EVERETT – A county executive in Washington state has vetoed a county council vote that he argued would have led to a loss of environmental conservation funding.

Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers rejected the vote by the county council in November to remove a 2.8% annual surface water fee increase to give ratepayers a break as many struggle financially during the coronavirus pandemic, The Daily Herald reported Tuesday.

The fee funds environmental programs that protect salmon and marine habitat and work to reduce flood damage.

Tulalip Tribes said removing the annual inflationary increase would have meant losing over $600,000 in revenue for the programs in the first year. If the yearly adjustment were not reinstituted, it could amount to a loss of over $13 million over six years.

“By making a permanent cut to (surface water management) funding, we would lose our ability to execute projects across Snohomish County,” Somers said. “Our efforts to adapt to climate change are essential to our future, and (surface water management) is the one major tool we have to help.”

Somers also argued that 14 employees, from current and future hires, could lose their jobs.

Councilmember Stephanie Wright put forth a motion to override Somers’ veto, but it failed last week.

“Now we can have a predictable and stable funding source to maintain our plans,” he said. “The alternative would be an ever-decreasing amount of funding, once again putting us in arrears.”