Did you know that the 2026 Anacortes city budget is $6.4 million higher than the actual spending recorded in 2025? Overall, the proposed budget represents a nearly 7% increase over last year’s actual expenditures.

For months, city leadership’s financial messaging has leaned heavily on a narrative of austerity, claiming Anacortes faces “unprecedented financial challenges” due to rising costs and flat or declining revenues. But a closer look at the raw data tells a very different story.

Shifting Priorities, Not Scarcity

Instead of a true crisis of scarcity, the data points to a major shift in the City’s internal spending priorities. While frontline community services like the Library and Planning departments are feeling the squeeze, internal administrative operations and select departments are seeing massive, near or above double-digit budgetary spikes:

• The Finance Department is tracking a budget increase of over 22% compared to 2024 actuals.
• The Human Resources (HR) Department is budgeting for an increase of 17% from 2025 actuals or 26% from 2024 actuals, driven in part by extended labor contract negotiations.
• Other Spikes: Substantial budgetary increases are also hitting the Police, Museum, Parks & Rec, and Cemetery departments.

The department reports are a good start, but as citizens and taxpayers, we expect the utmost truth, clarity, and transparency from our local leaders. It’s time for the City’s financial messaging to accurately reflect where the money is actually going.

Georgia Jelec

Anacortes, WA