💸 A Million-Dollar Gap and a Hiring Freeze - Skamania BOCC 9/29-10/20

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🏛 October 2026 Skamania Round-Up: County Commissioners

Agencies Covered: Skamania County Board of Commissioners (September 29 and 30, October 5, 6, 7, 13 and 20)

The Bottom Line: The county started building its 2027 budget about $1 million short and asked every department to find 8% in cuts or new money. The public hearing on the preliminary budget is Tuesday, November 3, at 5 p.m.

The Vibe: Long days of line items. Commissioners went department by department, hunting for a few thousand dollars here and there, while the big drivers (a lost jail contract, shrinking state health money, federal agreements stuck in Washington, D.C.) sat outside their control.

🔎 What Changed

• The board sent a letter supporting repeal of the federal Roadless Rule. Added to the September 29 agenda and approved 3-0.
• The data center moratorium was extended 180 days after an October 13 public hearing.
• Hiring is on hold. Since October 13, HR is holding off on filling open county jobs until the board gives direction.
• WAGAP's 2027 homeless housing request of up to $170,000 passed on the October 6 consent agenda.
• Three cities will pay more to house inmates in the county jail. Camas, Battle Ground and Washougal move to $88.80 a day.

⚠ What Escalated

• The 2027 gap. The board's opening number on October 5 was $1,046,000, on a current expense budget of about $20.9 million. By October 20 a commissioner put it near $545,000.
• Road 90 plowing. PacifiCorp is out, the Forest Service hasn't put in money, and the county's contract covers only $16,000. The county says it will plow the road but not the snow-park lot.
• DNR's fee. The state's Board of Natural Resources is weighing a raise in DNR's management fee from 25% to 27%, which a commissioner said would cost the county about $63,000 to $69,000 a year.

🧭 What's Next

• November 3, 5 p.m.: public hearing on the 2027 preliminary budget, Courthouse Room 18 and Zoom. Written comments are due to the Clerk of the Board by noon the Monday before.
• November 3: the Board of Natural Resources takes up the DNR fee, and the county Planning Commission starts its review of data centers.
• November 10: the Columbia River Gorge Commission meets at Skamania Lodge.

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🕯️ Halloween Month Cabinet of Curiosities: Lights Out at a Deadly Dance

Before the meetings, a story from a farmhouse outside Underwood.

On a Saturday night in March 1901, the neighbors threw a farewell dance for the loggers of the Nicolai & Cameron camp. They danced in William Wendorf’s barn, about a mile and a half from Underwood, and ate supper in the house.

At the third table sat the camp foreman, Edson Benjamin. Nellie Brown had just sat down next to him and was pouring coffee. Between midnight and one in the morning, a shot came through the window.

It struck Edson Benjamin in the head, and he died without a word. A piece of the same bullet grazed Nellie’s shoulder.

Of everyone in that room, one person kept her head. Nellie blew out the lamp, so whoever was outside couldn’t see in to shoot again.

The shooter was Jim Green, a logger she had been engaged to until New Year’s. He hid in the woods until Tuesday, then walked out and confessed. At his trial in Stevenson, the jury took 45 minutes.

On December 6, 1901, Jim Green was hanged in Stevenson. He’s the only person ever legally executed in Skamania County. His last words: “I warn everybody to keep out of such scrapes.”

We're all grateful to Nellie for keeping a cool head about her, and likely saving more lives by blowing out that flickering lantern.

Skamania County Board of Commissioners

💸 The 2027 Budget: Start a Million Short, Ask Everyone for 8%

• Opening gap: $1,046,000, read out at the October 5 workshop. By the end of that day, after errors turned up in the Sheriff's Office spreadsheets and some revenue was found missing, a speaker put it at "1.1 million now."
• Size of the budget: current expense of $20,858,734, the figure given that day. A speaker said a 6% cut "would get us about there."
• The ask: every department was emailed a request for an 8% cut or new revenue. Departments that can't hit 8% are to say what 8% would cost them.
• Hiring freeze: on October 13, with HR asking whether to fill vacancies during "budget season with the deficit," one commissioner said, "i'm not going to authorize hiring somebody and then turn around and uh potentially lay them off." HR said it would decline requests until the board gives direction. There was no vote.
• Where it stood October 20: "545,000, 546," a commissioner said, with better numbers expected by mid-November and adoption in December.

