Thurston County staff brief commissioners on public safety sales tax revenues, Axon purchase, and justice‑system spending

Thurston County budget staff on Wednesday reviewed the county’s public safety sales tax (PSST) funds, reporting revenue and expenditure projections, major procurement items and planned staffing uses for fiscal 2025 and beyond.

Summer Miller, budget and fiscal manager, told the board the sheriff’s portion of the PSST (Fund 1230) showed revenue estimates of about $4.1 million in 2024 and $6.6 million in 2025, with gradual increases thereafter, and that staff are monitoring revised state sales‑tax forecasts. Expenditures for the sheriff’s fund in 2025 were estimated at about $7.1 million; Miller said that figure includes a placeholder for a 3% cost‑of‑living adjustment, phasing in additional staff vehicles and equipment, and bond interest payments. Miller also described a planned initial Axon purchase described in briefing materials as roughly $11,500,000, and noted Axon replacement/recurring costs of about $380,000 per year in out years.

For the justice portion of the PSST (Fund 1240), staff estimated revenues of $1.3 million in 2024 and $2.2 million in 2025, with projected increases in subsequent years. Expenditures in Fund 1240 include the prosecuting attorney, public defense and ballot‑processing center bond payments; Miller said the fund was projected to maintain a healthy balance under current estimates but cautioned results are subject to changing sales‑tax receipts.

The briefing also covered near‑term grant and staffing items: the prosecuting attorney’s office has an opportunity for a state‑funded high‑risk domestic violence investigator for a three‑year pilot estimated at a fully loaded FTE cost of about $120,000 per year for 2025–2027. Prosecuting‑office staff described the investigator’s role as a liaison and coordinator working with law enforcement, victim advocates and prosecutors to prioritize cases based on lethality factors using a danger assessment tool (transcript reference: DALE). "The role of this investigator then is to be kind of our part of, of being able to respond quickly to these cases," the prosecutor said.

Public defense staffing needs were also discussed. Staff said the office currently has three investigators; the referenced standard is one investigator per four attorneys. With 25 criminal defense attorneys on staff, the office is below the standard and expects to present staffing implications to the board in upcoming briefings. The county also included a midterm FTE request for an IT/business application specialist within public defense to manage increasingly complex systems.

Budget staff and the county manager said they will provide closer monitoring of sales‑tax receipts and bring the board updated financial reports during the county’s February budget update.

Commissioners asked for details about grant metrics and obligations, the long‑term funding implications of pilot positions, and the timing of bond and Axon payments. Staff said the grant includes reporting requirements and pilot outcome metrics and that ongoing funding decisions for pilot positions would come before the board in future budget deliberations.