EDMONDS, Wash. — The sun is shining, the kids are playing in the water park, and downtown Edmonds appears to be thriving.
But on this Main Street, Mayor Mike Rosen is talking about selling the city hall building.
We are in a financial crisis, a significant one,” said Rosen matter-of-factly, about the civic situation. “People are starting to call and complain about the parks because we can’t get to them and maintain them at the level we’d like.
“We had cuts in the police, our public records requests, which we are required to do. We had to let go of staff in our traffic and parking enforcement, animal control, so it affects the entire city,” said the mayor about his budget situation that has not improved, now an estimated $13 million deficit for the city of just 42,000 people.
He explained that the city has not kept up with property tax collections, like other similar Snohomish County cities.
“We haven’t had revenue increases as fast as our expenditure increases have been,” said Edmonds Council member Vivian Olson, who estimates there is $40 million in deferred maintenance on roads, parks, and other infrastructure.
She and Rosen are now backing a proposal to lift the levy lid and allow Edmonds to collect more in property taxes. The measure, set to go before the council on Tuesday night, would cost a median homeowner a bit more than $60 a year and collect an additional $14 million annually.
If approved, it would be sent to the voters in the fall. Both Rosen and Olson acknowledge it is not a slam dunk in a city where roughly a 1/4 of the residents are over the age of 65. That’s why they’ve created a list of potential cuts and potential assets to sell.
“We have no more road to kick the can down to. We either are going to take care of our buildings or we’re going to have to sell them,” said Olson. That includes the historic Frances Anderson Center, city hall, and other buildings.
“We can’t have the lifestyle we’re currently enjoying with the wallet that we have today,” said Olson.
Those are the things that make this city identifiable,” said resident Adel Sefrioui after hearing about the potential for a sale. “You sell those assets, they’re gone forever, and that money will eventually dry up, and then you still have a structural mess on your hands.” He backs the idea of an additional property tax.
There is still a question of how the city ended up in this mess. Rosen explains that Edmonds, as vibrant as it appears to be, does not have the benefit of tax collections from big box retailers or car dealerships like neighboring Lynnwood or Shoreline. Insurance rates have also gone up for the city.
Olson was asked who screwed up. “We never took care of the backlog. I think that coupled with inflation and rising costs of everything.”
The mayor was asked the same question.
“Isn’t it a shame that’s how we approach things. I do think that it is unfortunate,” he continued. “This was an accumulation, and it was multiple years coming; it is not just Edmonds. Certainly, some decisions were made that amplified it, that got it deeper than it needed to be.”
“I refuse to sort of point fingers at any individual or any group for this,” said Mayor Rosen.
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