What's driving it. Most of the pressure came from outside the courthouse, by the departments' own accounts:

• The jail lost its biggest customer. Jail revenue is down about $310,000 a year, mostly from losing the Clark County housing contract. The county is raising its rate for cities to the state Department of Corrections rate, $88.80 a night. The board approved new rates for Camas on October 13, and for Battle Ground and Washougal on October 20.
• Stevenson's police contract runs out at the end of 2026. It's worth about $300,000, and the Sheriff's Office said on October 5 there had been "no communication" on renewing it.
• Emergency management. Stevenson offered $9,000 toward county emergency management. The Sheriff's Office put the ask at about $28,000 and the full cost near $50,000. "Or we just don't provide services for Emergency Management," a speaker said.
• Public health money shrank. Community Health said its Foundational Public Health money came in at $1,076,000 this year, not $1,369,000.
• Insurance. The county's risk pool rates came out October 7. "It's going to be significant," a commissioner said.

🔒 Why an Empty Jail Bed Still Costs Money

Losing Clark County's inmates didn't shrink the jail's costs much. When someone asked at the October 5 workshop whether fewer inmates would free up any staff, the answer was "not much": every shift still needs its minimum crew, and "supervising two people is the same." Staff also called the Clark County money "somewhat deceiving," since two officers had to drive inmates back and forth. The county's adopted 2026 budget already planned $1,498,379 in jail spending against $345,600 in jail revenue. So when contract beds empty out, the fixed cost stays, and the gap moves to the general fund, where it competes with everything else on the 8% list. That tradeoff, between a jail's cost floor, its legal risks and a small county's budget, is the subject of our special report on the rural jail liability spiral.

What departments offered. 

Public Works came in with $462,000 in possible cuts. The board told the director to take most of it, but to hold a custodian job and the unfilled grants technician position "in the back pocket." Senior Services found new state nutrition money that cuts what it needs from the county by $23,278, which the board praised as 10% against an 8% ask. Smaller offices found what they could: $3,000 from Noxious Weed's unused landowner cost-share, $1,300 from Probation, $5,000 from District Court. The Assessor floated a 37.5-hour week instead of a layoff. The Treasurer's office, down a position for most of the year, described itself as "surviving and not thriving."

Why a million dollars is so hard to find. 

This is the second year running the county has opened its budget with a big hole and asked departments for a flat percentage. On October 5 a speaker said, "last year we didn't touch headcount. I think this year we're going to have to look at headcount before we close this gap." The gap is built into how a public lands county gets paid for:

• Very little of the county can be taxed. Nearly 80% of Skamania County is managed by the federal government, most of it the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and by the Assessor's count just 1.4% of the land can be taxed at full market value (our Letter From the Editor).
• The first blade: the 1% cap. Since 2001 Washington has let a county's property tax collections grow just 1% a year, while insurance, fuel and road repair climb much faster. That widening gap is what we've been calling the Levy Scissors. Last December the board took the full 1% for 2026; for the general fund it came to $27,086.77. This year's gap opened at about $1 million.
• The second blade: the forest promise. Secure Rural Schools stands in for the property taxes a national forest can't pay. When it lapsed in 2023, the county's fallback under a 1908 formula was about $448,000 instead of about $2.35 million, nineteen cents on the dollar. The current law's last check arrives in spring 2027. The 2027 to 2029 bill commissioners plan to back would run "another three years without any increase for inflation," a commissioner said on October 13.
• The third leg wobbles too. State trust timber swings with the market: our September edition reported DNR's projection for this year falling to just over $1.6 million, from about $1.8 million in July.

A levy lid lift came up on October 5, and the commissioners who raised it said they weren't proposing one: "I'm not suggesting that we increase the levy." With the tax capped and the federal and timber money set somewhere else, the lever left in the room is the one the board pulled: 8% from everybody. The November 3 hearing is where any taxpayer can speak to the plan.

🌲 The Roadless Rule Letter

On September 29 the board amended its agenda to add a letter supporting the federal proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, then approved it unanimously, according to the typed minutes (Commissioner Farris moved, Commissioner Leckie seconded). The letter itself was not in the meeting packet. This follows the September 15 meeting, when commissioners agreed to write one but didn't vote.

