The North Bend and Snoqualmie city councils voted unanimously in favor of temporarily renewing their police services agreement while North Bend looks for a way to save on emergency services.

Since 2012, Snoqualmie and North Bend have had an interlocal agreement for the Snoqualmie Police Department to provide services for the city of North Bend, which does not have its own police department. After news last fall that North Bend is facing an estimated $26 million budget gap, largely due to the cost of emergency services, the city is looking closely at its options.

The interlocal agreement was last renewed in 2019, with an expiration of Dec. 31, 2024. But the cities were unable to agree on the terms before it expired. The 2025 Renewal Interlocal Agreement — approved by North Bend City Council Jan. 7 and Snoqualmie City Council Jan. 27 — retroactively begins Jan. 1 and will go through May 31, 2025, unless the cities come to a new agreement before then.

“The renewal is temporary to allow time for our two cities to negotiate multi-year terms that are mutually fair and acceptable,” said North Bend Mayor Mary Miller.

In the five-month agreement, North Bend will pay Snoqualmie approximately $236,300 per month for police services, which works out to more than $2.8 million annually, as opposed to the $2.5 million North Bend paid Snoqualmie in 2024.

All other parts of the 2019 agreement will remain in effect, including the staffing of 12.4 full-time department employees to serve North Bend. The cities will also continue discussions in hopes of entering into a new Interlocal Agreement by June.

“Right now, we are making good progress, and I have no reason to believe otherwise that we won’t get this resolved,” said Snoqualmie City Administrator Mike Chambless at the Jan. 27 council meeting.

North Bend is paying about 12.9% more this year for police services than in 2024, partially due to Snoqualmie’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement with its police union, which increased SPD salaries by 8% in 2024 and another 4.5% in 2025.

But North Bend doesn’t necessarily have the means to do so. At a September council meeting, North Bend’s financial director Martin Chaw said the city’s general fund balance would go negative in 2027, and would fall below target in 2026.

The hope, Miller said, is that the two cities will continue their 13-year working relationship. But over the next few months, North Bend will consider its other options, including contracting with the King County Sheriff’s Office for police services or forming its own police department.

Regardless of the option North Bend chooses, Miller said the city will consider potential new sources of revenue and reductions to existing services in order to afford police services.

“Long-term financial sustainability, and maintaining existing policing and non-police city services that the residents of North Bend have come to enjoy and expect, will be critical and a fundamental goal of the North Bend City Council,” she said.