BENTON AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES, Wash. – Officials from Benton and Franklin Counties are actively working to resolve disagreements over a crucial human services contract.
The contract is an inter-local agreement where Benton County operates and administers local funds and state grants. Franklin County subscribes to these services, which aids veterans, children with developmental disabilities and those at risk of homelessness.
In late August, Benton County proposed a new agreement. They cited an increase in legal claims against their services, suggesting a shared liability between the counties. They stated that if Franklin County didn’t agree by Sept. 30, the services might be separated.
“Any lawsuits that would come as a result of providing these services are going to come to Benton County. And so what we want and one of the things we asked for in the new agreement is that Franklin County would agree upfront to share in a percentage of any judgments that might come,” Matt Rasmussen, Benton County Deputy Administrator, said.
Franklin County decided on Sept. 19 not to renew the contract, calling it an “ultimatum.” They expressed concerns that the new contract would add several hundred thousand dollars of spending annually.
Benton County responded by saying the claims of increased costs are false. They warned that Franklin County residents might lose services until a new system is in place.
“We’re hopeful to get an agreement in place, at least to get us through till June of 2026, which is when most of the state grants would expire anyways. And that would give us time to develop a transition plan so that their services continue on,” Rasmussen said.
Benton County also mentioned that grant-funded services wouldn’t end immediately, as they are provided on a regional basis. However, without an agreement, Benton County can’t legally fund some Franklin County services with local dollars.
“We did have a handshake agreement with their county administrator that any outstanding invoices for veterans who needed services or people who needed rent paid that are with local dollars, that we would make sure those got paid so that people aren’t losing their homes or losing their services here in the next week or so,” Rasmussen said.
Franklin County Administrator Brian Dansel emphasized the collaborative efforts to find a solution.
“We are working right now with Benton County to see if there is a path forward for both counties to continue the Human Services agreement. Beyond that, I kind of told everybody involved in this that I think it’s been unfortunate how this has played out. This has never been envisioned, our idea to have it just everything blow up into some super disagreement. But kind of the deal is that I think that the people of both Benton and Franklin counties are looking to feed people, not point fingers and to come up with solutions, especially on important issues. And that’s what I’m going to focus on,” Dansel said.
When asked how the conversations have been with Benton County and if they’ve been productive, Dansel declined to go into detail.
“I’m going to leave that out because I have found that it does no good to talk about what has been discussed. And I think that it would be a good faith gesture on my part,” Dansel said. “If we’re really worried about the Human Services agreement I just remain silent on it and I talk with Benton County and we try to come up with a deal. I don’t want to be the one that throws something off the rails here.”