Stevenson resident Mary Repar spoke against the rollback on October 6, which she said was the comment deadline. "The roadless rule rollback comments are due today. I'm fairly sure you all are not in agreement with me on this issue," she said, adding, "Our woods are going to be our saving grace in the coming climate crisis."

The board's interest is access. On October 6 a commissioner reported on a meeting of a local off-road trail group, attended by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez: "It's a people's forest. They should be able to use it." On October 20 Gifford Pinchot National Forest Supervisor Johanna Kovarik's team said they are inventorying motorized routes with an off-road volunteer group but, on the separate federal travel-management review, "We aren't yet acting any differently."

🏗 The Data Center Pause Gets Six More Months

On October 13 the board held a public hearing on the moratorium it adopted August 18 (our August coverage; also Columbia Gorge News) and voted to extend it 180 days. The extension's end date is not yet in the published minutes.

• Why: the county's findings of fact say the Planning Commission hasn't had time to make a recommendation. It discussed data centers in September, gave its October meeting to the Critical Areas Ordinance, and picks the topic back up in November.
• No applicant: Public Works said in August that no one had applied to build a data center in the county, and Mary Grode said the same at the hearing.
• Testimony: two people spoke, both in favor. West End resident Mary Grode: "We need to get this code in place before applications can be submitted." Mary Repar: "We need water. We do not need AI centers."
• Expect another: staff said they would "anticipate a second" six-month extension, and Public Works repeated on October 20 that it won't be "a quick process."

Washington's planning laws let a county keep a moratorium for six months (a year with a work plan) and renew it six months at a time, each time after a public hearing and findings of fact (RCW 36.70.795; RCW 36.70A.390).

❄️ Road 90: A Snowplow Contract That Doesn't Stretch

Forest Service Road 90 runs about 18 to 19 miles past Northwoods to the county line, serving private land, Sno-Parks and search-and-rescue access. Our September edition reported that PacifiCorp was pulling out of the plowing contract. On October 6 the Public Works director told the board the Forest Service "has not dedicated anything" either. The contract now carries only the county's $16,000, and "once you pay the mobilization of the equipment, you've taken up $9,000 of the $16,000." The county will plow the road but stop plowing the snow-park lot. "I thought that would get a reaction, but I haven't gotten anything," he said. A commissioner put the question to the Forest Service in person on October 20, asking for recreation or safety money or an evacuation-route designation. No answer was given at the meeting.

🏠 WAGAP and Homeless Housing

• Approved October 6: WAGAP's request for up to $170,000 in county homeless housing funds for 2027, for the emergency shelter, the family shelter, supportive housing and hotel stays in extreme weather. WAGAP's request says it served 41 people and 1,526 shelter bed nights in the county from January to July 2026.
• Scrutiny: on October 20 county staff told the board they want WAGAP to explain "what we're paying for and what we're getting back." The county's state homeless housing grant, about $93,000, runs through June 2027, and the county is rewriting WAGAP's building leases, some dating to 2012 and 2015.
• WAGAP's report (October 13): Executive Director Julie Hester said rental assistance passed $53,000 in the July to September quarter, and that the Family Resource Center position will not be refilled because its funding ends at the end of the year.

To learn more about WAGAP's comprehensive social support programs, including housing assistance, visit their website. Their most recent Community Needs Assessment puts these figures and programs in context, with more affordable housing being one of the most critical needs identified in this area.

🚑 EMS Asks for a Share of the PUD Tax

On October 20 Skamania County EMS and Rescue asked the board for $25,000 of the county's PUD privilege tax to fix the sinking apron in front of its Stevenson station. The district said it had applied four times for a federal firefighter grant: "No go." State law has the county credit this tax to local taxing districts other than school districts "according to the manner they deem most equitable" (RCW 54.28.090). Commissioners said they found shares going to fire districts and mosquito control from about 2000 to 2010, and none since. One floated opening about half of the county's yearly receipts to districts by application, "kind of like Title III," adding, "I think it's time for the county to help." No decision; a follow-up is tentatively set for November 3.

🌲 Timber and the DNR Fee

A commissioner reported on October 20 that the state Board of Natural Resources will consider raising DNR's management fee from 25% to 27% at its November 3 meeting. He put the county's cost at about $63,000 to $69,000 a year and tied it to the budget: "$60,000 for us is considerable considering that we're probably going to lose our veteran services officer." The fee rise, he said, "is not going to fix the FDA problem," meaning DNR's own Forest Development Account. Another commissioner said he would meet Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove on October 21 about state forest acres set aside as structurally complex habitat. On the federal side, commissioners plan a letter backing a 2027 to 2029 Secure Rural Schools bill "right after the election."

