Real estate interests raise $27K to fight Everett property tax hike

EVERETT —You’ve probably seen their blue and green yard signs dotting Everett streets and mailers filling your inbox.

A group called Keep Everett Affordable has been paying for these pleas to voters to reject the city’s proposed property tax hike.

In the weeks running up to a pivotal election for Everett, big-name local real estate interests have pumped thousands of dollars into a campaign to fight the city’s proposed 44% tax increase.

Among the group’s donors are Arthur Skotdal, the retired head of the eponymous Skotdal Real Estate empire, local developer Martin Robinett and Everett Avenue HMB, a limited liability company led by coffee heir Howard Bargreen. Jim Langus, former chief administrative assistant to two Everett mayors, pitched in $2,500.

Robinett and Langus have also both recently fought a proposed Pallet shelter project near the Phil Johnson Ballfields in south Everett.

Keep Everett Affordable has raised $27,500 in the past month, according to state Public Disclosure Commission filings. The committee has spent $15,000 on those mailers, yard signs and other campaign materials in a rush to sway voters before Tuesday’s election.

Without the proposed increase, city officials predict a $12.6 million budget deficit for 2025, expected to grow to $35.4 million by 2030.

In 2001, voters approved Initiative 747, placing a 1% limit on how much cities can raise property taxes yearly and forcing officials to economize instead of relying on tax increases.

The proposal would temporarily change the limit placed by Initiative 747.

If passed, taxes would increase from $1.52 per $1,000 of assessed value to $2.19, a 44% rise.

Officials held several informational sessions about the proposition last month. It was at one of those sessions where Michael Swanson decided to get involved.

“I was blown away at the lack of clarity and commitments with what the city would actually do with the money if passed,” said Swanson, who serves on the Everett Public Facilities District’s board. “The presentation backfired on me.”

Looking for other opponents to the measure, he discovered Keep Everett Affordable.

Keep Everett Affordable argues the proposal would have a disproportionate impact on the working class.

“This is an extremely regressive tax,” Swanson said. “I mean, I know people personally who cannot afford an extra 20, 30, 40 dollars a month right now. They’re already living paycheck to paycheck.”

Swanson was the treasurer for Mayor Cassie Franklin’s last campaign. Now, he’s the treasurer for Keep Everett Affordable and resisting the proposal she’s vocally supported.

He argued the city hasn’t done enough to cut the budget, citing the money allotted to human resources and administration.

The HR budget increased 46% from about $1.7 million in 2021 to $2.5 million this year.

The administration budget increased 58% from $1.05 million in 2021 to $1.67 million.

“They’ve really grown at a pace that is way ahead of inflation,” Swanson said.

Arthur Skotdal’s son, Craig, served on the city’s Fiscal Sustainability Advisory Committee in 2020. A report by that committee recommended a similar levy lid lift.

Craig Skotdal, the president of Skotdal Real Estate, now believes the current City Council cannot be trusted with the revenue, pointing to a 2022 council-approved ordinance Franklin vetoed. The ordinance would have required negotiations with workers and companies contracted for public works construction projects over $5 million.

Public Works Director Ryan Sass estimated the ordinance could have increased costs for those projects by as much as 15%, and required the city hire three to five full-time employees to manage the new program. Craig Skotdal found this unacceptable given the city’s fiscal deficit.

“The problem isn’t the generosity of taxpayers. The problem is with government itself,” he said. “In my mind, the question is not whether a property tax increase is the right tool, but rather: Is any additional tax revenue safe in the hands of the current City Council?”

Mayoral candidate Scott Murphy, who is running against Franklin, said the city’s financial situation is one of the reasons he chose to run. Like Swanson, he pointed to increases in HR and administrative budgets.

“How do you justify that in the face of financial challenges?” said Murphy, a former City Council member.

Franklin believes Keep Everett Affordable’s moves have been a political maneuver.

“I personally believe their intention is for this to fail,” Franklin said. “Then I have to make, together with our council, a number of cuts to city government that are wildly unpopular and then that can be used in a political campaign.”

Other city officials have supported the proposal, including City Council Vice President Ben Zarlingo.

He argued highlighting the HR and administration budgets is a “misdirection.”

“To point to individual, small things without pointing to anything that’s only over 10, 15 million dollars doesn’t solve the problem,” Zarlingo said.

The city has made cuts to parks and recreation programs like the Forest Park Swim Center, as well as city staff benefits. Zarlingo said more cuts would further impact Everett’s quality of life.

“If there was a budget that had those kinds of cuts that preserved your reasonable quality of life here, I’d certainly be interested in it,” he said. “I have not seen that.”

Swanson also said the city has been using “scare tactics” and “misleading” information to falsely suggest the public safety budget is at risk.

These cuts have “never been on the table,” Zarlingo countered, adding the funds from Proposition 1 would supplement the public safety budget.

If passed, the increase would take effect once in 2025, then return to its previous lid of 1%, city officials said.

Swanson estimates Keep Everett Affordable has 25 active members.

“It’s been a roller coaster over the last couple of weeks, meeting a lot of people that I have never met before,” Swanson said. “All share the common goal of making sure that this proposition is defeated.”

While the group isn’t ready to share their next steps, he said members are making plans.

This article has been updated to clarify Craig Skotdal’s concerns with a 2022 ordinance proposal.

Connor Zamora: 425-339-3037; connor.zamora@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @cgzamora02.