Editor:
Edmonds is considering eliminating single-family zoning. This objective has always been opposed by a majority of single-family residents. Regardless, the city has propounded numerous rationales in support of upzoning. When one rationale is discarded as undesirable or unworkable, another rationale is substituted as justification to increase density.
The latest national thesis that is now being promoted locally is that real estate is an excellent investment to create intergenerational wealth. It has been suggested that smaller single-family homes on smaller parcels be developed. That transformation would allegedly benefit those purchasers and their heirs who wish to reside in Edmonds but are financially unable to do so. This policy would dramatically increase density in certain neighborhoods in Edmonds.
Approximately 40% of Edmonds residents are “housing insecure.” Those residents allocate 30% or more of their income to housing expenses, a financial burden as determined by the federal government. Include the current round of inflation, and many residents are experiencing tremendous financial hardship.
The City of Edmonds is awash in revenue, much of it generated by escalating property taxes.
Some of those revenues should be directed toward tax reductions for those Edmonds residents that are truly in need.
City resources should be directed at eliminating marginal programs when there is so much local need as well as a looming recession. Priorities should be focused on Edmonds residents who pay property taxes, not nonresidents who wish to reside here, as well as their hypothetical future descendants.
Eric Soll
Edmonds
If the City is sitting so well monetarily, as the Mayor stated, then yes we are being over taxed. Snohomish County Assessor should lower our property taxes. School enrollment is down which should equate to a smaller school budget. Additionally, house prices are dropping therefore all homes need to be reassessed. My home payment has gone from $1900 to $2140 a month. Food and Gas prices have gone up and yet the wages are stagnant.
The people working paying salaries of this government are hurting. City wages should be reduced if the city cannot help the people that bare the weight of the economy.
Ms Cooper:
Since nobody has directly addressed your comments I feel compelled to temporarily return to provide some clarification.
The Assessor is only the vehicle for collecting the taxes; the Assessor does not have the authority to determine how much to collect. The amounts are determined by the agencies that receive the taxes.
The City of Edmonds receives only about 14% of the total taxes assessed. By far the biggest recipient, about 70% of taxes, is the school district. And those school taxes are voter-approved taxes.
When home prices go down it does not mean that the associated taxes will go down. Each agency has an amount that they wish to collect. When home values drop the tax rate is usually increased so that the revenue is not diminished.
As you have stated, most workers incomes are not increasing as much as inflation is growing. City workers are enduring that situation just like everyone else. It would not be reasonable to exacerbate their situation by also lowering their wages.
Well said Eric!! Yes! Our taxes keep going up, up, up. It’s time to take a look at what we can do to relieve the tax burden of those who already live here.
Another excellent letter, Eric.
I believe assessed values for property taxes payable in 2023 are set to increase roughly 18-19% for Edmonds residences.
I suspect many Edmonds residential property value have declined 14-15% since the Official Notice of Assessed Value for taxes payable in 2023 was mailed on June 17, 2022.
A start at solving this housing issue and other issues we keep batting around (ECC and EDC code updates, for example) would be to get the respective branches of our local city government back in their own lanes or, even better, create some new lanes for them to run in. We have a mayor and staff constantly telling the citizens what they should want in the way of the perfect city, instead of just running the city efficiently the way the majority of citizens want it run thru their city council. In representing everyone at large, our council people generally don’t represent anyone in the specific sense of where they live, which allows our Strong Mayors and their staffs to run rough shod over the Council and the citizens they supposedly work for. Put four people on Council who assume they work for the Mayor and staff and you really have a problem. We are temporarily out of that extreme situation, but the possibility of it’s return looms large, if systemic change does not occur. A full time city council (paid well), with at least five elected by district might be a reasonable starting place.
Great responses from all of you. The Edmond’s City Government needs to wake up and simply do their real job. We did not vote for you or hire you to be a “think tank”. We the People are telling you in many different ways that we do not want and we do not support any more density in Edmond’s. Period!
Our town and our country is built on the American dream – single family ownership in a small to medium home, in a safe community/town, with a good Government that represents the people . That is what we as individuals want, and we will continue to want.
Yes, taxes in Edmond’s, at every level are way too high.
We are not living in a spend all economy. Too many of our citizens are indeed hurting. Why doesn’t the city government work on reducing taxes, fix our roads, and do its job?