🏞 The Gorge Commission Visits

Columbia River Gorge Commission Executive Director Krystyna Wolniakowski briefed the board October 6. The Commission has posted an updated Building in the National Scenic Area Handbook, its first new edition since 2005, with design examples and new guidance on defensible space around homes. The next full review of the Gorge management plan won't start before July 2027 (our September Gorge Commission coverage explains what that review has to cover), and if a revised plan is approved by December 2029, county ordinances "should be in place by the middle of 2031."

Commissioner Farris pressed her on long-term camping at Milepost 55 near Dog Creek and on parking at Cape Horn and Drano Lake, where he counted "900 vehicles" on a peak spring day. "I'll give the Forest Service some kudos. They are trying to work on it. I don't think they're working on it hard enough," he said. She said she would raise it at her own Forest Service meeting that week.

📋 Also on the Agendas

• September 29 consent: 2026-27 Title III contracts with Underwood Conservation District ($8,746), Fire District #1 ($6,684), Fire District #3 ($3,184) and Skamania County EMS ($70,150); a $24,850 fairgrounds irrigation contract with Northwest Irrigation Contractors, paid by a state agriculture grant; a management agreement with The Conservation Fund for Northwestern Lake Park, which the county is buying with a state Commerce grant.
• October 1: the meeting was cancelled.
• October 6: a $17,340 increase to the National Wild Turkey Federation's noxious weed and planting agreement on the Gifford Pinchot; a 15-minute executive session with legal counsel on litigation, no decision.
• October 13: a new card processor for county payments (staff said the current one's fee jumps from about $100 to $1,500 a month in January); a $2,499 sole-source contract so the original geotechnical firm can re-stamp its Baker Road slide report for FEMA; the jail's phone contract now pays the county 3 cents a text instead of 2 and 40% of tablet charges instead of 20%; post-holiday meetings will stay on Tuesday starting in 2027.
• October 20: $60,498 in Title III money for North Country EMS; $18,750 in county .09 funds for the Port of Skamania's first Cascades Business Park building; the $379,545 courthouse window contract with Black Line Glazing, paid by a state Commerce grant; Mary Repar asked the county to deny the Cascade Renewable Transmission project a land-use consistency certificate at EFSEC.

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⚠️ Editor's Notebook: Broader Context

• Most of the budget gap comes from decisions made outside of our county. A lost jail contract, a smaller state public health payment, federal agreements stalled in D.C., a possible DNR fee increase. State law caps growth in the county's property tax levy at 1% a year (RCW 84.55.010) unless voters approve a levy lid lift (RCW 84.55.050), and nobody on the board is proposing one.
• A hiring freeze is a cut you don't see right away. Positions stay empty, and the work falls on the people left. The Treasurer's office and the Sheriff's Office both described that already.

🛠 Jargon Buster

• Current expense: the county's general fund, the money for courts, the Sheriff, elections, the Assessor and most offices.
• Roadless Rule: a 2001 federal rule limiting new roads and logging in national forest "roadless areas," about 45 million acres outside Idaho and Colorado, which have their own rules.
• PUD privilege tax: a state tax on public utility districts' electric revenue. Part of it comes back to the county, which shares some with the cities and may share it with other local districts.
• DNR management fee: the share of state trust timber revenue DNR keeps to run the lands before paying counties and other beneficiaries.
• Title III: the part of the federal Secure Rural Schools payment counties can spend on search and rescue, fire planning and similar work.
• Bed rate: what a city pays the county per night to hold one of its inmates in the county jail.

📅 How to Join & Learn More

• Regular meetings: Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m., Courthouse lower level, 240 NW Vancouver Ave., Stevenson, and on Zoom (meeting ID 627 669 8258).
• 2027 preliminary budget hearing: Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 5 p.m., Courthouse Room 18 and Zoom. Copies of the preliminary budget are at the Commissioners' Office, Room 15, and on the county website.
• Written comments: Clerk of the Board Roni Emerson, PO Box 790, Stevenson, WA 98648, or roni.emerson@skamaniacounty.gov.
• Agendas, minutes and audio: skamaniacounty.gov.