Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Dec. 5, 2025.
Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 49th week of 2025.
Most Island County offices will be closed to the public, except by appointment, beginning December 22, 2025, and re-opening on January 5, 2026. Should you have a time-sensitive matter, you may phone the office or department in question and arrange an appointment. You can find the information in the employee directory on the county website.
- Special Session, Monday December 1. This was our most important meeting of the year—the meeting where we approved the 2026 Budget. We held 6 public hearings on Monday. The agenda and recording can be found here.
- The first public hearing was to impose an additional Sales and Use Tax of one-tenth of 1% (10 cents on every $100 spent) for criminal justice purposes. I felt obligated to vote for this because the State has imposed additional unfunded mandates on the counties to pay for public defense (which will cost us almost $1 million extra next year). This measure passed on a 2 – 1 vote; there was one public comment expressing concern about our process.
- The second public hearing was to combine our two Real Estate Excise Taxes (REET) into one fund, as allowed by recent legislation. This measure will allow us greater latitude with regard to the use of REET funds. This option, along with the new income from the Sales and Use Tax, are the two things that allowed us to pass the budget without cutting programs or staff, which many other counties in Washington have to do in 2026 (examples: Skagit County had to cut Meals on Wheels and is hoping some nonprofit will step up to take that over; another county had to lay-off a significant number of deputies). We received one public comment.
- The 3rd public hearing was to pass the 2026 Budget. If you have any time, this is the public hearing I would encourage you most to watch. Susan Geiger, our Budget Manager, did an amazing job putting together a presentation with easily-accessible charts and data showing our revenue and expenses, and I think you’ll find it very informative. This public hearing starts at mark 00:17:46 in the video recording. Because of the transfers between funds mentioned above, the budget shows as $164.7 million; otherwise we would have a reduced budget in 2026 to that of 2025. This would be a serious problem because almost every contract we have, from jail food to liability insurance, increased beyond our initial budget expectations. Plus we need to provide our employees with reasonable wage increases next year. We received one public comment. The budget passed on a 2 – 1 vote.
- The other three public hearings were on the 1% levy increases we vote on every year to increase our Current Expense property tax revenue, our County Roads revenue, and our Conservation Futures revenue. These will result in increases to County revenue by $97,000 in the Current Expense fund, $270,000 in the County Roads fund, and $8,000 in the Conservation Futures fund.
- Regular Session, Tuesday December 2. This is the agenda and recording for Tuesday’s meeting.
- We heard public comment from three indviduals: one person spoke about changes he’d like to see in the moratorium on building in the RAIDS; the second spoke about Lone Lake’s algae cleanup issue; the third person reminded us that we need to select our Chair in an open public meeting.
- We held a public hearing on whether or not to amend Ordinance C-45-25, amending Island County Code Chapter 9.08.A Fireworks, to ban the sale of mortar-style fireworks in Island County. There was one public comment in support of the motion. The motion passed 2 – 1. Mark 00:09:40 in the recording.
- During Commissioners Comments, Commissioner Johnson moved to hold all new positions added in the supplemental budget for 2026 until June 2026, when the Board will be able to evaluate each position again based on budget capacity and 2027 projections. The motion passed with one abstention. Mark 00:15:26 in the recording.
- During Commissioners Comments I spoke about why I felt unable to support either of my colleagues as Chair in 2026. Mark 00:25:36 in the recording. See work session item below for follow-up.
- The agenda for the Regular Session next Tuesday, December 9, is here. On that agenda: Selection of the 2026 Chair of the Board of Island County Commissioners; and two PBRS Public Hearings.
- Tentative Upcoming Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Public Hearings (held during board meetings, beginning at 10 am):
- Tuesday December 9: 2 PBRS applications
- Tuesday January 6: Franchise Vafaeezdah
- Tuesday January 6: Franchise Allen
- Tuesday January 6: Public Defense
- Tuesday January 13: Franchise Delcoure
- Tuesday January 13: Franchise Witham
- Tuesday January 13: Franchise Solvang
- Tuesday January 27: Part 1 of Speed Study Public Hearing, to be held
on Camano Island; public comment only; will be continued to the following week - Tuesday February 3: Part 2 of Speed Study Public Hearing, to be held
in Coupeville; public comment and possible action
- Work Session. This is the agenda for the December 3rd work session; here is the recording. Reminder: if you want to scroll through the recording to get to one of the times I note below, you will need to download it first.
