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Editor:
We are following the 2026 budget process to ensure the city and council are listening to the nearly 11,000 citizens who voted against the unsubstantiated property tax increase. During last Friday’s budget workshop, the council immediately started to discuss the details of the next proposed levy lift. The council also did not take any action to create a citizen’s budget advisory committee to continue the work of the Blue-Ribbon Panel and better represent citizens. Finally, a utility tax increase was proposed which circumvents citizen input. We continue to follow the numbers and another proposed tax increase has not been supported and citizens are continuing to be excluded.
Thank you, citizens, for your vote and your donations. Keep Edmonds Affordable was established to give you a voice since our voices were not heard when the levy lift was proposed and do not appear to be a consideration during budget deliberations thus far. Our grassroots group remains committed to work even harder with the city to represent the citizens and preserve the unique charm that defines Edmonds as everyone’s hometown.
As indicated in the financial reports, the city operated on roughly a $44 million General Fund budget, excluding SCF payments. Despite fiscal challenges, the Frances Anderson Center remained open, Yost Pool continued operations and all parks stayed accessible. By the workshops end, the council identified more than $44 million in projected 2026 revenue without raising property taxes or taking on new debt. The proposed 10%+ utility tax increase is not warranted.
Jon Milkey
Keep Edmonds Affordable Treasurer
Jon’s points are spot on. Please take time to write to the city council and/or show up the the council meeting on Tuesday (in person or via zoom) and tell the council “no” again to new taxes.
Thank you, Jon. I hope everyone who agrees with you will consider signing this petition to Mayor Rosen and Edmonds Council Members. It delivers the same message:
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/enough-utility-tax-increase-is-last-straw
Mr. Milkey, you are not characterizing the “budget” from the workshop accurately. It did not include reserve funds to address unseen emergencies, such as any failure in the huge amount of deferred maintenance or any downturn in the economy that cuts into the sales tax revenue, etc. To get that reserve built back up, even with a utility tax, there will be personnel cuts probably, including to the maintenance of Yost pool (that may hopefully be picked up by the swim club if possible?). More personnel from the parks department and others will be laid off. We won’t get an emergency manager, and I don’t know what other key positions we will have to do without. There could be more turnover in personnel as stressed employees leave for more stable jobs, triggering more overtime to fill those gaps, which is costly. Plus the assumptions made during the workshop to arrive at this “budget” are only projections that could be inadequate, which is the reason you need reserves. And this proposed utility tax is just a temporary tax to get the city through next year or so. If this is your idea of how to run a city, then I don’t think a citizens budget committee is helpful at all. You can’t operate a city without adequate reserves when disaster could be around the corner.
HAHAHAHAH! “And this proposed utility tax is just a temporary tax to get the city through next year or so.” Where have we heard this before? No thank you. In case you haven’t noticed, there is a profound mistrust between the citizens of Edmonds and the Mayor and most of the City Council. You should take this seriously and not try to “paper over” the efforts of the city council/mayor.
I see a lot of animosity and not clear thinking in these comments. I distrust the No campaign people more than the City. In the past, the No campaign’s story keeps changing. First is was no cuts needed and then they forgot to take into account that the 5 million dollars they wanted to use was not available except for about 1.5 million dollars. There could be very good ideas the No campaign have, but the name-calling and animosity makes me cringe. That makes it less likely that a good result with happen. Instead the City may not ever get out of the financial hole. I wouldn’t trust their blue ribbon panel until they stop all that and really look at where the money must go, for real, including reserves needed for the future. For my part I say, no money for sidewalks. They are horrendously expensive and the need is so great, how do you decide who is privileged enough to get them… but that is just my personal opinion since I don’t know the dollar amounts used on sidewalks from the General Fund.
Arlene,
For context, the city operated on approximately $44 million in 2025, excluding the fire contract. An alternative 2026 budget proposed to the city balances $50 million in both revenue and expenses—a 15% increase over 2025. The budget workshop’s estimate was nearly $53 million in revenue. With the alternative plan, no cuts are needed, and the FAC, Yost pool, and city parks remain open as they are this year.
