Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers released a statement Friday regarding his recently proposed 8% property tax that was voted down by the county council Nov. 26.

Democrat Councilmembers Jared Mead, Megan Dunn and Strom Peterson agreed on a compromise of 4%, which was half of Somers’s proposal but still the highest the county has passed since 2017. Republican Councilmembers Nate Nehring and Sam Low held fast to a 0% increase and voted against the tax.

During the public comment session, several speakers cited the results of an Executive Office audit while voicing their disagreement with the proposed tax.

“Since receiving the budget from the County Council on Nov. 27, my team and I have been carefully reviewing what was adopted,” Somers said in a statement. “While I did strongly consider a veto, I have instead decided to allow the budget to be enacted without my signature. With the upcoming two-week council recess, there is not sufficient time to resolve the budget without risking a temporary shutdown of county government. That would be unacceptable, and I cannot in good conscience do that to our dedicated employees or to the public we serve.”

Somers went on to say that the proposed budget he submitted on Sept. 4, “was a responsible and balanced approach which included spending cuts across departments and offices that totaled about $8 million annually, rejected nearly every request received by county departments for new general fund positions, and included a modest property tax increase of about $2 per month or $24 per year on an average-valued home by 2026. My goal was – and will always remain – to make sure we can balance our budget, fulfill our responsibilities, and continue to run an efficient county government,” Somers said.

“I communicated my decision not to sign the council-adopted budget to councilmembers earlier today. Over the next two years, I will work with my team to identify measures and strategies to lessen the negative impacts of this budget if it were to be fully enacted as adopted.”

In an interview with My Neighborhood News Network, Mead — who chairs the county council — said, “I’d like to thank Executive Somers for his careful consideration of the budget the county council passed last month. I recognize we did not agree on every aspect of the final product, but we did agree on the vast majority.

“The fact he decided against exercising his veto authority even though he disagreed with certain aspects of the final product shows that he is putting the interests of our county before the ‘all or nothing’ politics plaguing our country at the national level,” Mead said.

— By Rick Sinnett