Following up on discussions during its May 9 retreat and May 13 business meeting, the Edmonds City Council Tuesday night continued its deep dive into the potential scenarios the city could face without a voter-approved levy lid lift this fall.

The agenda for Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting included a long list of reductions, starting on Page 133 of the council packet here. The summary comes as the council begins discussing the idea of placing a measure before voters in November aimed at offsetting the city’s $13 million budget deficit.

Councilmembers spent 90 minutes Tuesday night going over the list, which provided additional details beyond the initial summary Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen shared during the past two meetings. They include specific reductions or elimination of services in all city departments, from cutting the city’s human services division — which provides assistance to those in need citywide — to eliminating the cultural services program that oversees the city’s arts activities. The police department would lose animal control, the traffic unit, its problem-solving emphasis team, and its community engagement and domestic violence coordinators. Parks maintenance would decrease and some parks amenities — such as the City Park Spray Pad and even Yost Pool — may need to close. Recreation programs would be eliminated. Public works would see cuts in road maintenance, vegetation management and building maintenance and janitorial services.

During the May 9 retreat, Rosen outlined three potential budget alternatives:

1. Following the current biennial budget as approved by the council in December 2024, which assumed a $6 million levy lift.

2. Finding additional resources to fund a budget that maintains city services and amenities.

3. A scenario with no levy or a failed levy

During the May 13 council meeting, Rosen explained that should a levy lift fail, the city would need to find additional cost savings, which was included in this updated spreadsheet outlining where cuts could be imposed.

The Tuesday committee meeting was designed to give councilmembers additional time to hear from department directors and ask questions about the impacts of budget alternative 3.

Edmonds Police Cmdr. Shane Hawley said that without a city levy lid lift, “it gets the police department essentially down to just bare essentials.”

“We would lose a number of commissioned police officers — I think the number is seven — in addition to what we’ve already lost this year,” he continued. “Around 11 or 12 commissioned officers…would be gone, and in an agency of 58 that’s a pretty significant number,” he said

Councilmember Vivian Olson said that while some community members believe the city’s salaries are too high, she noted that when it comes to police, “there just aren’t a lot of people going into law enforcement right now, and [municipalities] have had to pay a lot more to keep their officers.

“I worry about the narrative and that discussion about, well, we’re just paying people too much,” she said. “I feel like we have to be paying — especially law enforcement — what we are, because otherwise they’re going to go somewhere else.”

Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Angie Feser described the downstream effect that cuts to her department would have on other community groups. In particular, she noted that the city’s parks maintenance crew maintains the athletic fields that are used by the Sno-King Youth Club, which conducts games and practices on city fields. “If we can’t maintain those fields, how do they have their program?” she asked. The city also supports many other community partners — including Sound Salmon Solutions and Edmonds Stewards — “and those would probably all go away,” Feser said.

Councilmember Chris Eck then addressed accusations from those residents who say that councilmembers are “making threats [about budget cuts] to scare people” and that the council hasn’t done enough to trim the city’s budget. “We were pretty darn aggressive [about reducing the budget] last year, and it was really painful,” Eck said. “We’re talking about realities that affect service to our community, and wanting to be very transparent and clear about that, and it’s not to scare anyone. It’s to say we will indeed need to do these things if it gets to this point.”

Councilmember Michelle Dotsch reiterated a point she has made in past meetings that the city needs to identify revenue sources as well as figuring out “how do we live within our means, as well as the realities of things costing more?”

“I feel that there could be more cards that we could hold to be looking at for the future,” Dotsch said. “And, you know, obviously other sources of revenue and opportunities and metrics that we can point to, I think would be really helpful as well. What are the types of revenue generation ideas that are, what would that bring in? You know, like a sales tax, like, whatever that could be…what are those numbers?”

Dotsch also said she would like to see the city further explore using volunteers “or other ways to do tasks in the city that might not be government funded.”

“So I would welcome again any of the things that you are suggesting,” Rosen replied. “Things that you believe we haven’t cut enough. Let’s talk about that. If you think there are revenue ideas that we ought to put on the fast track, please tell us. And if there are things you think we can be using volunteers that help offset this $8 million problem, let us know.”

The next step for the budget conversation will be two budget and property tax levy workshops for the public — at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. — this Thursday, May 22 in the third-floor Brackett Room of City Hall. At the June 3 council meeting, the city administration will propose a dollar figure to be included in the levy lift proposal based on Option 2 above, aimed at maintaining current city services and amenities.

Rosen also suggested to councilmembers Tuesday that they consider a resolution in June, based on budget cut scenarios discussed Tuesday night, that would document what a levy failure would mean. The reason for this, the mayor said, is if the levy was rejected there wouldn’t be much time for the council to reallocate the budget prior to the end of the year, “and also to give residents a clear understanding of a choice that they’ll be making.”

The deadline for submitting a levy lift proposition for the November general election ballot is in August.

In other business Tuesday, the council:

– Discussed implementation of the South County Fire Regional Fire Authority (RFA) annexation agreement. City Attorney Jeff Taraday explained that revisions are required to the section regarding Fire Station 17, which is located in downtown Edmonds next to the Public Safety Complex. After further reviewing the agreement, it was discovered that the station shares an electric meter with the public safety building along with other city infrastructure. As a result, Fire Station 17 won’t be transferred to RFA ownership. Instead, the city will retain Station 17 and allow the fire authority exclusive use. The changes also have to be approved by the RFA Board of Commissioners, so the amended agreement will appear on the council’s consent agenda for approval next week.

– Related to the RFA, councilmembers discussed the process for selecting an Edmonds liaison for appointment to the RFA Board — a position that will give Edmonds nonvoting representation until the RFA can go through a redistricting process and elections can be held. The appointee is required to be either a city employee or an elected official, and councilmembers generally preferred the idea of Mayor Rosen recommending a liaison and the council voting whether to approve his selection.

– Heard a report on the city’s 2026-2031 Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program. You can see the report here.

– Received the city’s April 2025 monthly financial report.