LYNNWOOD — The city has adopted a $327.3 million budget, including capital expenses, for the next two years.
The estimated spending from the general fund is $125.4 million.
The City Council adopted the budget Nov. 28. The vote was 4-3.
“The budget is a complex entity, and there are always lots of opinions on how to make it work best,” Council President M. Christopher Boyer said Friday.
This was the first year that Lynnwood used a new budget system. Departments were asked to list the most important services and goals rather than line-item expenditures.
Examples included policing, safe neighborhoods and well-kept roads.
The old system based each budget on the previous version. That was akin to “looking at the past to determine your future,” said Corbitt Loch, a city planner.
As is common in local government, police and firefighters are the biggest expenditures. Over the next two years, the police department is expected to cost $39.5 million and the fire department $25 million. Together, that’s more than half of the general fund.
The city is slated to hire four firefighters, bringing the total to 51, not counting command staff, said Julie Moore, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office.
The fire chief had asked for 10 new positions to keep up with emergency calls.
“This is an interim step,” Moore said. “It’s been many years since we added anybody to the fire department.”
The city remains in ongoing talks with Fire District 1 about creating a agency called a regional fire authority. The idea could go before voters in August.
The two-year budget puts $2.2 million toward capital expenditures, which “shows a commitment to our city’s future,” Moore said.
Upcoming projects include upgrades to parks, the 36th Avenue W. improvements and the 196th Street SW widening. Lynnwood also would like to improve the path underneath I-5 at 44th Avenue W. That gateway to the city should become safer and more welcoming, Moore said.
The budget calls for an increase in building permit fees. Lynnwood’s construction boom means more staff time is spent on inspections on nights and weekends, Loch said.
Also added are two positions for building plan reviews and inspections, Moore said.
“Our staff is just maxed out right now. We have a very big backlog,” she said. “We want to encourage development and keep it moving along.”
Staff are mindful that revenue from the construction boom is not a steady source of income, Loch said.
A relatively new economic development fund will be continued. The city sets aside a portion of permit fees and construction sales taxes for any projects worth more than $10 million.
Another $2 million from the general fund is slated toward street maintenance and paving. That’s in addition to anticipated revenues from license plate renewal fees and the transportation sales tax measure that was approved by voters in November.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rikkiking.
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