,” said Overbay.

Growing public safety costs are a major factor driving the gap, according to Hawkins. On Oct. 6, Chelan County Sheriff’s Office presented $21.25 million in expenditures for 2027—up 20.37% from 2026. The office’s revenue is currently projected to grow approximately 6%, putting it just under $5 million. However, officials said that number could change if more grants come in.

“I know not all departments do what's requested, but I thought the thought was to bring back the proposal at last year's funding level,” Hawkins said during the sheriff’s budget hearing.

Sheriff Mike Morrison said most of his requests were operational necessities, and that it would be negligent if he left certain items out. Significant increases included supplies, services and capital outlay, due to increased costs, aging equipment and safety concerns, according to the sheriff.

Morrison requested a 70% budget increase for supplies, totaling nearly $876,000, an 86% increase in services, totaling $874,000, and a 142% increase in capital outlay, totaling $43,500.

Morrison said some of the major proposed increases included $145,000 in redaction software and risk mitigation in order to manage a large amount of public disclosure requests. Additionally, he estimated nearly $270,000 was needed for the continued transition of fleet camera vendors, a helicopter fuel trailer replacement, training, and a cell booster for Emergency Management.

“There’s a lot of ask here in this budget…What I would actually appreciate from you and your staff is actually a priority list of your asks,” said Overbay.

The largest portion of the Sheriff’s Office budget is committed to salaries, totaling $11.54 million. Morrison told commissioners that he was not requesting any new positions; his office expects to enter 2027 with all 59 positions filled.

When questioned about the high personnel costs, officials explained that the near 18% jump was due to scheduled step and longevity increases, specialty team incentives and cost of living adjustments.

Additionally, Morrison noted that due to the county’s budget constraints, his office was covering a larger population with fewer deputies compared to previous years.

“We've tried to do our part to support the Board of County Commissioners if they do make the decision to consider a law and justice tax. We know that could be some additional revenue…We'd like to have more deputies,” said Morrison.

Though acknowledging the sheriff’s needs, Hawkins expressed concerns over the growing cost of public safety across the board, including the proposed budgets of the courts, juvenile justice and prosecutor’s office.

For instance, the county received proposed expenditures of $4.4 million from juvenile with only $1.4 million in projected revenue. Requests from the district and superior courts each sit around $1 million over their respective revenue projections.

Hawkins argued that the 0.1% tax would do little to close the proposed gap.

“If we could just wave a magic wand and get it, that would probably net us a million dollars. We need, like, three-tenths [of a percentage] to keep up with public safety, and that's just from ‘26 to ‘27,” said Hawkins. “I think this is what's driving the challenges for Chelan County.”

Hawkins said he would have preferred that the county was more aggressive throughout the past year at trimming spending, generating more revenues, or some combination of both.

When Hawkins suggested cutting unfilled positions to reduce spending, Smith and Overbay disagreed, expressing concerns over undue workload, employee burnout, recruitment problems or reduced services.

“I want to get as close to net zero as possible, but I understand sometimes you're just not going to be able to do that,” said Smith. “You hope for better days, but I'm not willing to do damage to the staff.”

At the suggestion of increasing revenue, Overbay said he was supportive of seeking out more funding streams, but not imposing a tax increase.

According to the county, the board of commissioners may call back individual elected officials or departments for more discussion in budget workshops following the hearings. A preliminary budget is scheduled to be submitted to the county auditor on Nov. 2, but budget discussions will be ongoing beyond that date. A public hearing for the 2027 budget is scheduled for Dec. 7, offering an opportunity to comment on the budget before adoption, which must be done by Dec. 15.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media