Inside the Vote: How Pierce County Built a $25 Million Safety Net

By Bryan Dominique
Communications Manager – Office of the Pierce County Council 

The Council Chambers were quiet in that heavy way it gets before a big vote; not silent, but filled with the rustle of paper, the shuffle of feet, the faint buzz of laptops warming under fluorescent lights. The agenda was short, but the numbers on the page weren’t. On Tuesday, August 12, the Pierce County Council passed a supplemental to the 2024–2025 budget that sets aside a $25 million contingency fund. The move was prompted by a simple but urgent problem: federal funding is unpredictable right now and losing it without a plan could disrupt essential county services.

The ordinance — O2025-523s — doesn’t add new programs, expand existing ones, or raise taxes. Instead, it reallocates money from the existing balance of the County’s General Fund so that if federal dollars are reduced or cut, local services can continue to operate. The Department of Finance will oversee the fund, but with two key safeguards:

1. Council must be notified within five days of any expenditure.
2. All expenditures must appear on a public Council agenda.

Other changes in the supplemental include:

• $800,000 reallocated from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to food insecurity programs after the department reported it wouldn’t spend the funds by year’s end.
• $100,000 for Planning and Public Works to hire a consultant to review fees, policies, and reserves.
• $135,000 for Special Projects to cover Hearing Examiner costs.
• $25.4 million in technical adjustments to the Self-Insurance Fund to align with accounting standards for claims liabilities.

After the vote, the comment threads lit up. Some people asked thoughtful questions. Others warned this was the start of a spending spree. A few jumped straight to accusations of “treason.”

So, let’s clear the record:

• No new taxes. The contingency fund is made entirely of existing dollars in the county’s general fund.
• No new social programs. This is about keeping current services funded if federal dollars disappear.
• No connection to immigration enforcement. The supplemental is a budget measure. State laws like the Keep Washington Working Act remain in effect and unrelated to this ordinance.
• Not treason. The U.S. Constitution defines treason as levying war against the United States or aiding its enemies. Passing a local budget measure doesn’t meet that definition.

Budget votes are rarely universally loved. Some wanted more money for public safety, some for infrastructure, and others wanted to leave the general fund untouched. That’s democracy. Differences aired in public, debated, and voted on in the open.

The contingency fund is like a seatbelt: you hope you never need it, but if the federal funding rug gets pulled, it’s there just in case. 

And if it’s ever used, you’ll see exactly where the money goes, right there on the Council agenda. When it comes to local government, transparency isn’t just something we talk about. It’s the whole point. Work on the 2026-2027 Biennial Budget Development will begin in late September. You can check out the Council’s budget priorities here. The number one priority amid these reductions in federal revenue and slower local revenue growth?  Maintaining core county functions, including services mandated by law or voter approval, such as public safety and critical human services.