More than 60 residents joined the City of Edmonds officials and staff for two Thursday workshops to discuss the budget scenarios facing the city. 

The workshops followed the city’s release of potential cuts during the Edmonds City Council meeting earlier this week, On Thursday, Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen, city department directors and three councilmembers shared additional information and held a question-and-answer session with residents.

About 20 people attended each session in person. Another 13 were online via zoom.

Rosen’s presentation covered how the city found itself in this position, with expenditures and inflation outpacing revenues.

“Every 1 percent our property tax goes up, Edmonds gets $107,000. For every dollar you pay in property tax, the city gets about 14 cents. That is part of the challenge. It’s not enough to cover even small things,” Rosen said. “Another is hiring. Some cities are offering hiring bonuses for police officers of $30,000. We can’t do that. Wastewater treatment. It’s hard to find someone who wants to do that job and you have to pay those higher salaries.”

There are other costs. For example, the city insurance policy increased 39% ($558,000) last year.

Another chart had a breakdown of 18 city-owned buildings, the annual maintenance costs and condition:

A third chart showed the city’s funding structure:

The city is looking at three scenarios to address its $13 million budget shortfall:
· Reduced service levels – stay at the current level of city services and continue to defer maintenance.
· Invest in a sustainable future – a levy lift that will address the reduced service levels.
· Change service model – eliminate services and staffing and risk building closures.

If the community chooses a levy lift (the sustainable future model), the city will work with three concepts:
· What are the community’s service priorities (public input)?
· What services are required by law?
· What are other cities doing that Edmonds could model?

Rosen went on to compare Edmonds to Lynnwood, Redmond, Renton and Everett and their revenue-generation models and budgets. He shared other potential ways for generating revenue including parking, red light cameras, legalized gambling and higher fees. The mayor said he has a long list that he is whittling down and will present these to the council for review at its meeting next week.

“I’ve lived in many cities and there’s a lot of revenue generation from parking,” said meeting attendee Melinda Goforth. “From Thursday through the weekend, we get a lot of visitors. Residents could have a parking pass so we wouldn’t pay but that could generate a lot of money.” Goforth also supported red light cameras. “What we can’t do is add to property taxes. Every year, it’s $1,000 more. We can’t keep adding another grand,” she said.  

Rosen said that fees from parking and red light cameras are mid-range ideas for long-term, sustainable revenue generation. They do not completely address the immediate $13 million budget deficit.

“Do you have a number in mind for the levy?” asked Cristina Teodoru. “What are the priorities to spend that money?” Rosen said he did not because the city is still discussing what the community wants and what it will cost to make that happen. The levy will directly link to spending priorities.

“What are the plans to better develop Highway 99?” Teodoru asked. Rosen said city officials are thinking about what industries they could draw to the area. “We will never have a mall, but could we draw startups that might like the quality of life here without a big footprint?” he said.

Edmonds City Councilmember Jenna Nand said there are groups like the Highway 99 Placemaking group and the Asian Service Center working to engage residents and build a bridge. “I’m from this community. These are historically immigrant communities that keep to themselves,” she said. Councilmember Chris Eck talked about the work the city’s Economic Development Commission had done to explore the possibilities.

Other residents made clear their preferences. Don’t cut parks. Don’t cut police. Cut admin staff. Rosen replied there had already been significant cuts to staff.

Another resident suggested the city use AI to do small tasks. Economic Development Director Todd Tatum said he already uses AI as a shortcut for board and commission meetings and notes. “Because of AI, I can manage my workload since the 28% staff cut.”  

Edmonds business owner and city council candidate Erica Barnett agreed that AI could be helpful. “I attended a workshop this morning where we discussed small AI investments that would generate a return on investment in as little as 10 months,” she said, adding that she would share her list.

Specifics

Residents then moved among four stations to get very granular about proposed cuts to each department.

“I had my list Tuesday, and my list now is even more specific,” said Angie Feser, director of parks and recreation. “Our 2025 cuts were deep, but people aren’t seeing them yet because summer is when they use our services. For example, in 2024, we had five Porta Potties at Marina Beach park. In 2025, we have two. In 2026, we will have none. No Porta Potties and no bathrooms anywhere. I don’t have the staff to clean them.” She said cuts in 2026 look like no City Park spray park and no Yost Pool. “Staff will be doing maintenance in other places,” she said.

Edmonds Police Cmdr. Shane Hawley talked about reductions to the department’s records staff. In 2025, he lost two of six legal records staff. “They are the brains of the office. They keep things moving. If we lose staff, criminal cases don’t get filed on time,” he said. With further budget cuts, the department will also cut the traffic unit, which responds to collisions and manages security for big Edmonds events like the Edmonds Arts Festival.

Because the city must deliver a balanced budget, if there is no levy or the levy fails, the city must make an additional $6 million in cuts in 2026 — in addition to $2 million in reductions the city council directed staff to find as part of the 2025-26 biennial budget process. “We are developing two budgets,” said Councilmember Vivian Olsen. “One with a levy lift and another without. We cannot wait until Nov. 5 to figure this out.” 

The city faces another deadline: Aug. 5. That’s the last day to put the levy lift on the November ballot.

In the coming weeks, the council will focus on refining budget options. The public is invited to council meetings where this will be discussed. They city also plans to conduct more community outreach. 

You can see the entire city presentation here.