Welcome to Skagit County

October 3, 2025

Skagit County Implements 90-Day Hiring Freeze

This week, the Skagit County Commissioners concluded the annual series of budget work sessions with each department and elected office to discuss 2026 budget requests. As stated in a press release on September 22nd, Skagit County is facing a difficult budget year in 2026. If 2025 levels of service and county programs are maintained for 2026, Skagit County will face a $19M deficit in the general fund. This deficit is the result of increasing operating and salary costs, flat revenues, changes to mandated services, and uncertainty with state and federal grant support.

After reviewing budget requests for 2026, the County Commissioners implemented an immediate 90-day hiring freeze to help stabilize current budget expenditures and reduce immediate costs as they develop the full preliminary 2026 budget. To decrease expenditures for 2026, the Commissioners will be reducing the workforce and looking at more efficient workflows and organizational structures to ensure mandated county services continue as required. The 90-day hiring freeze ensures the County does not fill positions which might need to be eliminated or reorganized to balance the budget.

The County Commissioners are considering all available options to help balance the general fund budget for 2026, including layoffs, reprioritizing projects, reducing non-essential services, and evaluating new revenue opportunities such as the recently adopted House Bill 2015, which permits local governments to implement a public safety sales tax. The additional public safety sales tax revenue could potentially fund current positions and services, which are paid for by other revenue sources, helping to reduce expenditures affecting the general fund budget deficit. The tax would require a public hearing prior to enaction. If the Commissioners decide to pursue this option, more information will be shared on next steps and opportunities for public feedback.

The preliminary 2026 county budget will be released for review on November 17, 2025, which will begin the official written public comment period. A public hearing to take feedback on the preliminary budget will be held on December 1st, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Written comments can be submitted at any time to the Commissioners’ Office at commissioners@co.skagit.wa.us or via mail to 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon, WA 98273, Attn: 2026 Budget. The written public comment period will end at the conclusion of the public hearing.

The County Commissioners will host two upcoming non-televised work sessions to review all budget requests collectively and provide direction to the Budget and Finance Department on which requests should be included in the preliminary 2026 budget. These work sessions will be held on October 9th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and on October 15th from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Commissioners are scheduled to consider the 2026 budget for final adoption on December 8th at 2:00 p.m. County budgets are legally required to be adopted by December 31st of each year.

For more details, please visit the Skagit County Budget and Finance webpage.

2026 Budget Priorities

On July 21, 2025, the County Commissioners adopted a resolution to establish the 2026 county budget objectives. This annual resolution helps provide departments and elected offices with guidance and constraints as to how they should prepare budget requests for the following year. Local governments in Washington state are required to adopt a balanced budget each year.

In order to pass a balanced budget, the County Commissioners adopted several priorities to help evaluate 2026 budget requests.

General Fund budget must be balanced within available revenue sources and maintain a minimum reserve balance of 16.67% of expenses.
Grant sources must be sustainable, particularly when used to pay staff salaries.
Departments providing services to other agencies must ensure reimbursement rates for these services cover all appropriate costs.
Fee schedules must be annually reviewed and analyzed to ensure direct and indirect expenses recover all appropriate costs.
Departments should collaborate, when possible, with other agencies to provide services that increase efficiency, decrease expenses, and avoid duplication of services.
Preliminary budgets must be prepared without backfilling lost or expired grant, state, or federal funding.
Requests for new staff or programs and increased level of services shall only be considered for extraordinary circumstances and must be aligned with the Skagit County strategic plan.

To review the full list of priorities and objectives for the 2026 county budget, please read Resolution #20250154.

Questions or comments regarding the 2026 budget process can be directed to the Commissioners’ office at commissioners@co.skagit.wa.us or 360-416-1300.