Following the Monday, June 9, 2025, announcement of a temporary hiring freeze, Kitsap County Commissioners Christine Rolfes, Oran Root, and Katie Walters authored this opinon/editorial to provide additional context on the County's budget situation and the factors driving this decision. The piece, published in the Kitsap Sun on June 18, 2025, explains the County's approach to responsible fiscal management.
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OpEd: Kitsap County's response to structural budget challenges
Proactive leadership means facing challenges directly and taking action before problems become crises. That's exactly what Kitsap County is doing as we address significant structural budget challenges that require immediate and sustained attention.
Kitsap County faces a projected $8 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2026, with similar challenges expected in future years. This isn't a temporary cash flow issue — it's a long-term, fundamental budget problem that demands proactive management.
Understanding our budget reality
The County's $609 million overall budget funds five core categories of service: public works, law and justice, health and human services, community services, and general government. Of this total, the $134 million General Fund finances the majority of traditional County services including courts, law enforcement, licensing, recording, animal control, jail operations, and more — the essential functions that residents expect from County government.
The structural deficit we face is driven by revenue constraints and expenditure pressures that have been building for years. On the revenue side, the 1 percent cap on property tax growth creates an inherent structural gap between revenue growth and the actual cost of providing services. When you couple this with flat sales tax growth — 1.5 percent in 2023, 3 percent in 2024, and a projected 2 percent in 2025 — the math doesn't work.
Meanwhile, expenditure pressures continue to mount. Personnel expenses represent more than 70 percent of our General Fund budget. Our self-insured property, casualty, liability, and workers' compensation programs have doubled from $4 million in 2019 to $8 million today. Perhaps most dramatically, mandated jail medical contract service costs have increased by 217 percent — $3.9 million since 2018 — and are expected to continue climbing at this rate for the foreseeable future.
Kitsap County's structural deficit stems from ongoing operational constraints that temporary funding cannot resolve. This situation reflects the fundamental structure of local government finance in Washington state, which creates unsustainable pressures over time. The same challenges face counties throughout our region and state. In Kitsap County, we're committed to living within our means while maintaining essential services through operational changes and thoughtful budget management.
Our proactive response
In cooperation with the other Kitsap County elected officials, the Board of Commissioners has implemented a temporary hiring freeze through December 31, 2025, as an important action to address budget challenges that have reached a critical threshold. The hiring freeze helps manage budget pressures through natural attrition while protecting essential services.
This is one step in addressing our budget challenges, but it won't be the last required as we work through these multi-year fiscal constraints.
The hiring freeze includes specific limitations. For now, positions categorically exempted by resolution can continue to be filled, including sheriff's deputies, corrections officers, and certain maintenance and operations roles. Other positions, such as those essential to public safety, will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for exception. Current recruitments that have reached the interview stage will continue.
However, as 2026 budget development continues, all departments — including those with current exemptions — will face difficult resource decisions as part of ongoing budget monitoring. No department is immune from the budget pressures we're experiencing, and all staffing decisions will be continuously evaluated based on available resources and evolving fiscal realities. Departments are also developing spending reduction plans to demonstrate their ability to absorb cost increases in the 2026 budget.
We acknowledge that staffing challenges exist across multiple departments, like parks maintenance and law and justice, which face significant workload pressures that require careful attention as we navigate these budget constraints.
The path forward
This hiring freeze serves as a first step — we have considerable long-term budgetary challenges to solve, and we're starting now rather than waiting for a crisis to force our hand. We've built healthy reserves, maintain a strong credit rating, and will continue to do so.
Community engagement is essential
Responsible governance means involving our community in difficult conversations about priorities and trade-offs rather than making cuts behind closed doors. We'll be conducting a community survey this summer to understand residents' priorities as we navigate these challenges.
You can also contact us at KitsapCommissioners@kitsap.gov about what services and priorities matter most to your family and community. Your voice shapes our decision-making as we work systematically through the difficult choices ahead.
While some service impacts may occur as positions remain unfilled across departments, we remain committed to prioritizing core functions and essential services that our residents expect.
Moving forward together
We'll continue providing updates on budget decisions as we balance essential services with available resources. The path forward requires honest assessment of what's essential as we work through these structural challenges with community partnership.
By prioritizing our core commitments and engaging our community in these important conversations, we can ensure Kitsap County continues providing essential services while maintaining fiscal responsibility. With careful planning, good communication, and community input, we can navigate these challenging times and emerge stronger.
The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners is committed to working through this period with the transparency and careful decision-making our residents deserve.
The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners - Christine Rolfes (District 1), Oran Root (District 2), and Katie Walters (District 3) - is committed to providing high-quality services and amenities that enhance the quality of life for all residents while fostering economic growth, environmental conservation, and sustainable development.