The proposed 2026 budget requires no fund transfers or future levies to balance it and includes loan repayment. The forecast uses the same assumptions as the city, and the base budget maintains a positive fund balance throughout. To provide a buffer for cash flow and to start to rebuild reserves, $5 million from the overfunded Internal Service Funds is transferred to the General Fund, this being supported by analysis showing that 80% of ISF revenue originated from the General Fund.
The intent of the alternative budget is not to present a full recovery plan, but to demonstrate that we can cover 2026 without cuts—and even allow for some expansion—while giving the finance/budget committee time to develop a comprehensive plan for voter approval.
The Council appears to still be relying on the hope that another levy will pass, whereas this alternative is grounded in confirmed revenue sources. Did you get a 15% increase in income this year?
Mr. O: That $5 million again, which is mostly already spoken for. This fund is used for vehicle and computer replacement. Will Chen said so at the candidate forum that about $1.5 million is available. The Mayor has confirmed that. Also see: https://myedmondsnews.com/2025/10/only-small-portion-available-chen-clarifies-his-thinking-on-availability-of-city-reserve-funds/. Because of that, I just don’t believe you at all. Until you can admit your mistake, you are not credible. The temporary utility tax will provide the $4 million that may help bridge the gaping hole instead of your fund transfer $5 million plan. That is a much smarter way to give the Council time to figure this out. We must keep our reserve funds, we need adequate reserves because sales taxes could decline if the AI goes bust or some other Trump disaster ruins the economy.
Arlene,
My approach with the city is always to verify before trusting. In this situation, I cannot confirm the claim that only $1.5 million is available for transfer.
The Internal Service Funds (ISF) receive annual funding from both restricted Enterprise accounts (utility funds) and General Fund accounts. Currently, the ISF balance is about $7 million, with 20% restricted (originating from Enterprise accounts) and 80% available to transfer back into the General Fund. Based on this, approximately $5.7 million is available for transfer, and I recommend transferring $5 million.
Historically, the ISF has been overfunded, which is why the fund balance continues to grow. There is precedent for this approach, as we transferred funds from the ISF to the General Fund in 2021. I am not suggesting any changes to the current ISF funding method—business will continue as usual, and all obligations will be met going forward.
I agree with you about reserves. My approach is to replenish the more critical GF reserves – which has a reserve policy requirement – with the proposed transfer from the ISF which has no such requirement.
I encourage you to review the link you sent more thoroughly before referencing it. I have done my research; it appears you have not.
Mr O. So that means I should trust you to be the expert and not Chen and the financial employees for the City? Sorry, you are just an engineer with a spreadsheet. If you take 80% out of the ISF, there won’t be enough to fulfill a replacement schedule for the vehicles and technology into the future. You will either end up with problems in the equipment or that money will have to be replaced, so you are not making progress. A City cannot work without computers and vehicles. Your plan is not responsible.
Thank you, Arlene, for recognizing my problem-solving skills—developed through both my engineering education and a 40-year career. That experience gives me the ability to cut through the noise and ask the hard, probing questions.
From your response, it sounds as though you’ve reviewed the vehicle and technology replacement schedules and associated costs to support your conclusions. If so, please share that information so I can adjust my own analysis accordingly. Without those details, your argument amounts to little more than speculation.
Arlene What do you think would happen if the city was forced to declare a Chapter 9 Bankruptcy? They I think would cut jobs. They would pinch every penny and they might be able to get help for Edmonds in the way they do…I was reading about it the other day. Or maybe we should sell some things that we could reinvent later and elsewhere. You Arlene are not anymore disgusted by the no group than the no group is disgusted by the yes group. I am of the maybe group but I also am a big show me the money type at least now I am. I watched, I wondered for years way before you ever moved to Edmonds. Now yes you live here now but what the past before you did is what created the present situation. So, it looks to me like the citizens here have said very clearly enough was enough and now it’s too much in every way. You have to wonder who truly are the Naive here in Edmonds?
