Yakima County budget director frames 2026 work around stabilizing general fund and targeting criminal justice and public safety costs

Yakima County finance staff on Aug. 12 outlined a planning approach for the 2026 budget that prioritizes short-term tactics to stabilize the general fund while buying time to pursue longer-term structural solutions.

Brian Carlson, who led the presentation to the Board of Yakima County Commissioners, proposed a draft mission statement for the 2026 budget process: 'to develop short term tactics that will enable the development and implementation of long term structural solutions for general fund sustainability.' Carlson said the process will emphasize a series of 'families' of departments and that the first and largest family to review will be Criminal Justice and Public Safety (CJPS).

Carlson told the board CJPS accounts for roughly $112 million in countywide expense, with more than $50 million of that in general-fund accounts and personnel costs representing the largest share. Carlson also highlighted internal service billings that affect CJPS, calling attention to approximately $14 million in internal-service allocations and noting countywide internal billings totaling north of $40 million.

'Criminal justice public safety, $112,000,000. That's how it's allocated by type of expense. Personnel is the Pac-Man,' Carlson told the commissioners, using the presentation to emphasize personnel and professional services as leverage points for budget reductions.

Carlson proposed starting the detailed review in September, with Criminal Justice/Public Safety sessions scheduled first (he identified Sept. 3 as a likely start date) and multiple family-by-family meetings thereafter. The format would include advance materials showing each family's costs and revenues by fund type, rosters of authorized positions and trends over time, and a structured discussion about drivers.

Commissioners and elected officials discussed process questions, including how the family review would be communicated to department heads and how to manage transition from the current'largely algorithmic' baseline process toward a priorities-based approach. Carlson said 2026 will largely preserve familiar baseline conventions while he prepares more structural changes.

Commissioner Curtis asked Carlson to describe the September meetings' format and duration; Carlson said materials would be distributed in advance, meetings would combine presentations with structured discussion, and that the CJPS meetings would likely require multiple passes because of the family's size and complexity. Carlson said county staffing and internal-service impacts would be included in each family review because those allocations affect overall general-fund outcomes.

Commissioner McKinney emphasized the scale of choices ahead: 'We will need to make some tough decisions of what programs we are cutting or what revenue streams we are bringing to the courthouse in order to sustain everything that we have,' he said, and described the planned process as an effort to "merge into traffic" while developing longer-term structural reforms.

Carlson framed the immediate phase of his plan as stabilizing the county's finances so the county can buy time for structural change. He identified personnel and professional services contracts as the clearest high-value targets, saying modest percentage reductions in those categories would materially improve the general fund outlook.

The board had no vote on budget strategy at the Aug. 12 meeting; staff will proceed with preparatory work and begin the family-by-family hearings in September. Carlson said staff will present more detailed internal-service and indirect-cost numbers when they are reconciled.

Items to watch: CJPS family hearings beginning in September, further detail on internal service and indirect cost allocations, and any proposals that would change personnel rosters or contract commitments in public safety functions.