LYNNWOOD—The council will begin hearing 2025-26 biennium budget presentations, vote on a 7.6 percent increase to permits and fees, and consider the mayor’s request to remove the professional engineering licensure requirement for the Public Works Director position, at its Monday, October 14, city council meeting.
The Lynnwood City Council Regular Meeting will be held in-person and virtually by Zoom or Lynnwood, WA Video Archive (swagit.com).
2025-2026 Preliminary Lynnwood Budget: Departmental Presentations 1 of 4
Finance Director Michelle Meyer will present the mayors proposed $156 million 2025-26 biennium Lynnwood budget to the council—a 23 percent increase compared to the previous cycle. The mayor is expected to address concerns from the Public Hearing on September 23 focused on a proposed $7.3 million deficit and a 26.7% property tax increase.
Starting off the department presentations on Monday will be the Executive, Legal, City Council, and Finance. PRCA, Municipal Court, and Police will present on October 16 with DBS, Human Resources, Information Technology presenting to the council on October 28. Public Works and Capital budget will wrap up presentations on November 4.
The next Public Hearing is scheduled for November 12.
Supporting Documentation: 2025-2026 Preliminary Budget: Departmental Presentations
Development and Business Services (BDS) Fee Schedule Amendments
The Development and Business Services department is requesting the city council to adopt a 7.6 percent increase in the 2025 fees related to permitting, construction, and land use activities administered by the department. DBS is also the council to approve the adoption to annually adjust the fees by 4% plus the inflation percentage based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for years 2026 through 2028.
The council adopted Ordinance No. 3451 on December 4, 2023 that increased DBS fees for 2024 between 12 to 45 percent.
If the council adopts the ordinance approving amendments to the Development and Business Services Fee Schedule for 2025, the fees will take effect five days following its passage.
Supporting Documentation: Development and Business Services Fee Schedule Amendments
Removing Engineering Licensure Requirement Public Works Director
The Mayor is requesting the city council to remove the professional engineering licensure for its Public Works Director position. If passed, a Public Works Director without a professional engineering license will need to delegate licensed engineering duties to a department employee holding a professional engineering license.
In other words, if two licensed engineers propose two different designs or disagrees with a proposed design, the Public Works Director who is their reporting manager, would need to consult a third person with a professional engineering license to approve the design if this ordinance passes. A Public Works Director without a professional engineering license has no background nor formal training to be capable of making engineering decisions.
A professional engineering license assigns full liability of all approved engineering designs for the city. According to the state of Washington, a professional engineer must have eight years or more of experience in engineering, successfully passing a written or oral examination, or both, and is accredited within the state.
The mayor is requesting this change to “strive to be a diverse, inclusive employer” the ordinance reads.
The Public Works Department develops, manages and operates all physical infrastructure within the city limits of Lynnwood to facilitate the City’s health, safety, and welfare while enhancing the quality of life, according to the City’s website. Public works is responsible for all construction management, transportation, storm water maintenance, environmental projects, and water and sewer maintenance with the city.
Supporting Documentation: LMC 2.44.020 Revision
Author: Mario Lotmore
4 Responses
This is an absolutely crazy proposal. Going woke to soon go broke.
Mayor wants to hire a minority person for public works director that why she wants to remove the engineer license requirement. Let’s lower standard for DEI hires.
Hey Mrs Chen, this is Nick, the one with the glasses in the picture. I think I knocked on your door last year?
If you’d like to discuss this, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at NCoelho@LynnwoodWA.Gov. The article is a bit misleading on the topics it covered, which is unfortunate, and I’d be more than happy to clear them up.
For a city that’s a third AAPI, absolutely pathetic that there’s no Asian American representation on the board.