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San Juan County Council directs staff to draft levy-lid-lift options, weighing a reset to 2019 rate
Summary
Council instructed staff to prepare draft levy-lid-lift resolutions for an April 2026 ballot, asking for detailed department-level allocations and scenarios between 0.75 and 0.85 levy rates; staff said a reset to 0.85 would generate roughly $4.5 million for current expense.
The San Juan County Council directed staff on Jan. 20 to draft levy-lid-lift resolutions for placement on an April 2026 ballot and asked for detailed financial analyses to back a final recommendation.
County Manager Jessica Hudson told the council that staff recommends a single-year permanent levy lift (the format allowed for an April special election) and showed revenue scenarios. "If council were interested in resetting the property rate to 0.85, that would generate about $4,500,000 for current expense funds," Hudson said, noting that an $850,000 home would pay roughly $260 more per year under that scenario.
Chair Paulson framed the decision as a multiyear policy choice to avoid continued cash burn in future years. "We have what we are calling a balanced budget for 2026, but that's predicated on burning $3,200,000 of cash on hand," Paulson said. He said he favors a single-year permanent lift in the 0.75–0.85 range and asked staff to show options that back out the 1% annual increases the county has already taken since 2019.
Council member Fuller said she wanted more departmental detail before deciding what beneficiaries to list on the ballot and suggested involving the auditor's office and showing what cuts the county has already made. "We need the case we have to make to voters — what's the gap? Why do we have the gap?" she said.
Hudson told the council that staff will return with draft resolutions and more nuanced explanations of where levy dollars would be allocated and how previous decision packages and cuts affect the current gap. Council asked for scenarios between 0.75 and 0.85, a listing of candidate departmental beneficiaries for the ballot language, and an accounting of the decision packages or cuts already made.
Next steps: staff will prepare draft ballot language and financial breakdowns for council review at upcoming meetings, with the council seeking to finalize a resolution before the April special election schedule.
