Cuts, layoffs discussed at levy meeting

Published 1:04 pm Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Residents were given an overview of city government during the first of four Citizen Levy Review Committee meetings on March 21 at Edmonds City Hall.

The committee, comprised of almost 60 residents, will meet for the next three consecutive Monday nights and ultimately develop and present team recommendations for a proposed levy to the City Council on April 21.

“The economic downturn has hurt us more than most cities,” Mayor Gary Haakenson said. “A levy failure or no levy at all will make last week’s program cuts look pretty minor in the big picture.”

Council approved a surplus balance of $1.3 million for 2009 when the budget was adopted in November 2008. Although low, the figure was “survivable” until sales tax revenues continued to decrease and the figure was adjusted to account for the loss.

A new balance projection of $250,000 for the year-end in 2009 was unacceptable, according to Haakenson and prompted program cuts including the closure of Yost Pool in 2009 and the elimination of the DARE program after this school year.

Over the course of the meeting, residents heard from police chief Al Compaan, fire chief Thomas Tomberg and various heads of city departments. At the end of the presentation, residents discussed their reactions in their small groups.

“We talked in a broader sense of what this means,” resident David Thorpe said. “This is not just a Yost Pool problem. This is not just for this year or next year. This has to be looked at down the line for our generation’s kids.”

The committee’s next meeting on March 30 begins at 6 p.m. and will focus on the budget. Council President DJ Wilson asked committee members to think about how the city should cut $4.5 million from the budget.

“I recognize that’s a hard question to answer really,” Wilson said. “Think about the types of things you experience in Edmonds and in the toughest economic climate, in probably any of our lifetime experience, what can we cut?”

Possible layoffs were also of interest to residents. Haakenson met with union representatives last week. He hopes to update council members during the March 31 council meeting.

“I can just say that I met with the non-represented group that still has some union representation and they were willing to do some furloughs,” he said. “I met with the union groups and I got what I would call a positive response from all of them, so I’m optimistic that I we’ll have some good news to share with the council, probably in one week.”