- We heard a presentation from our lobbyists in Washington, DC, Merchant McIntyre, speaking about the various projects they’re working on for us.
- The Treasurer and Sheriff brought a recommendation to move the sale of dog licenses and identification tags from the office of the Treasurer to the office of the Sheriff. The Commissioners had questions regarding process, so this topic will be brought back to the Board early next year. Mark 0:34:32 in the audio recording.
- Public Health brought two grant opportunities for discussion. The first was to apply for a grant to implement a key Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) strategy: the ‘Thrive’ resource directory. This central platform will connect residents to essential health and social services, merging multiple static guides into one accessible, mobile-first tool.” The Board was in favor of this application. Mark 0:47:29 in the recording.
- The second Public Health grant request was in response to requests from the Lone Lake community to apply for a specific State grant to assist in algae clean-up. The Board decided to apply for this grant in order to clean up aquatic invasive species in County lakes, (which is different from the Lone Lake citizens’ request). In response to their request, the Board directed Staff to research state-funded opportunities for toxic algae treatment for local lakes and add research into a lake monitoring program to their 2026 work plan, with a goal of a 2027 grant application. Mark 0:55:59 in the recording.
- Facilities Director Mark Sibon brought a review of potential Law and Justice building upgrades for upcoming contracting; the Board approved this contract to move to the consent agenda. This contract is to replace the HVAC system, replace the 15-year-old roof, and install LED lighting upgrades in the Law and Justice building. Mark 1:47:14 in the recording.
- The Board reviewed a resolution to extend the terms for committee appointments that were put on a one-year review while we studied our committee processes. The resolution that will come to Consent Agenda will move these appointments back to their normal term endings. Mark 1:51:27 in the recording.
- We agreed to move to the Consent Agenda the certification of 20 levies for the collection of taxes by other Island County taxing districts in 2026. Mark 1:58:54 in the recording.
- My colleagues agreed to support me continuing as Chair in 2026. We will vote on this next Tuesday. Mark 2:11:10 in the recording.
- The next work session will be held on Wednesday, December 10th, beginning at 10 am. Agenda here. On that agenda: Commissioner Committee Assignments for 2026; final discussion of the Board of County Commissioners 2026 Legislative Priorities with Columbia Policy Advisors; discussion of Ordinance C-75-25 establishing new code section ICC 2.05 creating the Office of Public Defense and setting a public hearing in early January; Solid Waste Uncollectible Debt Write-Off; a request by the Port of South Whidbey for a 24-month extension of the grant awarded to them for a workforce housing feasibility study; and in the afternoon Staff will review individual departmental work plans for 2026 with the Board.
- The Island Transit Executive Board met this morning.
- We adopted the 2026 Wage Grid for non-represented employees and the 2026 Budget.
- Update from Public Health: It is not too late to get vaccinated; everyone should receive their annual flu shot, and specifically, adults 65 and older are strongly advised to get a high-dose or adjuvanted vaccine for the best protection against severe illnesses. Remember to practice everyday preventive actions like covering coughs and staying home when sick. Find community vaccine locations here.
- Planning Commission and the Comprehensive Plan Update: This is a link to the Planning Commission page. You can find details on their meetings and minutes, including Zoom info, here. The agendas are published at least a week in advance. The Planning Commission usually meets at 6 pm on the first and third Wednesdays of each month in the Commissioners Hearing Room in Coupeville.
- IMPORTANT: next Wednesday, December 10, the Long Range Planning team will release the current drafts of the Comprehensive Plan elements. We are asking for public comment. You can find those elements here.
- I will meet with interested citizens at the WiFire Community Space in Freeland on Monday, December 8, at 3 pm
Melanie
Sunday is December 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
“There’s nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.”
~ Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle
