Sources and methods
Each chart's "Method" link lands here.
City permits (scoreboard, pipeline, homes by year)
Source: City of Bellingham permit database, the same data behind the City's permit dashboard. Updated weekly, usually by Thursday.
How: we add up new housing units on permits issued in the window. "Finished" uses the final-inspection date, and "applied for" uses the application date. The scoreboard uses the 30 days before the issue date.
Can't tell you: a permit isn't a finished home. We count new units as the City records them and don't subtract homes that were torn down. City data covers city limits only.
The 2045 housing goal and "even pace"
Source: Whatcom County's housing allocation, revised March 2026: 18,390 new homes for Bellingham and its growth area, 2023 to 2045.
How: "even pace" divides the goal evenly, about 836 a year or about 70 a month, and asks where a steady pace would be by now. "X% below" is how far actual permits fall short of that.
Can't tell you: the County doesn't require a straight line, so even pace is our yardstick, not an official target. Permit data has no affordability field, so we can't track progress by income yet.
How we figure "above" and "below"
We show a percentage only when there's a real benchmark: an adopted goal, a legal deadline or a past result. The math is actual divided by benchmark, minus one. Partial years are compared with the same share of a year. Rates like unemployment change in points, so 3.6% to 4.5% is "up 0.9 points," not "up 25%." When there's no benchmark, we show a count or a share instead.
The docket and the tracker (our agenda ledger)
Source: official agendas for each government we cover, read every issue. Whatcom County comes from its agenda system; Bellingham and the Port come from their posted agendas.
How: every agenda item becomes one row in our ledger: who, when, what kind of item, the dollar amount if the agenda states one, whether it's on the consent agenda or discussed, and its stage (introduced, final vote, hearing). Later we add the outcome and the vote. The totals and the tracker come from that ledger.
Can't tell you: items without a stated amount aren't in the dollar totals, so they're a floor. Consent is normal for routine items, and any member can pull an item for discussion, so a high consent share isn't a problem by itself. It shows where public discussion happens.
Development projects
Source: City development projects data, updated weekly. Counts projects, not homes. A pre-application is the step before a formal filing.
Housing mix
Source: City housing stock data, updated monthly. These are the City's estimated units, grouped by building type.
Rentals
Source: City rental registration data. Units by who does the required safety inspection.
Permit wait times
Source: the City's annual permit performance report, which state law requires. We tag it with its year and note when the next report is overdue.
Unemployment and City projects
Source: state Employment Security Department, monthly, not seasonally adjusted. City capital projects come from the City's projects map.
Campaign money
Source: the state Public Disclosure Commission's campaign summaries and itemized contributions, on the state open data portal. Campaigns file on a schedule, so recent money can lag by days or weeks.
How: we sort each contribution by the address on the filing. "Whatcom" means one of the county's 18 ZIP codes. "Unitemized" is small gifts that campaigns may report as one lump with no address. "Outside groups" are independent expenditures: spending for or against a candidate by groups that don't coordinate with the campaign.
Can't tell you: an organization is placed by its filing address, which may not be where its money came from. Totals cover the full 2026 cycle, including the primary.
Names: we name candidates, committees and organizations. We never name individual donors.
Ballots returned
Source: the Secretary of State's daily ballot return statistics for Whatcom County, posted after 5 p.m. each business day from Oct. 20 until certification. Final turnout for past elections comes from the state's results archive.
How: we compare returns so far with 2022's final turnout, the last midterm. Ballots arrive late in the final week, so early numbers always look low.
Places we cover
Deep coverage (every agenda item, the tracker) starts with Whatcom County and Bellingham. Skagit and other North Sound governments appear in the news, data and docket, labeled by place. Regional figures name the counties they cover.
Police and fire calls
We don't republish public safety numbers. For daily Bellingham police and fire activity, we link to Civic Informer.
Corrections
When we get a number wrong, we fix it here with the date, what changed and why. No corrections yet.
Ask, tip, vote
Questions get answered in the next issue. Tips go straight into the next issue's research.
Past issues
Every issue stays up at its own address, so links never break.
About The Tally
What this is
A twice-weekly record of what local governments in Bellingham, Whatcom County, Skagit and the North Sound are deciding. We count the public record, connect stories across places, and link every source.
How it's made
Each issue is researched and drafted with AI tools that read agendas, public datasets and local news. A person reviews, edits and checks every item before it's published. Stories summarize the public record and other outlets' reporting; the connections are our own synthesis.
Where we stand
We explain how decisions get made. We don't take positions on pending decisions or endorse candidates or ballot measures. The publisher holds a contract with the City of Bellingham.
Who publishes it
The Tally is published by Scott Pelton through Kinhaven LLC in Bellingham. It is separate from his contract work for the City and draws only on public records.
Corrections
Corrections run at the top of the next issue and are logged above. Send one through the form.
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