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County administrator Sam Kim credits budget reforms for surplus and outlines efficiency plan
Summary
At a Sept. 17 Cosmopolis workshop, Grays Harbor County Administrator Sam Kim described administrative and budgeting changes — centralizing finance, new software, a one‑year COO contract and steps toward 0‑based budgeting — that he said produced a surplus without layoffs.
Sam Kim, Grays Harbor County administrator, told Cosmopolis city leaders on Sept. 17 that a series of administrative and budget reforms have produced a stronger fiscal position and will guide further efficiency efforts.
Kim said the county has taken steps to make funds and spending more transparent, bring savings up front in the budget cycle and consolidate finance functions. "We actually have a surplus," he said, adding that the county reversed prior "deficit budgeting" and redesigned a legible 2024 budget book to show what each fund does and what money can be used for. Kim described the changes as intentional management moves rather than cost cutting from staff reductions.
Why it matters: Grays Harbor County provides services used by Cosmopolis residents and businesses; Kim said visible, standardized finance tracking and centralized accounting will let the county plan capital projects and avoid surprise deficits. Commissioner Vicky Raines told the council the county employs roughly 450–500 people and serves about 78,000 residents.
Kim outlined concrete measures the county has taken: hiring its first county administrator and a new chief operating officer on a short contract to drive consolidation; meeting regularly with department heads through a newly formed cabinet; implementing 360‑degree performance reviews; piloting target‑based budgeting as a pathway toward 0‑based budgeting; and evaluating modern financial software to reduce manual re‑entry and human error. He said he has sought to avoid layoffs, furloughs or pay cuts while stabilizing operations and recovering previously underspent allocations into usable balances.
Kim and Commissioner Raines described recovered year‑end funds the county identified early in 2024 and redirected into the budget process rather than leaving them tied to single departments. "In January, when we realized the 2024, we got back $1,600,000 from the sheriffs. We got back almost $1,000,000 dollars from the prosecutor's office that they didn't spend," Raines said; turning those amounts into forward plans was presented as an example of bringing savings to the front of the budget cycle.
Kim also said the county is standardizing processes and will explore automation to free staff for higher‑value work. He described using consolidated reporting to let department heads see county‑wide resources rather than siloed accounts, and said the administration has made a commitment to be transparent about the changes and to give council members and the public access to reports and budget materials.
The presentation closed with Kim offering to return for questions and to share the new budget book and materials electronically with city staff.
Kim and Raines stressed that these steps are designed to enable future capital planning and to present options to local jurisdictions that depend on county services.
