I wanted to put this together because the town has a lot going on right now and most people do not have time to sort through every meeting. We are also in a transitional moment with a new mayor and a new council member sworn in on Monday, which adds another layer to everything happening at once. We have the budget talks happening, the Growth Management work in the background, and a long list of decisions that will end up affecting what all of us pay. The thing that stands out to me the most is the utility rate increases, since that hits every household straight in the pocketbook. Before getting to that, I want to walk through what the council did in this meeting so folks can see the full picture.

The meeting started with the consent agenda. If you are not familiar with that term, a consent agenda is a bundle of actions the council takes all at once. They do not talk about these items unless a council member pulls something out. This time nothing was pulled and they approved the whole thing exactly as written. Most of the time the items bundled together have already been talked through in earlier meetings, and the consent vote is simply the final step. But every so often something appears that even people who follow town business closely may not have seen coming. The Griffin Place agreement had been worked through over the past year, but the amendment to the BERK contract is an example of something that seemed to pop up without much advance discussion. It is a good reminder that you can learn a lot just by paying attention to what shows up in the consent agenda.

One of the biggest items in the consent agenda was the new tourism contract. The council approved a resolution that lets the mayor sign a $103,370 agreement with the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce to run the 2026 tourism promotion program. That money comes from the hotel motel tax that visitors pay when they stay in town. State law requires that tax to be used for tourism promotion, so the town passes it to the Chamber to carry out that work.

Another item tucked into the consent agenda was the six month moratorium on new transient accommodations. This is the first reading of an ordinance that pauses new short term rentals, vacation rentals, timeshares, and conversions of existing buildings into those uses. It even pauses new business license applications for those uses. The idea is to give the town time to update its development regulations to comply with state housing laws.

They also approved all of the salary and compensation ordinances for next year. These set the cost of living increases, the longevity pay adjustments, and the salary ranges for both elected officials and department heads. They also confirm the benefit structure for non-represented staff. The ordinances lay out the updated pay tables for each job classification, the scheduled step increases for positions that use them, and the adjustments to medical and retirement contributions that the town provides. They also authorize the town to move forward with positions included in the upcoming budget, since the compensation ordinances must be in place before hiring can occur.

Then there was the Griffin Place Development Agreement. This was approved in the same consent motion. The agreement locks in the terms for the multifamily project at Grover Street and Hamilton Ranch Road, including the bonus density the developer requested and the variances the project needs. This includes changes in allowed units per acre, height adjustments, and the required workforce housing units.

The consent agenda also included the latest amendment to the BERK Consulting contract. This is the firm working on the Comprehensive Plan update. Amendment number three extended the timeline, but the packet shows a summary of all contract costs. It lists the original agreement at $280,000, Amendment number one at $55,500, Amendment number two at $5,500, and Amendment number three as a timeline extension only. That brings the total contract amount to $341,000.

So even though the consent agenda passed in one quick vote with no discussion, it included a six figure tourism contract, a full pause on new short term rentals, the entire pay and benefit structure for town employees and elected officials, the Griffin Place Development Agreement, and the continuation of a Comprehensive Plan consulting contract that has now reached $341,000. All of that happened before the meeting really even began.

After the consent agenda the council heard two presentations. One was an update on the new five year homeless plan. The presenter walked the council through the main goals of the plan, which are to stabilize people who are at risk, maintain emergency shelter capacity, and coordinate better between the county, the town, and the nonprofits that do the day to day work. The takeaway was that the need is still there and that the island’s service providers are trying to stretch limited resources across housing, outreach, and case management. The council did not take action on it. They just received the update.

The other presentation was on solid waste operations. This one was based on the county’s Solid Waste and Moderate Risk Waste Management Plan for 2025 through 2030. The presenter explained how the system is structured, who regulates what, and what kinds of upgrades and compliance requirements are coming down from the state. The biggest point was that solid waste is treated as an essential public facility under state law, which means the county and the town have to maintain adequate service levels and keep the system in compliance even when costs rise. The council did not take action on this item either. It was simply an informational briefing.

Once those wrapped up the council went into executive session. When they returned, they moved immediately into the budget update.

This is where the utility rate discussion took place. The finance director presented the proposed 2026 rate increases and explained how they follow the recommendations from the rate study. Water increases by 13%. Sewer increases by 3%. Refuse increases by 2.7%. Stormwater increases by 25%.

To give readers a clear picture, I will use my own bill from last month. The total came to about $303 for a single family house. The breakdown looked like this. Water base charge was about $69. Water usage was about $54, for a total of $123 for the water portion of the bill. Sewer base charge was about $140. Stormwater was about $18. Garbage and the can pickup added up to about $23. Over a year that comes to about $3,642 for basic services.

Now apply the 2026 increases. A 13% rise on the water portion brings that part of the bill to about $139. The 3% increase for sewer takes the sewer charge to about $145. Stormwater jumps to about $22. Garbage and the can pickup rise to about $23. Put it all together and the 2026 bill for the same household becomes about $329 per month, or roughly $3,948 per year. That is an increase of about $306 per year for the same house using the same amount of water.

The rate study recommends that water rates continue to rise by 7.5% every year from 2027 through 2030. Under that assumption the example bill climbs from about $329 in 2026 to about $339 in 2027, about $350 in 2028, about $362 in 2029, and about $375 in 2030. At that point the example household is paying about $4,500 per year. That is about $858 more than the same house paid in 2025.

Before moving on, it is worth noting how quickly the council moved through the rate discussion. Aside from a brief question about the stormwater increase, there was very little pushback or debate. By the end of the presentation the council had signaled that they were prepared to approve the rates as presented, and staff indicated that the next step would be to bring back the formal ordinances for adoption in an upcoming meeting.

Toward the end of the budget discussion the council pulled out several of the individual budget request items for a closer look. A few of the requests had large dollar amounts attached to them, including a new F350 truck for the sewer department that was listed at about $200,000 and a roof replacement that was listed at about $275,000. Staff explained that these figures were set high so the town would not need to return for supplemental appropriations if bids come in higher than expected. They also clarified that the budget does not authorize the spending itself. Each purchase would return to the council through its own appropriation ordinance. With that clarification the council continued to discuss a few of the items, and that wrapped up this portion of the budget work session as the meeting came to a close.

What I took from all of this is that it fits the same pattern I have been writing about for months. The municipal corporation that is the Town of Friday Harbor keeps growing, adding responsibilities, expanding its structure, and moving forward with plans that assume a larger and wealthier community than the one we actually have. Meanwhile the county around us is cutting positions, tightening its belt, and trying to hold basic services together. The people who feel the difference are the 2,800 residents inside the town limits, because we are the ones who absorb every rate increase and every cost shift that comes with this structure. Watching this meeting, it struck me again that the town’s $47 million budget has a momentum of its own, and a council that has largely stayed in place for years ends up rubber stamping far more than it challenges. Part of that is the reality that these are difficult, time consuming jobs with very little compensation, and pushing back against a system this large takes more energy than most people can reasonably give. My take is simple. The residents cannot keep supporting a municipal corporation that grows faster than the community it serves.
– Jeremy Nash