LYNNWOOD — The recession has dramatically slowed economic development in their communities, but Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace will be ready for growth when the economy improves, officials said Tuesday.
David Kleitsch, economic development director of Lynnwood, and John Caulfield, Mountlake Terrace city manager, talked with members of the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce about the recession’s effects on their cities.
“It clearly has affected us all,” Kleitsch said. “It has been a tough time.”
He noted that the city was so dependent on sales tax revenue that a 20-percent annual reduction during the recession, a cut of $5 million, hurt the city deeply.
He said that Lynnwood, which had no utility tax and no business and occupations tax, was forced to add a 4-percent utility tax to keep things going. “Going from zero to 4 percent isn’t pretty,” he said.
Kleitsch said the city is trying to re-prioritize its spending based on what’s important to residents. And it’s working on simplifying its development handbook “to prepare for the next cycle.”
He also noted that Lynnwood seeks people to serve on a new economic development task force. The group will help forge the city’s growth strategies for the next five years, he said.
Mountlake Terrace’s Caulfield said his city has pared its spending to ensure that it remains in good financial shape. And it’s continuing to follow through on key infrastructure projects so that development will follow when the economy improves.
He said the city will put a measure on the ballot this November to ask voters to pay for a new civic campus and recreational pavilion downtown.
Redeveloping the downtown core and promoting economic development remain major goals of the city council, Caulfield said.
Caulfield said the city has “reached out to the development community” in recent years to encourage private investment to help it meet its goals.
“At first, they didn’t have lots of interest,” he said, noting that as private businesses saw more things happen in the city, they became more interested in being part of it.
He noted that the whole south Snohomish County area is attracting development interest just as Bellevue once did.
“The whole Seattle-Bellevue area is the major leagues and south county is Triple A,” he said. “We’re about to move up to the major leagues and we just need to position ourselves to move when the economy improves.”
The chamber plans to hear from officials in Mill Creek and in Bothell on July 20, according to president Jean Hales.
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