County Council member Paulsen on budget debate misunderstanding

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 8, 2026

On Tuesday, June 30, during the San Juan County Council meeting, Councilmember Justin Paulsen took a moment to address “all those who may be listening” with what he felt was an important note.

During a discussion regarding funding for cold weather shelters, Housing Program Coordinator Ryan Page mentioned that approving the cold weather shelter grant applications was possible due to unspent funds.

“If you recall from our conversation in early 2026, these funds were budgeted in our ending cash for our document recording fees, which we had an excess of that needed to be spent down… when we don’t fully spend down funds,” Page said, “they stay within the program.”

Paulsen stopped him for a moment to emphasize a point that he believes public discourse on the subject of the county budget has missed.

“I’m going to make one side comment on this,” he said. “This is an excellent example…of why this fund-budgeting model works…where you have dedicated funding to do dedicated work. I’ve been asked this question, ‘Why are we talking about distributing money out for these new things when we’re in a budget crisis?’ Because this is what this money is allocated to, and it’s the work this money has to do.”

According to the 2026 Budget-in-Brief released earlier this year, San Juan County has an overall operating budget of $156.4 million, which is divided among 33 different funds: special revenue funds (19), general funds (6), capital projects (3), internal service funds (3), enterprise funds (1), and debt service funds (1). These fund types are defined by the Washington State Auditor’s office and are funded depending on revenue type, federal and state allocations, and other granting guidelines.

Paulsen continued, referring to the extra cash dedicated to housing programs that could now be used for cold weather shelter approval, “This money can’t solve the internal budgeting discussions. And I think that’s lost in a lot of the public conversations being had.”