Snohomish County Health Department makes cuts to address $2M deficit
Published 1:28 pm Thursday, July 16, 2026
Outside of the Snohomish County Health Department along Rucker Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Everett, Washington. (Oli
EVERETT — The Snohomish County Health Department told staff Tuesday it planned to eliminate 17 positions to bridge a nearly $2 million budget deficit, health officials confirmed to The Daily Herald
Eleven of the 17 positions are either currently vacant or will be vacant, health department spokesperson Jeff Hodson said in an email to The Daily Herald on Wednesday. The six filled positions include a behavioral health specialist, business management analyst, disease intervention specialist, environmental health specialist, graphics designer and program assistant, he said
The health department recently submitted its draft 2027-28 budget to County Executive Dave Somers for consideration. During that process, the department identified that it has an ongoing, long-term structural deficit, Snohomish County Health Department Director Kim Van Pelt said in an interview Wednesday. The deficit is caused by rising costs and funding cuts at the local, state and federal levels, she said
“Because of all those things, we really argue that we needed to act sooner rather than later in terms of addressing our budget,” Van Pelt said. “We really felt like it was a financially responsible thing to do.”
The department did not make any other reductions besides staffing, Van Pelt said, as about 70% of costs for the department are personnel. The 17 positions cut amounted to roughly $1.9 million, she said. The department currently has 194 full-time-equivalent positions, and with the reductions that will decrease to about 178, Hodson said
Some of the vacant positions the department eliminated include administrative support staff, a health educator, and several environmental health specialists and public health nurses, Hodson said
While the department tried to minimize the impact on the public, some services will see some reductions, Van Pelt said. The department may have to cut back on chlamydia case follow-ups, responses to safe environment services such as nuisance properties and school pool complaints, foodborne illness investigations, refugee healthcare services, and health support for child care centers
“We do expect some level of public impact,” Van Pelt said. “We’re trying to mitigate the extent of that impact moving forward.”
The full scope of the budget challenges isn’t yet known as information continues to roll in regarding Foundational Public Health Services funding. This year, changes in vapor taxes at the state level led to a $21 million reduction to the program statewide. The state’s Foundational Public Health Services account funds core public health services, including communicable disease control, environmental public health, and vital records and health statistics
While the Snohomish County Health Department only saw a $27,000 annual cut, the state health department saw greater cuts that are trickling down to local jurisdictions, Van Pelt said. For example, the state is no longer to offer a free after-hours call service to local health jurisdictions
“We’re still figuring out what the cost is related to that,” Van Pelt said. “We’re still really understanding the implications of those DOH cuts at the state level.”
The department built some of those unknown costs into the budget it presented to the county, Van Pelt said
On the federal level, the department received a reduction of a grant relating to refugeeservices, Van Pelt said. The county provides free health screenings to all newly arrived refugees living in Snohomish County
“We want to incorporate some level of support for refugee services moving forward,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of moving around of positions, etc. to be able to have some level of response to refugee needs to continue, but there’ll probably be some impact based on that federal funding cut.”
The department is also experiencing a small amount of cuts at the county level, Hodson said in an email Thursday. This year, Somers has asked all county departments to reduce their expenses by 3% amid the county’s $27 million deficit. The 3% reduction is included in the health department’s draft budget. Only a small portion of the health department’s revenue comes from the county, Hodson said, so the impact is less than the state and federal cuts
For further cost savings, the department is looking at consolidating space by moving from three to two floors, giving up some computers, cutting back on travel and making changes to how the department uses its vehicle fleet
“We are looking at other areas to cut, but in each of those areas, the costs are also going up simultaneously,” Van Pelt said. “So if you really want to talk about where the cuts are primarily coming from, they’re really primarily coming from staff at this point.”
The department recently hired a consultant to look at ways to bring in additional revenue and find additional cuts, Van Pelt said. The consultant is funded through a public health improvement grant. The consultant will work with a financial working group consisting of board members, county council members, Somers, community members and community partner representatives. The group will present a set of recommendations to the Board of Health, which will then produce a report for Somers’ consideration, Van Pelt said.
“We’ve done our best to be able to balance our budget right now, but we’re far from out of the woods in terms of our budget,” she said. “We really need to be creative and re county residents moving forward.”
This story has been updated to reflect that health support for child care centers will face cuts. The health department orginally stated the Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs program will face cuts, but that is no longer the case
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486;jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn
