EDMONDS — Voters in this city could be asked as soon as 2009 to plug holes in the city’s troubled long-term budget.
Possible multimillion dollar requests include a parks levy, a transportation package, a general property tax hike and a regional fire authority, officials said.
The city created two task forces last week to look at the various possibilities. One is to focus on the regional fire authority and the other will examine all other options.
“I do not see that we will be able to continue down the line unless something dramatic changes. We will need to go to the voters,” Councilwoman Deanna Dawson said. “(We need) ideas from the public about what would they invest in, what do they see as the future for this community.”
City officials should spend most of 2009 studying ballot measures that would bring maximum benefit to voters, Dawson said. A measure could be placed on the November 2009 ballot, she said.
Until then, city officials are trying to close the city’s $5.4 million shortfall for its 2009-10 budget with a combination of tax hikes and cost cuts.
The shortfall accounts for about 7.6 percent of an anticipated $70.8 million in general-fund revenues.
A budget proposal from Mayor Gary Haakenson raises utility taxes to 10 percent and cable television taxes to 6 percent. The changes would cost the average Edmonds taxpayer $86 a year starting in 2009.
Haakenson’s budget also holds open many vacant positions within city government.
Unless the council approves very deep cuts — such as closing Yost Pool, stopping maintenance at 31 neighborhood parks or shuttering the economic development department — the city will need to find other answers before 2011, officials said.
City officials have seen the budget crunch coming. The cost of salaries and benefits for city employees are expected to rise 37.9 percent from 2002 to the end of 2008. During that time, the city has added only one full-time employee, said Debi Humann, the city’s human resources director.
Property-tax collections are up only 26.6 percent since 2002.
Councilman DJ Wilson, who has repeatedly pushed the council to speed up its traditional budgeting process, is pushing the task forces to work quickly.
Wilson wanted to get a measure on the ballot by May. That ran into resistance from Haakenson and the rest of the council members, who raised concerns about the economy.
While the timing of a ballot item is in dispute, the need for one doesn’t seem to be, Dawson said.
“In the end, it will all depend on that (additional revenue stream),” she said.
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com.
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