EDMONDS — Yost Pool is off the chopping block — for now.
The Edmonds City Council delayed millions of dollars of program cuts until at least 2010 two weeks after raising taxes and fees by $4.5 million.
Those proposed cuts included the closure of the city’s public pool, the elimination of DARE, and all city crime prevention and economic development.
The council unanimously approved its 2009-10 biennial budget this week.
The proposed cuts drew loud protests from people for weeks. Support for the pool was particularly strong.
“We may have won this year, but we may have to fight again next year, and the year after that,” said Jeff Draper, who helped organize to save Yost Pool.
Draper is right. Unless new money can be found, the city will be contemplating steep cuts in the near future, officials said.
“We have stopped the bleeding with this budget, but there is clearly a looming challenge,” Councilman DJ Wilson said last Tuesday.
Already, city officials have pledged to spend much of 2009 studying ways to raise money. Two task groups have been formed to study possible ballot items.
The council unanimously agreed this week to get something before voters by next November.
What sort of help voters might be asked to provide won’t be known until the spring, but it will likely be a multi-million-dollar package intended to stave off the deep cuts.
“We just need to be honest with the public that either draconian cuts are going to be made to services, or we are going to have to come up with new revenue sources,” Councilwoman Deanna Dawson said.
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com.
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