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Washington County outlines 2025 legislative priorities, flags $20M budget gap and capital funding requests
Summary
County government relations staff presented the 2025 legislative agenda emphasizing no new unfunded mandates, workforce and behavioral-health funding, preservation of 569 affordable housing units, and capital requests including $1.25M for courthouse planning, $700k match for Scoggins Creek Visitor Center, a $20.2M Walnut Street Center ask and $15M for Westside Commons fairground improvements.
At the Dec. 4 meeting, government relations staff briefed the Washington County Planning Commission on the county's 2025 legislative agenda and a slate of capital funding requests.
Staff said the county faces an approximately $20,000,000 budget gap this fiscal year and emphasized an agenda that seeks stabilized, sustained state funding for services the state requires the county to provide. The priorities highlighted included preserving affordable housing stock, workforce development (with emphasis on behavioral health and licensing barriers), modernizing 100%-consent annexation processes to reduce staff time and petition costs, and identifying replacement funding for timber revenues reduced because of a federal Habitat Conservation Plan.
On housing preservation, staff said 569 units with expiring rent or regulatory caps were at risk and that the county supports a two‑tranche funding mechanism — one tranche to help purchase buildings to preserve affordability and a second to provide tenant‑preservation assistance. Staff said administration would likely run through Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and that statewide competition for funds is expected.
Staff also previewed capital asks for the —Christmas tree— end‑of‑session bill: $1,250,000 in state matching funds to plan a courthouse replacement (a planning assessment would provide funds to assess whether the courthouse can be rebuilt on its current footprint); a $700,000 county match for Scoggins Creek Visitor Center tied to a Bureau of Reclamation grant; an estimated $20,200,000 request for a replacement or major upgrade to the Walnut Street Center (which houses emergency management, LUT and fleet functions); and $15,000,000 for phase 1b of the Westside Commons Fair Complex (barns, multipurpose facility and outdoor arenas) informed by outreach to roughly 3,800 residents.
Commissioners asked about historical success with legislative asks, whether fairgrounds phase 1a had received state funding (staff said phase 1a was funded by the board, not the state), and whether the annexation reform was likely to face public testimony (staff acknowledged those hearings sometimes draw little public input but historical engagement can vary). Staff said they expected continued effort and momentum but cautioned that not all asks will be funded.
