LYNNWOOD — New taxes will soon appear on your utility bills.
In its first action to plug a projected multimillion-dollar budget gap, the City Council on Monday approved new taxes on gas, electricity, water and sewer. The city already has utility taxes on garbage pickup and telephone use.
Council members Jim Smith and Kerri Lonergan voted against the 4 percent tax, to be collected from customers of companies that provide gas, electricity, water and sewer.
Steve Klein, Snohomish County PUD general manager, said his organization, which provides electricity to all county and Camano Island residents, said Lynnwood is one of the last county cities to impose a utility tax on electricity.
“Almost all of the other municipalities, their rate on average is 5 or 6 percent,” he said.
Council members Monday also agreed to increase a tax on cable TV to 4 percent, from 1 percent.
The council’s 4-2 vote to approve the taxes is the first step in what is expected to be major adjustments to the city’s two-year budget.
Last year, the city made 3.5 percent across-the-board cuts after sales tax income fell sharply.
Lonergan said the council held off making hard decisions last fall. The vote to increase taxes just further postpones the hard decisions, she said.
“We need to get just as serious about spending cuts,” Lonergan said.
Councilman Loren Simmonds, who voted for the new taxes, said the council has embarrassed itself by spending more than a month deciding on ways to trim the budget and bring in more money.
“We are going to have to have new revenue,” he said. “Frankly, I have no confidence that we are going to be able to cut our way out of this problem.”
Smith, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor last year, criticized the council for voting on a tax increase when the meeting wasn’t recorded for TV. Only regularly scheduled business meetings, held the second and fourth Mondays, are televised.
He also criticized the council for not putting the new tax to a public vote.
“We’ve never asked the people to vote on this,” he said. “Maybe the citizens of Lynnwood need to make that decision.”
The new taxes, which take effect July 1, are expected to bring $1.4 million to the city by the end of the year, acting finance director Vicki Heilman said.
Council members have spent weeks looking at ways to make up for a projected $4.8 million budget deficit.
Smith on Monday asked fellow council members to postpone the vote until next April 26, when an auditor hired by the city’s largest police union will present his findings on four years of city finances.
The council is expected to come up with a plan for additional cuts to city programs and staff at next week’s meeting.
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429, ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
What’s next
Lynnwood’s City Council is scheduled to hear a report on an independent audit at 6 p.m. Monday, April 26 at City Hall, 19100 44th Ave. W.
The council also will continue budget discussions during its regular meeting at 7 p.m.
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