Mukilteo chops $1 million from budget

Published 2:53 pm Tuesday, June 2, 2009

MUKILTEO — A divided City Council approved nearly 50 cuts Monday in an attempt to narrow a projected $1.7 million shortfall.

Small cuts included passing on buying a new costume for McGruff the Crime Dog and scaling back on various travel and training budgets.

Larger savings come from $240,000 worth of concessions from the city’s four labor unions and reducing the amount the city pays for consultants by about $100,000.

In full, the council slashed about $1 million from the city’s general fund budget.

Roughly $500,000 in new expenses were also added in — mostly to pay off the new City Hall.

In the end, the city’s projected shortfall shrunk to $1.2 million.

Mukilteo has plenty of money on hand to pay for a one-year shortfall, said Scott James, the city’s finance director.

The city has almost 45 percent of its general fund budget in cash reserves, he said.