Hi Deborah, so what are you willing to cut? If the voters voted for cuts we need to have the list. I say sidewalks because they are so expensive. But bankruptcy is a bad idea because you won’t be able to attract the kind of new business that might help the situation and the cities credit rating will take a hit. Just the hit to the city’s reputation will have ramifications for tourism too.
Arlene – the good governance budget list includes over 50 KEA supporter questions that the Mayor and Council have ignored. Your suggestion to cut spending on sidewalks is a good one. Others include, cut the wasted millions in misdirected lawsuits and appeals; put the legal Counsel job out for bid; squeeze the legal budget; stop wasting millions on the waste water treatment plant; save $4-$6M by reorganizing the police dept to reduce per resident costs by 40% to match what Shoreline and Esperance pays; collect the $15M owed to us by the RFA; reduce staff back to 2021 levels to correct the $3M in free Fed Govt pandemic funds were wasted on unjustified hires and police expenses; do proper financial analysis on Yost Pool and Frances Anderson Center as cost centers and determine how fee-based programs can contribute more and keep both open; evaluate how to stop spending $1M per year on cemetery maintenance; implement the innovative budget ideas put forth by CM Dotsch and Chen and financial pro, Jim Ogonowski. Tap into the wealth of talent and energy of volunteers who can deliver financial analysis and recommendations to balance the budget. Establish a volunteer Citizens’ Financial Oversight Committee with the power to require the Council to do proper due diligence on budget decisions. Residents have identified good governance solutions in this Petition: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/enough-utility-tax-increase-is-last-straw
Mr Krepick: There is certainly some items in your list that should be explored, but I wish that your group would have some humility. You will not necessarily be correct about what will be feasible and what won’t and how much money will actually be saved. I admit I have no idea how much money my sidewalk idea will save. You need the same attitude. For instance, replacing a waste water treatment plant is a huge cost that the city may not be able to tackle right now. And do you really want to contract with the County for police services like they do in Shoreline? That would save overhead, but unless you want to do away with Edmonds own police department, there will be overhead that Shoreline may not have to pay. I think if you take the attitude that your ideas may or may not be valid, you will get much further in helping the City than thinking those are all going to work. And I am not impressed with Jim Ogonowski who is just an engineer. He may have some good ideas but he has also made some mistakes about that $5 million dollar fund that only has $1.5 million available. And I am not sure he understands the idea of keeping necessary reserves in the budget.
First Arlene I never suggested that Edmonds file for Bankruptcy. I was simply saying what would happen if Edmonds was forced into bankruptcy, I don’t want my city to be in a position to have to have that embarrassment. I do agree with you that sidewalks are a huge expense and to me just permeable surface walkways for kids and all of us would be adequate. Concrete is expensive but to me this means NO concrete sidewalks anywhere in this city. I do think we should think about the over hiring here and the incredibly high salaries so reduce those back to the 2021 levels. What is your degree in Arlene. Engineers are pretty educated and I think Jim knows a lot especially about Edmonds. We probably need to sell some things here in Edmonds but I am not going to go into that today. Thing is the wants mostly needs in our city other than the DT area have been ignored for so many years many are fed up. Many like me resent all of our community not taking on more housing, Like the North Bowl and more of Seaview and the DT big city core. I want nonprofits but I also want more for profit in this city. I Do Not want Bankruptcy. Please do not twist my words.
It is far past time for Edmonds, after more than a decade of profligate spending to go on a Dave Ramsey style budget of Rice ‘n Beans; Beans ‘n Rice. That means basic needs only, not wants. An Emergency Manager for a town with a population less than 45k is not a ‘need’. This is especially so when one understands and appreciates that under NIMS/ICS that Emergency Planning is a County function. Edmonds is not Snohomish County, but they are fortunate to have Emergency Planning and Management professionals housed in both South County RFA personnel The Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Edmonds has more than sufficient Emergency Response planning and response/mitigation capabilities. They also have Mutual Aid Agreements with nearby agencies in other cities and towns primarily in King County.
