MUKILTEO — The penny pinching has ended, and Mukilteo finally has a 2004 budget.
After having budget discussions for five straight Monday nights, the council voted 6-1 Monday to adopt a $16.5 million budget, the city’s smallest since 1998. Council Member Paul Rand was the lone dissenter. State law required that the city adopt a budget by Monday’s meeting.
Councilman John Sullivan said: "I think there’s been a lot of cutting across the board in all areas. It’s a budget the city can live with, and it’s a budget that it will have to live with."
The council struggled to find a way to cover a $443,000 shortfall that the mayor linked to a lack of new growth in the city, the growing cost of services such as emergency medical service and the region’s tough economy.
Leaving several unfilled positions open and canceling the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival were among a menu of cuts the council picked from.
The council also chose to raise property taxes by 1 percent and to increase the city’s business license tax by 4 percent.
No budget fix was as controversial as raising rental fees at the Rosehill Community Center. After hearing criticism from the center’s renters and users, the council decided to reduce the proposed increase to 20 percent, down from rent increases that would have ranged from 50 percent to more than 100 percent.
Before the vote, the community center’s renters made one more plea to lower the rent, saying that 20 percent is too high, especially considering that rents went up 10 percent last year.
"We will be forced to give up space in the center," said Carol Harkins, executive director of the Gene Nastri School, the center’s largest tenant.
The council didn’t budge from the 20 percent figure, with Mayor Don Doran saying it was a fair compromise during what has been a tough time for the city. The tenants still will be paying below-market value, city officials said.
However, the Mukilteo Seniors thrift store won’t have its rent raised. The council decided to use a small amount of money generated from budget cuts to make up the difference.
At least one council member wasn’t happy with the complaining from the Rosehill tenants.
"The Rosehill group is the most self-centered and selfish group that I’ve ever come in contact with," retiring Council Member Ken Kromann said.
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