Katherine Bryant Ingman on San Juan County budget

||| KATHERINE BRYANT INGMAN for SAN JUAN COUNTY COUNCIL |||

San Juan County is set to spend more than it takes in for 2027. To legally balance the budget, it needs to cut $3.7 million.

This didn’t happen overnight. In April 2026, a levy lift failed, with over 60% voting no, forcing difficult decisions. Costs the county can’t control have kept climbing: state mandated programs,insurance, and inflation have all grown faster than revenue. Some revenue tools haven’t kept up. Permit fees, for example, haven’t changed in over 15 years.

San Juan County isn’t alone. Cities, counties, and state agencies across Washington face the same pressures, and voters statewide have been saying no to levies. That doesn’t make the decisions ahead any easier.

What I Believe

Budgets are moral documents. They show community priorities and values, not just the math.Beyond what the state mandates (public safety, law and justice, public health, and financial administration), here’s where I believe we should focus spending:

• Protect frontline and public services. Emergency response, roads, and essential services for children and our most vulnerable residents matter most.
• Protect our environment. Our parks, public spaces, and waterways, including oil spill response, are some of the biggest reasons we choose to live here.
• Take care of county infrastructure now. Deferred maintenance always costs more later.
• Keep investing in affordable housing. The county's Home Fund is a unique tool we need to protect to stay a year-round community.
• Build smart health partnerships. San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez healthcare organizations are already working together through the Health Network.
• Advocate for transportation. Staying connected across the islands takes ongoing coalition building and advocacy at the state level.

What I’d Do as Your Councilmember

I’ll be inheriting the 2027 budget the current council is finalizing. My job from day one will be a clear, thoughtful approach to the hard choices ahead.

I’d focus spending on protecting frontline services, public safety, health, and infrastructure, before cutting deeper into programs people rely on daily. To do that without asking islanders to shoulder more, I’d look at revenue tools already available: updated lodging taxes, modernized Airbnb and short-term rental permitting, an additional 1/10 of 1% sales tax for law and justice that frees up general fund dollars, and the exploration of voluntary visitors taxes on those using the Salish Sea and our unique islands to help fund environmental protection programs.

My approach to the process is:

• Listen first. Diversity of thought makes the best policy, inviting community voices and staff in, and not asking every department to cut the same percentage.
• Set clear criteria for evaluating every program so decisions reflect real needs and impact, not a blanket rule.
• Review management and administrative costs to find savings before cutting frontline services.
• Invest in maintenance now. Paying for it later costs more.
• Pursue public and private grants and partnerships with community organizations already doing this work well.

Why I’m Ready

My experience leading the Catherine Washburn Medical Association, with a $4.5 million budget, and my work at the Washington Women’s Foundation taught me the same lesson: hard decisions require partnership, not shortcuts. Being fiscally responsible is how leaders show their community they’re listening and responsive.

That’s the approach I’ll bring to San Juan County’s budget.