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Thurston County corrects wording, certifies property tax levies and authorizes $4.7M road levy shift
Summary
Thurston County commissioners approved an amended resolution to certify property tax levies and authorized a $4.7 million road levy shift and a $1.5 million diversion; staff explained the change fixed a typographical error and reconciled differing line-item totals in the resolution.
Thurston County commissioners on Dec. 19 approved an amended resolution to certify property tax levies for 2026 and to authorize a $4.7 million road levy shift and a $1.5 million diversion to the county’s current expense fund.
Chair Ty Entser opened the work session and introduced the item. The County Manager told the Board staff had discovered “a typo in the resolution document that the Board approved,” saying the heading incorrectly stated the levy and collection years and that the motion and the rest of the document contained the correct dates. The manager asked the Board to approve an edit to the heading so the resolution text and its heading matched.
The motion presented to the Board asked commissioners to certify the 2026 property tax levies for the general fund, county roads, Medic 1 and Conservation Futures and to authorize a $4.7 million road levy shift and a $1.5 million diversion to the current expense fund. The mover read the motion aloud before the Board discussed the figures.
County budget and finance manager Summer explained the apparent discrepancy: the figures shown in part 1 of the resolution exclude the road levy shift (she cited $49,300,000 for part 1), while part 2 includes the $4.7 million levy shift, bringing the estimated certification total to $54,000,000 to ensure full capture of the final levy amounts. She also noted county roads were listed as $27,000,000 prior to applying the levy shift.
Commissioner Emily Klaus said she was initially confused but located the referenced figures in the packet (page 5) after staff pointed her to the correct document. The County Manager summarized staff’s explanation that the parts add together once the levy shift is included.
The Board then voted on the amended resolution. Multiple commissioners verbally stated “aye” and the chair declared the motion carried.
The action updates the county’s formal levy certification language and confirms staff direction on how levy totals are presented in the resolution. The meeting record does not specify which commissioners moved or seconded the motion by name; the county manager and finance staff provided the numerical clarifications. The chair declared the motion carried at the meeting’s conclusion on the item.
