East Wenatchee’s 2026 budget creeps forward amid debate on police staffing, process and numbers

EAST WENATCHEE — East Wenatchee’s budget talk during a special meeting on October 14 sounded like what it is this year: Tight, practical, and a little bruised around the edges.

Finance Director Josh DeLay laid out a 2026 plan that keeps day-to-day spending roughly level with this year while leaning on the new public-safety sales tax to help on the revenue side. Across the board, departments trimmed hundreds of thousands in discretionary expenses, shifted slices of salaries to the funds where the work actually happens, and pushed off buying vehicles for another year. DeLay cautioned that deferring fleet purchases will have to be dealt with later, but for now it balances the books without big new taxes or fees.

The hard edge in the room came when the council reached police staffing. The draft assumes two expected retirements in the police department will not be immediately replaced after March. Councilmember Ettore Castellente called that a line he can’t cross: “I’m a no vote on the budget until we fix this. This is not acceptable. We need to find the money.” He argued leaving the assistant chief’s spot open would strain leadership and risk cascading impacts if family leave or other long absences pile up.

Police Chief Rick Johnson answered that patrol coverage will be kept intact. “Residents should not see a reduction in basic patrol service,” he said, explaining that a detective will be reassigned from the regional drug task force to maintain shift strength and sergeants can cover short stints as acting command. The department is also pursuing new state funding aimed at pairing officers with behavioral-health responders. “Those grants can help us add line officers for a few years,” Johnson said, “but they cannot be used to backfill an assistant chief.”

Mayor Jerrilea Crawford backed the across-the-board belt-tightening and asked the council to consider a modest cost-of-living (COLA) bump for department heads so leadership pay does not fall out of step with union raises. DeLay noted that even a one-percent adjustment for those jobs is a relatively small figure in the context of the budget. The pricier pressure points are largely outside City Hall’s control: Insurance premiums are rising, workers’ compensation rates are up, and health and dental plans cost more than last year.

Public Works Manager Garren Melton and Community Development Director Curtis Lillquist pitched a creative hire to solve two problems at once. State stormwater rules will tighten in 2027, and the city’s code-enforcement program has been running on scraps since a key staffer retired in 2021. Their proposal is a shared position that would be 50 percent stormwater, 25 percent code enforcement, 25 percent inspections and project support funded partly outside the general fund. Melton framed it as a way to “restart proactive code work without the price tag of a full standalone unit,” keep winter plowing standards steady (if they give preference to CDL-certified candidates) despite a street-crew vacancy, and prepare for a jump in stormwater reviews as smaller private projects begin to trigger permits.

Castellente’s second theme was process and transparency. He said the budget deserved a full workshop rather than a shorter block inside a special meeting. “I want more time for questions,” he said, adding a plain-language records request: “Is it possible to get a very simple spreadsheet of funding that leaves the city — organizations, donations, memberships — what leaves the city?” DeLay agreed to bring that back, along with what various what-ifs would mean for the bottom line, including the hybrid code-enforcement role and possible leadership COLAs.

There were smaller flags. The hotel-motel fund that supports tourism marketing is budgeted to spend more than it takes in, so the council will have to watch that over the next couple of years. And while City Hall landed a state allocation to start fixing its failing HVAC system, the match hasn’t materialized yet, so staff are pricing both a phased repair and a do-it-all-once plan in hopes of tapping additional grants. “We’re on borrowed time with the system,” DeLay said, describing manual workarounds and parts that have to be fabricated.

Next steps are procedural but important. The property-tax ordinance is scheduled for the first November meeting. A public hearing on the budget is targeted for mid-November, with final adoption in early December. Several members said they want a formal check-in early next year, or mid-year at the latest, to revisit police staffing, grant awards, and any room to restore deferred items once revenues, jail-contract costs, and other unknowns come into focus.

In other words, the budget will likely pass as a starting point — and the real fight over priorities will continue into 2026.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media