Somers speaks on recent successes and future financial troubles

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 5, 2026

EVERETT — Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers updated elected officials and residents during a speech Tuesday on the county’s successes over the past year and the financial challenges in its future.

The annual Snohomish County Update, presented by the Economic Alliance Snohomish County and Boeing, hosted 200 attendees at Boeing’s Future of Flight in Mukilteo.

“It’s really an exciting time but also daunting to bring you up to speed on how Snohomish County is doing,” Somers said. “We face a real mix of opportunities and challenges as we work to meet immediate needs while setting our county up for a successful and sustainable future.”

Somers started his speech with positive developments since the last update, including the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator launch in January to accelerate the production, deployment and adoption of sustainable aviation fuel.

This summer, Phase 1 of a sustainable aviation fuel site at Paine Field will begin collecting, sampling, indexing and distributing fuel samples for widespread use, Somers said.

“This is an investment in the aerospace and aviation industry, which is one of the most challenging industries for addressing carbon emissions,” he said. “Aerospace also is an economic driver for our county. So this is an investment in current and future jobs.”

Later on in the speech, Somers described the county’s financial situation as a “time of disturbance.”

“The thing about disturbances is that they hurt in the moment,” Somers said, “but they also open up a lot of new possibilities. From every disturbance, a new habitat can form and grow, and new life can flourish.”

Inflation has driven up the cost of staffing and supplies, he said. Federal funding is uncertain and the county continues to face unfunded or underfunded state mandates.

Construction costs increased 70% between 2000 and 2020, Somers said. Between 2020 and 2025, they increased by another 70%.

“We are at a point here in the county where our structural budget deficit requires action,” Somers said. “There isn’t a single solution that will set the county on a sustainable path. It will require a mix of strategies and a truly collaborative effort on the part of our leaders and staff.”

In September, Somers will present his recommended budget, which he says balances spending cuts with new revenue.

“We’ve been having tough conversations across departments and offices about what those spending cuts mean for levels of service and about what revenue options should be considered so we can preserve as much as possible on the foundational service Snohomish County provides,” Somers said.

Reductions in spending have already taken place, he said. Public Works is seeking a new revenue source in the form of a $20 car tab fee but has already cut operating costs by $10 million and delayed projects totaling $100 million.

The county’s law and justice system is campaigning to enact new revenue through a state-allowed 0.1% sales tax, Somers said.

“My goal is to ensure I’ve done everything in my power to leave the county on a sustainable trajectory when my time as executive ends,” he said.

Other updates included the launch of Sound Transit’s Link light rail 2 Line, which travels from Lynnwood to Redmond through Seattle. It’s the first light rail line in the world to operate on a floating bridge, in what used to be I-90 express lanes across Lake Washington.

Also, the Sound Transit Board adopted an “updated and affordable system plan” that keeps light rail to Everett on schedule, Somers said. An environmental impact statement should be ready for public input this fall, he said.

Somers spoke about a South Carolinian family who visited Snohomish County in January and happened to bring the measles virus along with them.

“What followed were months of work behind the scenes by our local public health team,” he said. “More than 30 staff from the health department put in hundreds of hours calling contacts, providing guidance and vaccinations, working with medical providers and schools and community groups, sharing updates with the public and all the other intricate pieces of an outbreak response.”

The case count rose from one to 14 by February, but stopped there, Somers said.

He also recognized the work of other county employees during the December floods.

“A total of 83 people from 21 agencies logged more than 2,500 hours in the emergency operations center,” Somers said.

It was the third most intensive emergency activation, he said, behind only the COVID-19 pandemic and the Oso landslide.

Somers thanked Surface Water Management Planning Manager Erik Stockdale for his 10 years of service with the county. Stockdale plans to retire later this month after 20 years with the state Department of Ecology before coming to Snohomish County.

He helped complete the Smith Island project in the Snohomish River Estuary near Everett.

“That now-completed project was part of a vision that spans decades, to strategically restore portions of the estuary in a way that creates habitat for migrating Chinook salmon and eases the pressure on flooding,” Somers said.

Somers announced the opening ceremony for the Edmonds New Start Center, one of two new bridge housing projects, on June 29. The Everett center will also open this summer, he said.

Both will provide resources and shelter to more than 120 people trying to recover from homelessness, said Mary Jane Brell-Vujovic, director of Human Services Snohomish County, in an informational video.

Somers also celebrated the opening of Lynnwood’s Crisis Care Center, which will provide an alternative to an emergency room or jail for someone experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.

Somers ended the update detailing upcoming events, including the FIFA World Cup and the fan zone located in Boxcar Park in Everett.

Finally, he encouraged all to find a way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday “in a way that’s meaningful to you,” he said.

“July 4, 1776, was not the first time there was self-government in America. It was, however, a massive historical marker as the brand new U.S. government charted its path of independence,” he said. “It can get lost sometimes in all the noise, but don’t forget that the ‘U’ in U.S. does stand for united. Independence does not mean standing alone. It means that we have the freedom to stand together when it matters.”

Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X:@BTayOkay