EVERETT — The city of Edmonds is weighing its options for a potential November ballot measure to address its budget crisis.
In December, the City Council passed its 2025-26 budget, which included annexing into South County Fire — saving the city $6.5 million — and a $6 million property tax levy lid lift.
Voters approved annexation in April. Now, the city is mulling if a potential levy lid lift should be higher than $6 million.
The city is authorized to raise the general fund levy by 1% each year without a vote. For any larger increase, the council must place a levy lid lift measure on the ballot.
If the council moves forward with the $6 million levy lid lift as budgeted, the city wouldn’t see any improvements in services, Mayor Mike Rosen said at a public budget workshop Thursday. The city has already cut staff and deferred a number of needed repairs, he added.
“All those cuts, all the things we haven’t done, the level we are at today, that’s what would continue,” Rosen said. “That $6 million keeps us at the level of service that we’re at today.”
With a higher levy lid lift, he said, the city could invest in improving service levels and begin moving forward. The council is calculating how much the increase would be and expects to announce a number at its June 3 meeting.
If the council decides not to place a levy lid lift on the ballot, or voters reject the ballot measure, the city would have to find $8 million in cuts, Rosen said. Six million dollars would cover the failed levy, and the council directed the mayor to find an additional $2 million to cut.
At its work session Tuesday, the council discussed potential cuts in detail. Without a levy, the human services division and cultural services program would be eliminated completely. Police would be reduced to essential services, and the Frances Anderson Center would close or experience a reduction in hours. The public works and planning and economic development departments would face cuts, as well as a number of positions throughout the city.
“I know the staff has had to swallow some hard pills to come up with these scenarios,” City Council President Neil Tibbott said Thursday, “and I hope you do take some time to digest the dollar amounts that go with these — it’s very sobering.”
At the budget workshops, some residents urged the council to consider other revenue streams before resorting to more property taxes.
“In our view, our city has a revenue problem, and our focus should be on identifying and pursuing new sustaining revenue sources,” said Adel Sefrioui, co-founder of Keep Edmonds Vibrant, a community organization working to brainstorm solutions to the city’s budget crisis. “We believe we need to do it in a way that spreads the pain, which means that it shouldn’t all be shouldered on the backs of property tax homeowners.”
If the council decides to place a measure on the ballot, it would adopt a resolution by July 8. The filing deadline for the Nov. 4 election is Aug. 5.
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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