Hi Kurt-
you make some excellent points. Can you attend the Council meeting tomorrow in person or on Zoom and give public comments re the need for good governance reform, spending cuts, and no utility tax increases? ..and sign the Petition asking for immediate formation of an all-volunteer Citizen Financial Oversight Committee with the power to direct the Council to scope, analyze, and implement necessary budget changes? https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/enough-utility-tax-increase-is-last-straw
Immediately after Prop 1 failed, I see the Council having focused meetings on how to get more money from taxpayers via new fees and new taxes. More money. More money.
But, what I don’t see, and am very unhappy about, are in depth meetings and actions that dive into understanding, in detail, what the City’s ‘baseline’ financial needs (not wants) are, and how we got into the situation we are in. Where’s the analysis and discussion about said analysis? Why are the Keep Edmonds Affordable citizen suggestions being ignored?
Please….NO MORE revenue generation meetings. Let’s see some basic analysis and proposals that are not just focused on revenue generation!
it is very clear that most of the Council and the Mayor don’t care one bit about what the citizens or even their own Blue Ribbon Panel say. They seem to have an insatiable need for more money, and ignore the fact that the citizens are tax weary.
Why?
Well said, Jon. In football, this trick would be called an “end around sweep.” Stay vigilant!
Yost Park Pool keeps coming up repeatedly as a possible victim of budget cuts. What this tells me is that we, the citizens, are part of the Council’s budget problem. Everyone appears to have a different concept of what an “essential” city service is. I use this only as an example! I would love to see our council list what our ’essential’ services are. If we citizens were faced with a significant tax increase, would the list be the same? Are you citizens willing to prioritize that list based how much you are willing to pay in additional taxes? Could some items on that list that are questionable as being ‘essential’ be funded in other ways other than the general fund (examples: specific fund drives by users of said services, volunteers, higher use fees, etc.)? This is the sort of analysis I do not see coming from our council. Surveys that ask us what our ‘wants’ are is not the same is asking what services we are willing to pay for in significantly higher taxes” Stop just asking for more money.
Yost Park and Pool provide valuable green space and water safety. Cascade Swim Club offers valuable services, exercise opportunities, and safety education, and a slice of nature in a place easy to get to on foot, by bicycle, bus, and personal vehicle. The Parks and Rec Director has the number of users each year. It may have been 90k in a year.
These opportunities are available to almost all ages as well.
Chris, Hello!
Budgeting by priorities was proposed many years ago. I went through this process when I worked for the State of Washington.
Although painful, it sent the state of Washington in the right direction.
What is absolutely necessary or required by law? Then after that you add in the things that people really want and need. This is a place to start for both sides of this issue.
Adrienne, you were one of only a couple CM’s at the time who was against spending so much money and attention on the Civic Field Park re-do before areas of town more lacking in Parks got some priority and funding attention. I certainly agreed with you on that then; and still think it was a big expensive mistake that did away with vital functions for other town activities. That re-do and how it adversely affected the annual Art Festival and the neighborhood I lived in is another big reason I decided to leave town. As usual; the old town Civic Field project got the green light with one excuse being that it was largely funded by grants and gifts. This type funding came with requirements that limited onsite parking and that was a another big controversy around the whole affair. The park project ran into big drainage issues resulting in cost over runs and missed completion dates. We also now know that there was some unexplained spending in the Engineering department about the same time that has been brushed off as just an accounting process error. I think that’s something that should be analyzed and transparently explained. I mention this as just one reason I think Edmonds’ finances are so messed up and virtually un-fixable without declaring municipal bankruptcy and setting up a new system.
Chris-
please attend Tuesday Council meeting and make public comments. Please sign the Petition for good governance. https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/enough-utility-tax-increase-is-last-straw
City: before asking for more money: Stop the $25k/mo spend on the Rimmer lawsuit.
Provide a status on the legal proceedings – $15M owed to Edmonds Residents by South County Fire RFA.
Thanks
Keep up your great work Jon.
