Commissioners debate proposed healthcare-access millage; amendment added to seek tax neutrality

The board took first reading of a proposed ballot millage to fund health access programs and services and engaged in extended debate over timetable, tax impact and process. Commissioner LaBarre moved the item and Commissioner Hodge offered an amendment directing county administration "to provide recommendations on how to remove 0.2 mills from other millages to make the tax impact neutral." The board voted to approve that amendment on a roll call.

Commissioners pressed staff for numbers: county staff later summarized that the revised program would help roughly 3,000 additional people access Medicaid, 1,000 people access the county's Washington Health Plan, and 300 people pay marketplace premiums, for about 4,300 individuals total. Concerns focused on whether reductions could be found in other voter-approved levies, how the county would avoid increasing taxes on fixed-income residents, and what contingency plans would follow if voters reject the measure in November. Several commissioners said the proposed measure should go to voters so the public can decide; others asked to postpone until staff could identify specific levy reductions and backup funding options.