As cost increases continue for Lewis County, the local government is considering new sources of revenue to prevent future cuts, including permitting cannabis businesses to set up shop in unincorporated Lewis County and a public safety sales tax.
Lewis County Budget Administrator Becky Butler presented the county's budget outlook to the Lewis County Board of Commissioners on Monday morning during a county manager’s update meeting. The presentation included two new revenue options for the county, which were explored at the request of the commissioners.
During the meeting, Butler and other staff members made the case for adopting one or both of the revenue proposals instead of making deeper staffing cuts that could threaten the services the county currently provides.
According to Lewis County Manager Ryan Barrett, the county cut 23 full-time positions from 2023 to 2025 and currently employs 50 fewer full-time positions than it did in 2008 despite workloads increasing in some areas.
“We do not recommend further budget reductions at this time,” Barrett said. “Continuing to reduce resourcing risks unsustainable service levels and decreased operational capacity.
According to Butler, the county is currently expected to close out its 2025 finances with $1.3 million more in the general fund than expected, including $500,000 more in sales tax revenue than predicted. However, the county also expects to begin dipping into its extra fund balances regularly in the coming years to offset rising costs.
Allowing siting for businesses in the cannabis industry in unincorporated Lewis County would allow the county to benefit from state cannabis tax revenue, and a public safety tax, like the one recently passed in Thurston County, would raise local sales tax to fund the local justice system, from police officers to prosecutors.
Lewis County faced across-the-board cuts when preparing its 2025 budget more than a year ago and again faced budget challenges, although not as dire, when preparing this year's 2026 county budget. The county commissioners, in a split vote with Commissioner Lindsey Pollock dissenting, chose to adopt a 2026 budget without taking the allowed 1% property tax increase.
For previous budget reporting by The Chronicle, visit https://tinyurl.com/32d9fbj4.
The county faces increasing costs for providing jail medical services, public defense services, employee health plans, standard cost-of-living salary increases and county risk pool insurance premiums, among others. Labor costs this year are expected to rise by more than $750,000 as the county finalizes collective bargaining agreements with the last of its 14 labor unions.
County employee salaries saw an average increase of 2.7% across the board this year to keep up with inflation. Salary costs rose by $1.1 million while the county saved nearly $346,000 on medical benefits by switching providers.
Cannabis revenue
Under the cannabis revenue proposal, the county would begin allowing cannabis businesses — whether they are producers, processors or retailers — to set up shop in unincorporated parts of Lewis County. According to Lewis County Community Development Director Mindy Brooks, this is likely the easiest way to bring in new revenue as quickly as possible.
“This is a pretty fast option in terms of generating revenue,” Brooks said during the Monday meeting. “If we start this month with (the) Planning Commission, we can have a code in front of you by June to consider, and then it's just into the permitting phase.”
By changing county codes to allow for zoning of such businesses and then actually permitting and hosting retailers in the county, Lewis County would qualify for a share of the state’s cannabis retail excise tax through two revenue sharing routes. The state levies a retail tax on all cannabis sold in the state, including those sold in the four cities in Lewis County that have already permitted cannabis businesses: Centralia, Chehalis, Winlock and Toledo.
The state distributes part of the tax revenue to counties, cities and towns that allow permitting cannabis businesses on a per-capita basis, meaning proportionate to the county’s population. It distributes another portion of cannabis tax revenue to local governments that actually have an active cannabis business in operation based on the cannabis sales in that jurisdiction.
If Lewis County does move forward with making changes to county codes to allow for siting cannabis businesses, that does not mean a cannabis shop can pop up in just any corner of Lewis County. First, the county would require a special use permit, which would require a public hearing before approval.
Brooks also proposes that the county, if it begins permitting cannabis facilities, permit them only in areas zoned as freeway commercial, urban growth area mixed use and commercial business.
Those zoning designations would limit the number of cannabis retailers across the county to seven with restrictions on how many can go where. A map from Brooks shows two would be allowed in a freeway commercial zone near Vader and one would be allowed in a similar zone where U.S. Highway 12 meets Interstate 5.
As many as two could also come to Onalaska in the unincorporated community’s mixed use and commercial business zones, and another two could be permitted in Packwood — also in the community’s mixed use and commercial business zones.
Brooks also recommends the county require cannabis retailers be 1,000 feet away from other cannabis retailers and any detention or correction centers. The state already requires cannabis retailers be 1,000 feet from schools, playgrounds and recreation centers.
Production and processing facilities would be allowed in a range of industrial zones on parcels of 5 acres or larger.
The county issued a public survey to county residents earlier this week on Wednesday to gauge public support for permitting cannabis businesses in unincorporated Lewis County. To access the survey, visit the commissioners’ Facebook page or https://tinyurl.com/msauzfpp.
For previous reporting by The Chronicle on the county's exploration of cannabis revenue, visit https://tinyurl.com/4be34fhz.
Public safety tax
The public safety tax has been a long discussed option in Lewis County as a way to provide steady funding for law enforcement and the local justice system.
“This tax was discussed several times during last year's budget season, probably the season before and the season before,” Butler said during the Monday meeting.
It’s also seen as a way to reduce the reliance of public safety on funding from the county’s roads fund. This year, the county will send just under $1.5 million from its roads fund to public safety accounts through a reimbursement process to pay for traffic policing. This as the county struggles to keep up with maintenance on its roads, not to mention its many aging bridges.
According to Butler, 19 counties in the state currently have some form of public safety tax. While many counties have passed such a tax, Lewis County has been hesitant as it seeks to avoid raising the cost of goods in the area. Lewis County Commissioner Scott Brummer, during the Monday meeting, expressed that concern again.
“When we talk about this being revenue, revenue still comes out of the pockets of the people, and that's my issue: (it) comes out of all of our pockets here in Lewis County,” Brummer said.
To impose a public safety sales tax, Lewis County would have to put the issue on the ballot to be approved by voters in the area on either a primary or general election ballot. The maximum limit for a public safety sales tax in the state is 3%. According to Butler, if the county passed a public safety tax with the maximum rate, it could generate as much as $6.9 million, with 60% going to the county and 40% going to cities, per Washington state law.
The county could also elect to pursue a public safety sales tax with a rate lower than 3%, which would generate less revenue for the county and its cities.
Cities can also pass their own public safety taxes if their county doesn’t already have one. If they do so, they benefit from 85% of the tax revenue, with just 15% going to the county, but the tax rate is capped at 1%.
To consider if the county would like to pursue a public safety tax, the commissioners signed off on a proposal from Butler to reconvene the county’s Law and Justice Council, which gathers stakeholders from the county and its justice system to weigh in on public safety and criminal justice issues.
