Treatment sales tax advisory committee presents strategic plan; committee seeks landscape analysis and grant‑support capacity

The Treatment Sales Tax advisory committee presented its 2024–2025 strategic plan to the Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 26, asking the board to review recommendations that include a landscape analysis of local behavioral‑health services, stronger interagency coordination and targeted funding priorities to protect and stretch treatment‑sales‑tax dollars.

John Preheide, director of Thurston County Public Health and Social Services, summarized the plan’s origins: during the prior biennium there was sufficient TST funding to meet requests, but recent revenue constraints and increased community needs led the advisory committee to adopt a specific TST strategic plan to guide scarce resources. The committee’s stated vision is “empowering health and well‑being through behavioral health support and services,” and its mission emphasizes outcome‑driven decisions, stewardship and coordination.

Shailene Sowers, behavioral health fund program manager, described three policy goals for the biennium: (1) improve quality of life for residents with mental‑health or substance‑use needs; (2) increase interagency collaboration and cross‑system planning; and (3) increase therapeutic services for youth and adults with co‑occurring mental‑health and substance‑use disorders. The committee developed those goals through a series of facilitated work sessions beginning in March 2024 and used a SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results) assessment to inform priorities.

On funding and administration, staff said TST generates roughly $8 million annually and that the committee wants to advise the board on a recommended percentage of TST dollars to allocate to ongoing versus grant‑funded community programs. The committee asked the county program to conduct a landscape analysis that inventories local providers, programs, facilities and court resources, with attention to service distribution, integration, funding eligibility (for example Medicaid), and provider capacity. Staff said the analysis is intended to help prioritize TST investments and identify where other funding sources or advocacy might be more appropriate.

Committee members also proposed a Thurston County Learning Collaborative, a convening for providers and administrators to share promising practices and funding opportunities; staff said they will coordinate with the Thurston‑Mason Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization and will look at models such as King County’s collaborative work.

Board members asked follow‑up questions about the county’s capacity to support agencies applying for external grants, how changes at the federal level (including possible reductions to Medicaid or other sources) might increase TST demand, and whether the county could consider increasing the TST rate. Staff said the program currently has two staff (program manager and data analyst) and that additional capacity—staffing or technical assistance—would be needed for large‑scale grant‑writing support. A commissioner asked staff to research the statutory and procedural requirements for raising the TST rate (the advisory presentation noted the tax is a one‑tenth of one percent levy established in 2009).

The board did not take action on the strategic plan at the work session; staff asked for the board’s feedback and said they will incorporate commissioner input as they finalize metrics, pursue the landscape analysis and coordinate future committee recommendations for the 2026–2027 budget.