Whatcom County roads could stay snow-covered longer this winter and potholes might not be fixed quickly in spring without higher taxes because of recent budget struggles and cost increases.
Less money is coming in from the kinds of taxes that pay for road work, and inflation is raising the price of labor and materials, requiring the Public Works Department to tap its reserves, Public Works Director Elisabeth Kosa told the Whatcom County Council in a committee meeting on Sept. 10.
“Our expenses are starting to outrun revenues. It’s not fiscally responsible to continue to draw down the Road Fund,” Kosa told the County Council’s Public Works and Health Committee.
Layoffs are also possible, she said.
Cuts of nearly 20% were made in the Public Works Department’s funding request for the the next two-year budget cycle, 2025-2026, Kosa told the council.
“Everyone did their part, even the smallest of programs where every dollar counted. We cut where we could” and kept service at a “baseline level,” she said.
Proposed reductions are being made through deferred maintenance such as moving chip sealing of roads from a 7-year cycle to an 11-year cycle. A “pre-level” process is being eliminated, she said.
“Bring your coffee cup cover when you’re driving on our roads because we’re removing for the next two years pre-level. That’s what keeps that nice ride, it also helps to maintain the road before we chip seal over it,” Kosa said.
Reductions also call for eliminating dust control on gravel roads, except those around berry fields because the dust harms the fruit.
“For next steps we’re going have to look at storm operations, a potential cut on snow response meaning less overtime, and/or spanning out our crews over a 24-hour period on straight time, which means less availability. We have not done that yet, but it depends on what our budget looks like as we go throughout the year,” Kosa said.
Normally during a snowstorm, plow drivers and support crews work 12-hour rotating shifts to keep roads clear.
“Further cuts could include layoffs or the removal of entire programs. This would come at a time when the community is demanding more services, regulations have increased, and the population has increased, causing more wear and tear on our infrastructure,” Kosa said.
Such cuts are not a sustainable model, Kosa said.
In her presentation, Kosa said that Public Works projects are funded with a combination of state gas taxes, the road levy part of property taxes, state and federal grants, real estate excise taxes and other lesser sources. One reason that taxes are lagging is because the county hasn’t taken the legally allowed annual 1% tax increase in 14 years, resulting in a “banked capacity” of $3.6 million.
She asked the County Council to take its legally allowed 1% annual property tax increase this year for the Road Fund plus all of its extra taxing capability. And she warned that a further increase — called a levy lid lift — might be necessary.
“If we receive the 1% annual levy increase and all of the banked capacity, we can return to 2024 service levels in the next budget cycle. However, this will not be sufficient for future cost increases. So, in the coming years, a levy lift will be needed to maintain existing service levels and meet future service level demands,” Kosa said.
Such a levy lid lift likely would require voter approval.
In an email, Kosa told The Bellingham Herald that the owner of a $500,000 would pay $3.73 more this year if the county takes a 1% increase. That homeowner would pay $65.40 more a year if the county takes all of its banked taxing capacity, she said.
“Other counties are experiencing the same thing so we are not alone,” Kosa said.
“Deferring capital is not a sustainable model. I think if we’ve learned anything from our ferry, that the longer we wait on capital the more expensive it gets,” she said.
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