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Kittitas County adopts COG-recommended medium population and employment projection for 2026 plan update
Summary
The Kittitas County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously at a public hearing to adopt the Conference of Governments' medium (Method C) population and employment projection for the 2040–2046 planning period and accepted related COG process conditions.
Kittitas County commissioners voted unanimously at a 2 p.m. public hearing to adopt the population and employment projection recommended by the Kittitas County Conference of Governments (COG) for the county's 2026 comprehensive plan periodic update.
Chad Bayless, CES director for Kittitas County, told the commissioners the county and a hired consultant reviewed Office of Financial Management (OFM) population projections and selected "Method C, which is the medium projection for the 2040–2046 planning period." Bayless said the recommendation had been reviewed by COG and by a joint meeting of the commissioners and the planning commission.
Bayless said COG recommended the median projection at its March 19 meeting but allowed jurisdictions 10 additional days to discuss and, if needed, negotiate population numbers that had been excluded by the OFM modeling program. He said jurisdictions requested an extension to that 10-day period, and that no final determination among the cities had been reached by the end of the extension. Bayless described the adoption as procedurally permissive: cities that later reach agreement could request adjustments, but any such changes would need to return to COG and then to the county commission for formal amendment.
No members of the public spoke during the public comment portion of the hearing. After the hearing, a commissioner moved to approve "Resolution 2025-078, a resolution to formally adopt a population employment projection directed by the Conference of Governments of Kittitas County," and a second was made. The presiding commissioner called for a voice vote; both commissioners present answered "aye," and the motion passed.
The decision adopts COG's recommended medium projection for the county's planning horizon and preserves a procedural path for municipalities to negotiate and request adjustments through COG and the commission. The county record does not specify any numeric population totals in the discussion, and the resolution text referenced at the hearing was identified only by number and brief description.
