Plans for children, social justice, water rights included Whatcom budget, despite economy
Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu’s proposed budget for the next two years keeps a countywide hiring freeze but doesn’t seek layoffs or more unpaid leave for county workers, and also avoids tax increases.
It’s the first budget for Sidhu, who became executive in January after serving on the County Council, and it seeks funding for new initiatives to help children and families, solve Nooksack River water rights and promote racial justice.
Sidhu took office just as rural Whatcom County was hit with devastating floods in February, followed by the new coronavirus pandemic in March.
“It’s been a hard year for us,” Sidhu told The Bellingham Herald in an online meeting Wednesday afternoon that included other county and newspaper staff members.
“Even the veterans (employees and elected officials) have never seen anything like this. (But) it’s been a great experience for us to cope and learn,” he said.
The Herald received draft copies of the 2021-2022 budget to examine in advance of its official release Friday, Oct. 16.
Sidhu sees bright spots amid the ongoing pandemic, which is being managed by the Health Department and the multi-agency Whatcom Unified Command.
In his budget message., Sidhu wrote, “2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenges that have impacted every aspect of our lives. The good news is that we, as a community, are adapting, re-evaluating priorities, and finding smarter ways to do things.”
SIdhu said Whatcom’s $17 million share of federal CARES Act funds — the $2.2 trillion pandemic-relief measure that Congress approved in March — helped boost personal spending that propped up the sales tax, provided money to struggling businesses countywide, helped families with food, rent and housing, and allowed the Health Department to hire staff to address the pandemic.
No taxes, layoffs
Sidhu’s $451.6 million budget for 2021-2022 has 888 full-time positions but leaves 22 jobs vacant, said Deputy Executive Tyler Schroeder.
That includes 10 open jobs in the Sheriff’s Office — three patrol deputies, five corrections deputies and two administrative positions.
But no layoffs are planned and no more furloughs are sought.
In a sense, it’s a one-year budget that allows county officials to adapt to a volatile economy.
“We rely on our sales tax and tightening our belt a little bit,” Schroeder said. “(But) recognizing the uncertainty with the economy, we likely will have a large mid-biennium adjustment for 2022.”
In all, the budget is down 6.5% from 2020, he said.
The Council’s Finance Committee will discuss the budget on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
New initiatives
Despite the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic, Sidhu’s budget advances three new proposals, including a focus on children and family services and on a negotiated settlement for Nooksack River water rights.
Another initiative lays the groundwork for a countywide panel to address the issues of social justice and systemic racism raised during 2020’s summer of marches and rallies against the killing of unarmed people of color by police.
Less than $1 million total is being budgeted for all three initiatives, Schroeder said.
“It’s not a lot of dollar amount,” Schroeder said. “But it’s a lot of commitment.”
Nooksack water rights
Sidhu‘s budget has $250,000 per year dedicated to hiring a manager or consultant to forge a deal over the rights to Nooksack River basin water among the city of Bellingham, Public Utilities District 1, the Nooksack Tribe and Lummi Nation, farmers, sport fishers, and salmon and environmental advocates.
In 2016, a state Supreme Court decision changed how counties manage growth and development based on water availability and also required counties to allocate legal water rights.
But local officials were unable to agree on terms for the Nooksack River basin, so the state Department of Ecology assumed that role.
Ecology recently recommended that Nooksack water rights should be decided by the courts or the Legislature, but Sidhu would like to return those decisions to the local level.
“This is something that we can solve much better in our community,” Sidhu said. “This is in our best interest. I am not a water expert. I am a people expert. We can get people together and create solutions.”
He said the county will also seek state funds to further settlement negotiations.
Racial equality
Some $130,000 is dedicated over the next two years to forming a countywide commission to address racial justice.
“I was deeply moved by the tragedies that occurred across our country this past year,” Sidhu said in his budget message. “They showed us the worst possible manifestations of racial and social inequity. From the disparities of the pandemic’s impact to the brutality experienced by people of color at the hands of the police, racism cannot be ignored.”
Sidhu proposes working with the city of Bellingham to support a panel that addresses racial equity and operates like the Bellingham-Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence.
“This is not a one-, two-, three-year effort,” SIdhu told The Herald. “It should be part of the community for the future.”
Children and families
Some $300,000 is dedicated to a new child and family services program over 2021-2022.
Sidhu said the Health Board’s recent adoption of a Child and Family Action Plan requested that his office “assess infrastructure and budget needs required to realize commitment to an integrated focus on child and family well-being across county government departments.”
Such a new program for children and families has been discussed as a cooperative partnership with the city of Bellingham and local nonprofit organizations and would be run by the Health Department.
“The first thousand days of a newborn child’s life are the most important,” Sidhu said.
He said the services would be offered to all residents, regardless of income, and that the program could become a separate county agency at some point.
