County executive asks council to collaborate on budget goals

Whatcom County Council passed a resolution to amend and approve the county executive’s comprehensive goals for the 2021-2022 budget that the executive’s office began drafting in a Wednesday July 8 budget priority meeting. One of the amended goals includes the council’s wish for the executive’s office to prepare a list of possible budget cuts to be made if there were to be a 20 percent revenue loss due to Covid-19 related economic
effects.

During a virtual committee of the whole meeting on July 7, county executive Satpal Sidhu encouraged the council to accept the amendments so his staff can begin the drafting process.

“I would like if you could please look at this, have your discussion and approval, so we can continue our process,” Sidhu said. “Because the more we are jammed with time, the less of a good product will come out.”

The resolution passed with a 4-2 majority, with councilmembers Tyler Byrd and Ben Elenbaas opposed, and councilmember Kathy Kershner absent.

Councilmember Byrd, who led a discussion on possible budget goals with the council in last week’s budget meeting, raised concern that the budget goals in the resolution and suggested by the council last week are still too broad to be effective. Byrd said he hopes to continue collaborating with the executive’s office to narrow down the current goals.

According to the resolution, other goals in the resolution include: Prioritizing available funding for the benefit of children and families, continuing to support the public health system in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, taking prudent steps to safeguard the long-term financial stability of county finances and develop reasonable capital project budgets for the long-term needs of Whatcom County.

Of the five proposed budget goals drafted by the council in last week’s budget meeting, the executive incorporated only the suggestion to draft a supplemental budget that would project a possible 20 percent decrease from 2019 revenue.

The executive said, at this point in the budget process, his job is to draft guidelines for the county’s department heads to work with to define their specific budget needs. “It’s a bottom-up budget process,” Sidhu said.

He also urged the council to engage with his office during the drafting process to make their proposed budget goals possible.

The council will vote on a finalized budget, which will likely be completed in the fall, Sidhu said.

Whatcom County Council meets virtually most months on Tuesdays every two weeks. The next meeting is on July 21. Visit whatcom.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx to tune in.