LAKE STEVENS — The City Council on Tuesday approved a 2016 budget that adds new police, planning and parks staff and focuses on projects to fix parks and streets.
Council members didn’t agree on the final budget. Four voted yes, two voted no and one was absent.
The budget includes a general fund where spending outstrips income. Expenditures are budgeted at $10.65 million, a 10 percent increase from the 2015 budget. Revenues are expected to be $9.79 million, a 6 percent increase from 2015 and roughly $860,000 less than expenses. The city has $7.57 million rolled over from past years to draw from.
More than three-quarters of the general fund comes from local taxes, mainly property and sales taxes. The fund is part of a $20.5 million city budget. It’s used for day-to-day operations, such as police and planning services.
Officials plan to levy $10,611 more in property taxes citywide, an increase of about a quarter of 1 percent from this year. The tax rate is expected to drop from $1.54 per $1,000 assessed value to $1.43. However, average property values have gone up about 10 percent so homeowners likely will pay slightly more this year than last, finance director Barbara Stevens said.
The city’s 2016 budget sets aside money for seven new full-time positions and two seasonal workers, and changes some existing jobs. The city has 74 full-time employees with the new positions, not including the mayor and council.
One of the most notable changes is a shift in leadership at the police department, where the police commander position — the second-highest rank — was eliminated and is to be replaced with a second lieutenant position.
Dennis Taylor, the commander, has filed a lawsuit against the city saying he was wrongfully fired after clashing with former city administrator Jan Berg. His lawsuit alleges that Berg on multiple occasions eliminated jobs within the police department as retribution for people speaking up about problems.
The two councilmen who voted against the budget Tuesday evening, Marcus Tageant and Sam Low, requested an amendment that would have kept the police commander job.
The approved budget also adds a new desk sergeant, records clerk, police officer and support officer.
The public works crew is gaining one full-time employee and two seasonal park workers. In the planning department, an associate planner is being promoted to senior planner and new spots are added for an administrative assistant and a recreation coordinator.
The increase in parks staffing is tied to new projects. The budget includes more than $350,000 in restoration efforts. There are plans to fix up: Lundeen Park; the dock at North Cove Park; the boat launch at the end of 17th Place NE; the North Lakeshore swimming beach; and lighting and plantings at Eagle Ridge Park. The city also earmarked $250,000 to help complete phase one of Cavelero Park, a 33-acre county-owned park in Lake Stevens that is being overhauled.
Streets are another area of focus. The biggest road project is reworking the tangled intersection of Highways 9 and 204. That’s state funded with city input. City staff plan to do a pavement survey and spend $500,000 on sidewalk construction and repairs, as well. The projects are part of a $3.13 million street fund.
City leaders directed money toward keeping the lake clean with annual water quality treatments. The budget includes $105,400 for alum treatments to reduce algae blooms and $45,200 to eliminate milfoil, an aquatic weed that in the past has taken over much of the lake.
Herald reporter Rikki King contributed to this report.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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