Last week, by a vote of 4-3, the Lynnwood City Council passed a City property tax increase of 52%. That large of an increase is something I could not vote for and as City Council President, I am concerned about the impact on residents with such a tremendous tax increase.
Please, I want to be clear, I am not saying all property taxes are going up by 52%. I found my latest property tax statement and for sure the Edmonds School District, the State and the South Snohomish County Regional Fire Authority all collect the bulk of the property tax that is assessed on my home. I do not have control over the taxes assessed by those entities. But, because of the decision by the City Council majority last week, the City of Lynnwood property tax on my home will increase from $309.65 per year to $471.87 per year. The 2% property tax increase that the County Council just passed increases the County property tax on my home from $344.99 to $351.89. The City of Lynnwood now collects more property tax on my home than the County does. How did this happen?
According to news reports I have read; hundreds of Snohomish County residents protested a proposed 8% increase in property taxes at a Snohomish County Council meeting in mid-November. At a contentious special budget public hearing held last week on November 25th the County Council passed a biennial budget that included a 2% increase in property taxes for 2025.
On that same night, the Lynnwood City Council met at our regularly scheduled business meeting to vote on the City’s property tax levy and biennial budget. The majority of the City Council complied with the mayor’s request to increase City property taxes, led by new council members who have had no previous budget experience. By a vote of 4-3 the Council adopted a biennial budget that includes a property tax of $7.2 million. Last year’s property tax levy for Lynnwood was $4.725 million. This is a historic 52% increase in the City of Lynnwood property taxes. The three senior members of the Council, myself, Council Vice-President Altamirano-Crosby and Council Member Decker voted against the tax increase.
Back on November 12, the Lynnwood City Council held a public hearing on the City property tax levy. At that meeting, the mayor’s staff submitted a City property tax levy of $6.2 million. Most of that proposed increase in the tax levy was to fund additional police and custody officers, a Human Services coordinator and two added park employees. There were just three residents who spoke at the Lynnwood public hearing. Only one opposed the $6.2 million tax levy. After the public hearing, a vote on the property tax levy was scheduled for two weeks later, November 25.
Before the vote on the property tax the City Council had a meeting on November 18. It was a Council work session, and the Council continued to deliberate on the mayor’s proposed budget. At that meeting the City’s Finance Director brought forward a list of additional funding requests. The Council saw these requests during the City Department budget presentations to the Council in October. During those presentations the Mayor told the City Council that they would have to find additional revenue if the Council wanted to include these “asks” in the budget. There were no options provided that decreased expenditures in the budget. At the November 18 meeting, the Finance Director presented an increase of over $1.2 million in property taxes as the way to pay for these “additional funding requests.”
A week later, on November 25, the City Council met to vote on the property tax levy. The Finance Director included two draft ordinances on the agenda. One was for the $6.2 million tax levy, the subject of the public hearing held on November 12. The other draft ordinance set the property tax levy at $7.4 million to pay for the added Department requests. I made the motion to approve the $6.2 million tax levy. Council Members went through various amendments to that motion and eventually the property tax was amended to $7.2 million. I proposed to reduce expenditures in the budget by 1.5% which would free up funds for the added requests and avoid any increase above the original $6.2 million property tax. The newer Council Members rejected that proposal saying it was too late to consider any spending cuts. The first term Council Members passed the increased property tax of $7.2 million by a vote of 4-3.
I have been surprised by the lack of media coverage or resident engagement regarding this 52% increase in the Lynnwood property tax. The proposed increase of 8% in Snohomish County’s property tax resulted in a huge turnout at a County Council meeting. The local news media, both print and television, have provided wide coverage about the final decision to increase the County property tax.
I am not satisfied that the recent press release written by the mayor’s staff sent out on November 26th is telling the whole story about the property tax and budget vote by the City Council on November 25th.
I hope this article provides some insights into the passage of the historic property tax increase in Lynnwood.
George Hurst, Lynnwood City Council President
Hurst was first elected to the City Council in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. During his years on the Council, Hurst has focused on making Lynnwood a safer place to live and work. He was Chair of the committee that created the South County Regional Fire Authority and served on the Board that combined two 911 call centers into one efficient 911 system for all of Snohomish County. Hurst legislative priorities over the years have been focused on addressing housing shortages, controlling government spending, and providing a business-friendly environment.
Hurst was born in Seattle and for 27 years has lived in Lynnwood with his wife and their four children. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History/Political Science from the University of Washington and a Master of Arts in American History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
COMMENTARY DISCLAIMER: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Lynnwood Times nor any of its affiliate
Author: Lynnwood Times Contributor
