Yakima County’s financial staff told the Board of Yakima County Commissioners on July 29, 2025, that the county faces an early estimate of a $13 million to $15 million general-fund shortfall for the 2026 budget year, driven primarily by personnel costs, reduced ARPA subsidies and other pressures.

Financial Services Director Brian Bridal Carlson presented a “scorecard” showing the county’s primary cost drivers and said personnel is the largest component of county spending. Bridal Carlson said the budget baseline in recent years has assumed a $5 million paper deficit and that the structural deficit the county should consider is closer to $3 million when accounting for normal vacancy savings. He warned, however, that when factoring personnel drift, ARPA subsidy reductions and caseload-standards impacts on public defense and a modest decline in sales tax receipts, the shortfall grows to $13–$15 million against roughly $16 million available in uncommitted resources.

Why it matters: County leaders said the magnitude of the shortfall will force choices about staffing, services and priorities. Bridal Carlson described options to address the gap, including using vacancy pauses to rethink positions, shifting priorities in nonstatutory programs, and requiring any departmental requests for new resources to include measurable deliverables and sunset checks.

Details from the presentation: Bridal Carlson grouped county positions into five families (criminal justice/public safety; public services; internal services; administration; community programs) and showed three-year views of authorized FTEs by family and by elected office. He said personnel drift in the general fund is roughly equal to vacancy savings and estimated the general-fund personnel drift at about $3 million, roughly equivalent to 20–30 positions depending on classification.

Commissioners’ responses: Commissioners acknowledged the numbers as a sober warning and urged action now rather than waiting for the adopted budget. Commissioner Lindy and Commissioner McKinney emphasized the state’s role in unfunded mandates—particularly the increasing public-defense workload tied to recent caseload standards—while Bridal Carlson said he will bring targeted, million-dollar-plus options to the board weekly and begin deeper reviews of the “500s” (internal service) budget the following week.

Next steps: Bridal Carlson will return with more granular personnel data and proposals, starting with internal-service funds, and the board directed staff to begin prioritization and to present options for vacancy management, position reviews, and a priorities-based budget framework. No layoffs or specific personnel reductions were adopted during the meeting; Bridal Carlson emphasized that attrition and deliberate pauses on filling vacancies are likely first tools to manage costs.