Our City Council and Mayor have made it clear: As they confront our budget crisis and outline three possible paths forward, tough choices lie ahead. To ensure the next generation gets to experience an “Edmonds kind of day” tomorrow, we must invest in a “vibrant kind of Edmonds” today.

But how will we do that?

Keep Edmonds Vibrant has analyzed several comparable peer cities in our region, and it’s become clear there’s no way of cutting ourselves out of our budget crisis. Edmonds has a significant revenue problem. Our analysis (see pages 31-37) clearly demonstrates that we are disproportionately understaffed in vital areas including our police force, parks, planning and development departments, and our executive’s office. Recent information we learned after our May 27 City Council presentation shows that fewer police are actually employed in Edmonds than we thought (due to a combination of recent cuts and unfilled vacancies), making this problem even more acute than we originally thought. Additionally, as the City and others have already shown, we have a growing backlog of maintenance on our facilities, a multi-million dollar loan to pay back, and depleted reserves that we must replenish in a timely fashion under state law. To match the operating budgets of these comparable peer cities, to fully staff our departments to set them up for long-term success, and to protect and maintain our beloved Frances Anderson Center and other city amenities and greenspaces, we require significant growth in new, sustainable revenues.

Instead of continuing to talk about the problem as it grows even worse, let’s find solutions and get to work creating the future we want for our city. Keep Edmonds Vibrant proposes a three-part solution:

1. Implement $9 million in new, community-supported, non-property tax revenue policies by the end of 2025 – including a modest increase in the sales tax rate (to be on par with Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Mukilteo), a local B&O tax (similar to Issaquah and Bellevue), smarter parking policies, and pursuing more grant funding, to name a few. Each of these proposals, as well as others we’ve recommended, have broad community support in our community visioning initiative, What Should Edmonds Be? (see page 48). And pursuing these revenues only diversifies our tax base to be less reliant on property taxes.

2. Pursue one property tax levy lid lift in the amount of $12 million on the November 2025 ballot to help temporarily close the budget gap and ensure Edmonds can thrive — not just survive. A levy of this amount would cost the median homeowner less than $53 per month (see pages 53-56).

3. Pursue mid- and long-term revenue-generating policies in the next 1-3 years to decrease reliance on levies in the future. These recommendations include annexing Esperance, growing and diversifying our property tax base (while simultaneously reducing the burden on single-family homeowners) by promoting the growth and development of strategic neighborhood hubs, and growing and diversifying our sales tax base by permitting more ground-floor retail/commercial and hospitality services within our city limits. Again, all the proposals we recommend also have broad community support (see pages 50, 52).

What’s more, Keep Edmonds Vibrant has committed to councilmembers (see page 57) that we will proudly take on the role of the citizens group that advocates on behalf of the city’s levy should the Council commit to our community that it will generate $21 million in new revenue through some combination of property and non-property tax policies before the end of the year.

We find ourselves in this dire situation not for lack of good intent, but because of past failures to seize upon opportunities to benefit our city. We’re encouraged to have heard at this past Tuesday’s council meeting the Mayor offer his own, slightly different, proposals to move Edmonds forward. We’re similarly encouraged to hear at this past Thursday’s council meeting a majority of councilmembers both acknowledge that our city has a structural revenue problem, and desire to take the necessary steps to steer us forward with immediacy. As councilmembers meet again in the days and weeks ahead, we call on them to act with urgency and courage.

If there’s anything Edmonds cannot afford, it’s more delay. Let’s work together to keep Edmonds vibrant for generations to come.

Elise Hill is an Edmonds resident and co-founder of Keep Edmonds Vibrant!