The Kittitas County Board of County Commissioners voted to amend lodging-tax authorizations and approve awards totaling roughly $9,063,000 to several local projects.

County Auditor (speaker 11) outlined the proposed allocations, citing prior lodging-tax recommendations and a legal review by County Prosecutor Greg Zempel that concluded the county faces low financial risk in moving the contracts forward despite the City of Cle Elum's bankruptcy-related concerns. The auditor said prior approvals included $450,000 for Roslyn and $3,000,000 for the Grama Sands event center; the board was asked to approve new awards of $3,275,000 for the Washington State Horse Park (requested by the City of Cle Elum), $3,288,000 for the Upper County Community and Recreation Center, and an additional $2,500,000 for arena grandstands to be paid out via debt service over 10 years.

"We did get a memo from the county prosecutor's office'he had analyzed the situation with his team and, basically, has determined that it is a low risk to the county to move those contracts forward," the auditor said (speaker 11). The auditor's cash-flow analysis indicated that, while commitments exceed the fund balance, expected revenues and payment timelines should maintain a healthy fund balance.

Commissioners voted to approve the amendment to resolution 2025-141 on the record; the minutes record "aye" votes and the motion passed but do not list a full roll-call tally in the transcript. The board also approved a related resolution authorizing tourism infrastructure projects (resolution 2025-214).

Next steps: staff will finalize contracts and schedule any required disbursements and debt-service arrangements; the auditor indicated the grandstands supplemental payment will be amortized over a 10-year debt schedule.