Petition for a “No!’ Vote on $14.5 million tax levy lift in November election (REVISED 7/16/25).

For 2 months, Mayor Mike Rosen and Edmonds City Council have ignored taxpayers’ demands for answers to long-standing concerns over the Council’s lack of accountability, fiscal discipline, transparency, common sense, and putting taxpayers first. When the Council failed to address a multitude of open questions about the City’s budget crisis and passed a resolution to put a $14.5M property tax levy lift on the November ballot, that was the last straw. IF THE TAX LEVY BALLOT MEASURE PASSES, RESIDENTS WILL SUFFER FROM A 300% LOCAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASE COMPARED WITH 2024! Residents can help defeat the November ballot measure by signing this updated Petition to help our EdmondsCanDoBetter concerned citizens' group collect as many “No!’ votes and volunteer canvassers as possible in advance of the November election.

Summary:

The cost reductions and savings outlined below can save $15–17 million/year, more than offsetting the proposed $14.5M tax levy. There are numerous realistic, taxpayer-friendly reforms available. They can be supplemented by a multitude of new revenue opportunities.

Until the Council prioritizes expense control, does proper due diligence, enforces accountability, and discloses all material revenue and expense impacts, residents should not support any new tax increase.

We urge immediate, responsible action to address the 16 pre-requisites below to reduce unnecessary spending, introduce new revenues, and rebuild public trust. Until that is done, we will be voting “No!” on the November $14.5M tax levy lid lift, and any future tax levy lifts.

Our 16 pre-requisites:

We, the undersigned residents of Edmonds, refuse to accept any more tax increases, until and unless the Mayor and Council have done the following:

1. Revised the basic 2026 budget to substantially reduce the current 12.2% increase in expenses. This is way above the current CPI.
2. Collected the more than $10M the South County/Regional Fire Authority (RFA) owes the City for unpaid hospital transport/GEMT fees.
3. Revised the City budget to include the $7M in 2025 RFA contract fees that were vacated when taxpayers accepted $7M in RFA’s 2025 direct annexation taxes as of June 1, 2025.
4. Pursued a contract with the Sheriff’s office for police services that could be as much as $8M less than the $19M than is currently budgeted for 2025 internal Edmonds’ police services. There is ample evidence that a Sheriff’s office contract can provide the current level of police services for 40% lower cost by using true ‘economies of scale.’ Between 2019 and 2023 the police budget increased by 50%. Edmonds residents pay 40% more per capita per year for the same level of police services that Shoreline residents have.
5. Found ‘best practices’ peer cities that have modern fire/ems services business models (optimized for 85% of all 911 calls that are for medical emergencies) that can be adopted by Edmonds to reduce fire/ems service costs by $9M per year (reducing the $21M RFA post-annexation price to the $12M-$14M pre-annexation contract price).
6. Enacted and enforced better financial controls and safeguards to assure the City doesn’t repeat the past mismanagement. Developed a plan to discontinue antiquated manual processes that require more staff to keep doing things the same way. The plan should include: a) out-source payroll processing, b) improving digital records in all departments, c) implementing AI to dramatically improve employee productivity and service response.
7. Curbed the City’s appetite to fund all the “wants” in the next few years. Be honest and transparent with residents – stop presenting just one side of the coin.
8. Established a citizen-led finance oversight committee to assist the Council in all financial issues and opportunities, including the pro-active evaluation of a City-run fire/ems operation and a County-contracted police service. The evaluation process should be focused on “how have other cities employed best practices to accomplish more efficient services”, NOT, “how can Edmonds justify the current costly business models.”
9. Committed to a ‘neutral’ position in public presentations on the tax levy lift ballot measure. Stop using PR to ‘sell’ the value of a tax levy lift. Commit to disseminating opposition arguments alongside City narratives. Stop using scare tactics to advocate for the tax levy lift in saying essential public safety and services will be compromised if the tax levy lift is defeated. Ensure that residents know police safety is the #1 priority, and through right-sizing the department, finding affordable alternatives, and reallocating the budget, there is no need to cut back on police services. Other budget deficits can be handled by reallocating resources to highest priority items.
10. Disclosed to the public how much was spent on the recent Rimmer Tree Code case and appeal and the CARA-code storm water lawsuit. If you include the staff time, attorneys, hearing examiner, and scientists – it is likely between $500K and $1 million. A total waste of taxpayer money! The question from taxpayers is “why wasn’t that avoided by completing the SEPA checklist and changing the Tree Code and CARA code? What lessons were learned and how will that be avoided in the future?”
11. Evaluated alternatives for water service on the north side of Edmonds and answer why is Edmonds in the water business? Buying water from Alderwood has gotten too expensive. Why not contract with Olympic View Water/Sewer District like Woodway does?
12. Developed a debt strategy for capital projects (stop mixing up financing ongoing operating budgets and capital projects). Publish a 15-year Revenue/Expense and Capital forecast for sewage treatment.
13. Streamlined City staffing and eliminate at least two director-level positions. Train staff on continuous process improvement and require annual (measurable) productivity goals. Require every individual to set and report on annual cost-saving initiatives. Reduce overhead …. don’t increase It
14. Studied whether utility billing should be outsourced, or made a profit center where the City does it for other municipalities and water/sewer districts
15. Developed a more effective and cost-efficient space plan for office workers
16. Developed a maintenance yard space plan for Parks and Public Works, and determine how much part-time contract workers and a volunteer citizen force can provide in cost savings.

MyEdmondsNews online articles featuring reader comments opposing the City's November $14.5M tax levy lift ballot measure:

https://myedmondsnews.com/2025/07/reader-view-the-edmonds-levy-lift-how-did-a-6m-proposal-turn-into-14-5-m/?mc_cid=c692e31915&mc_eid=20737d041c

https://myedmondsnews.com/2025/06/reader-view-opin...