Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Budget 2026 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council continues 2026 budget hearing after debates over reserve calculations, courts funds and proposed cuts
Summary
County finance staff presented a $158.6 million 2026 budget; councilors sought legal clarity on how to calculate the 15% budget-stabilization target, discussed using trial court improvement funds for one-time court expenses, debated whether to trim several decision packages (code update, classification study, regional partnerships), and continued the hearing to Dec. 2 at noon.
San Juan County Council continued its public hearing on the 2026 budget after an extended session in which members asked staff for legal guidance on how to compute the budget stabilization threshold and debated which decision packages to reduce or hold.
Dr. Molly Foote, presenting the draft ordinance and budget exhibits, said the county is budgeting roughly $158.6 million in appropriations for 2026 and that several decision packages and FTE changes remain to be finalized. "With the help of the prosecuting attorney's office, we were able to draft up a new, draft ordinance for council to review for adopting a 1 year budget for 2026," Foote said.
Council members focused quickly on the budget stabilization fund and whether the 15% target in county code is calculated using current-expense (fund 1) revenue or a roll-up of the general fund. Council member Paulson asked for a legal opinion to resolve the ambiguity; staff agreed to consult the prosecuting attorney. "We need to understand what line we're supposed to be calculating this off of so that we can make a decision in the current year budget," Paulson said.
The council also questioned potential offsets to current-expense cuts. Judges and court staff described the trial court improvement account (TCIA), a state-distributed account that typically provides about $17,000 per year and currently holds roughly $76,000–78,000; court representatives said the fund is best used for one-time capital or project costs rather than ongoing personnel expenses. "We typically use it for projects, and we can use it for a number of different things," Judge Jewett Platts said, but she cautioned that TCIA receipts vary annually.
Members debated several decision packages that staff had proposed to include or trim—among them a $150,000 code update contract and a $150,000 classification study. DCD Director Seth Jones and staff told the council that $150,000 may be on the low side for the scope of code work needed, recommending a phased approach; several councilors proposed trimming each placeholder by $50,000 for the 2026 budget while preserving the priorities for future years.
Councilors also discussed smaller discretionary allocations, including a $20,000 abatement placeholder and a roughly $24,700 annual contribution to a regional consortium ('Swiss'), and reviewed a $150,000 current-expense allocation to IOSA (regional oil-spill/emergency response). IOSA representatives agreed to share their 2026 draft budget with council prior to the continuation. Because additional legal clarification and revised spreadsheets were needed, the council continued the budget hearing to Dec. 2 at noon.