Your neighbors,
Tom and Ginny
In simple terms; since the residential property owners and renters have finally rebelled; your elected officials have switched to the business owners and vehicle owners in town to continue the financing of everything everyone in town WANTS to have in order to live in the perfect safe and wonderfully entertaining city. You can only live the dream for so long, without finding willing people to keep financing it. It’s time for you all to come together some how to decide what you just NEED in order to have a simply livable town and start saying no to most of the rest. It won’t be easy, especially the way you are governing yourselves now. Right now your city is spending hundreds of dollars on protecting a couple houses they never should have approved in the Perrinville Creek flood plain. They are paying thousands to haul away partially cooked human waste after getting ripped off on a new technology waste treatment plant. They are continuing to pursue expensive legal actions against their own constituents. They have saddled you with huge new fire and police service management and labor costs just in the past few years. You need to figure out a new way to do the town’s business – like yesterday!
Thank you, Jon. Well said.
I also thank you Jon. I’m glad there are people like you parsing this issue to help us understand it.
Mr Chapman: Like I said, we won’t be getting an emergency manager because there isn’t any money for it. Of course Snohomish County has over 850,000 residents. That makes it more likely that emergency services won’t be tailored as precisely as Edmonds might need it in a disaster. And Snohomish Deparment of Emergency Management is under new fiscal restraints now that the Trump administration is demanding DEI be stripped from any grant programs. DEI also means senior and disabled and there is a conflict between federal and WA law so Snohomish County may have to curtail some of their programs. I think senior and disabled people need special help during an emergency. The county is also raising their fees to cities to provide this service. Here is an article about this: https://mltnews.com/city-council-hears-options-in-emergency-funding-approves-property-annexation/
With this news and the potential for communications disruptions during certain emergencies, I think it would be wise to have an emergency manager for Edmonds, but we can’t afford it right now. So Edmonds residents need to prepare to take on this responsibility in their own home and I know that the Edmonds Climate Advisory Board nonprofit is working to get a campaign organized to increase our climate resilience in case of emergency. Watch their website for more information: https://www.edmondsclimate2050.org/
Am I reading that correct that the annual usage numbers for Yost Pool is 90,000 per year? Edmonds has an estimated population of 43,000. Does that mean each person uses the pool 2 times per year? Of course not. It is more likely that 1000-1500 people use it 30 times per year. And how many are non-residents? Why should all residents be taxed for Cascade Swim Club and non-residents? How in anyone’s imagination could the be considered an essential service? Sell it today.
Thank you, Jon! The seeds of our financial problems go back much further than just the last few years. Our elected officials will need all the help they can get to balance the 2026 budget and to then chart a course to put a sustainable plan together for our future. Mayor Rosen recognized this and created the Blue Ribbon Panel as the starting point for both short and long run budgeting.
BRP were given a short time window to come up with a workable plan. Their final report to council has 15 recommendations which taken as a whole will make significant progress for both the short and long run. A key recommendation is to continue the work they stated with the creation of “a standing City commission or committee to observe and advise the City on financial matters”
More than a year has passed with no council action, but it was discussed at the Listening Session, hosted by CM Olsen and attended by CM Eck,
Council has limited time to finish the 2026 budget but the heavy lifting for the long run needs to be started now. The Citizen Financial Committee can not only do a lot of work for council consideration it can be done to help us all understand city finances.
I couldn’t agree with you more.
Reading all of these comments and the article by Mr. Milkey I am no longer a maybe. I support Keep Edmonds Affordable KEA. I stand with the NO group, and I do want a Citizens action Committee. I signed after reading and one thing that amuses me is WHERE were or are all these sidewalks supposed to be put in the next few years? That is one persons fall back in about every comment. I am not a tax and spend type. I do think we must tax some things and we do and we always have. What we don’t do is bring in enough revenue and it appears in the past we missed many opportunities due to the idea property taxpayers would foot the bill for everything. Now things changed and more Unions came in RFA and more expense Gov Mandates and here we are loyal residents in fear of being forced out and loads of new residents very much wanting that it appears to me as well as loving everything taxed and everything union. So yeah, I am now a NO for sure. Focus on our needs get rid of the fluff and form that committee to show the citizens you are listening and you care. Thank you Keep Edmonds Affordable and most of the rest of our citizens for your great info.