These Thurston County commissioners say they don’t want raises due to a budget shortfall
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Thurston County works to close 2026 budget deficit
Thurston County commissioners are deciding how to close an estimated $36 million budget gap in the general fund, the county’s primary operating fund, for 2026.
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Thurston County commissioners may ask to forgo salary raises this year due to an ongoing budget shortfall.
The request is laid out in a draft letter to a citizen’s commission that’s tasked with deciding county commissioner salaries. The commissioners reviewed the letter during a Wednesday meeting but held back from approving it.
The letter, which was prepared by Commissioner Carolina Mejia, says the county is facing a “significant and ongoing budget shortfall” that may lead to budget cuts.
“Departments are preparing for potential reductions in staffing and services,” the letter says. “These are not easy conversations, and the financial challenges ahead will require careful stewardship, collaboration and shared sacrifice across the organization.”
Any potential cuts could be implemented in the 2026-2027 budget that’s due to be approved before the end of the year. However, many deliberations and public hearings must occur before then. Still, the mention of the shortfall highlights persistent financial challenges for the county.
The county commission approved operating expenditures totaling over $470 million for 2025, including $140.3 million for the general fund, last December. Budget presentations showed 2025 general fund expenditures exceeding revenue by over $16 million.
The county’s budget book attributed the general fund shortfall to limits on property tax increases, flat sales tax revenue growth, unfunded mandates and inflation.
To bridge the difference, the budget book states the county can resort to taking money from its fund balance which is what happened last year.
Mejia said the county paused a budget cut exercise last year because it had hired a new county manager as well as a new budget and fiscal manager.
“Just with all of the instability, we decided to kind of eat it (the cost),” Mejia said.
Where do the commissioners stand?
Commissioner Rachel Grant said she supported not getting a raise herself, but the part in the letter about reductions was a “red flag” for her.
“To write in a letter that we are preparing for a potential reduction in staffing could be a little alarming or it could cause fear…” Grant said. “I have not seen information that specifically says we will end up with reductions in staffing.”
Mejia said she was open to editing the letter, but the budget shortfall has been “no secret.”
“We’re facing, you know $12 million to $14 million gap in our budget,” Mejia said. “The state is not coming to really save us or assist us in any way. So, I just wanted to be as honest as possible.”
Grant said she would hate for county staff to take this letter as an indication that they are about to lose their jobs.
“I would hope that as we move forward together as a group, thinking about staffing and reductions in staffing, that we would be doing anything and everything like this to make sure that we don’t have anyone lose their job,” Grant said.
Commissioner Emily Clouse said she supported the letter. However, Commissioner and Board Chair Tye Menser was not present during the discussion.
Commissioner Wayne Fournier said he wanted to delay consideration of the letter until the full board could discuss it together. Yet, he did share some reservations.
For one, Fournier said he wanted other elected officials to be briefed on the letter.
“I think it would be important for other elected officials outside of this board to also understand that even though they’re not mentioned in this, it does create the opportunity for the board to much more easily not change their pay as well,” Fournier said.
The county’s Citizen’s Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials is responsible for setting the salaries for county commissioners and for recommending salaries for other elected county officials.
The Board of County Commissioners cannot decide their own salaries, but they do get final say on the salaries of other elected county officials.
For 2025, the citizen’s commission set county commissioner salaries at $12,328 month, or $147,936 a year, which is a 6% increase over their 2024 salary.
For most of the remaining elected officials in 2025, the citizen’s commission recommended salary increases ranging from 6% to 9%. However, the county commission ultimately only gave them a 6% increase.
Fournier also expressed skepticism about how effective forgoing a salary increase may be in the grand scheme of the budget.
“I think it’s more symbolic and kind of performative than it is like actually doing anything to the budget,” Fournier said. “And it’s also important that all these elected offices are recognized as jobs that need to have competitive wages in their market.”
Mejia said she did not mind waiting until Menser returned, but pushed back on the notion that this effort didn’t carry any weight. She said she still remembers how it felt as a county employee to see elected officials receive large raises while employees only received a 2.5% increase.
“Especially, when you’re going through budget shortfalls and you’re seeing that, it affects morale,” Mejia said. “Even though it’s not a huge budgetary impact, I think it’s a good thing to do as leaders of the organization.”
The Board of County Commissioners will be on spring break next week, according to their master calendar. Business meetings will resume the week of April 7 and the next regular meeting where public comment will be accepted will be April 15.
This story was originally published March 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
