EDMONDS BUDGET CUTS
Press Release
City of Edmonds
Mayor Gary Haakenson
March 13, 2009
For Immediate Release
To: Edmonds City Council
The Edmonds Beacon editor@edmondsbeacon.com
The Edmonds Enterprise edmonds@heraldnet.com
The Everett Herald newstips@heraldnet.com
Contact: Mayor Gary Haakenson
425.771.0247
Mayor makes service cuts to city budget
(Edmonds - WA) Mayor Gary Haakenson has announced the following service cuts to the City of Edmonds’ budget that will be implemented immediately.
Since the approval of the 2009-10 budget in November of 2008, the City’s sales tax revenues have dropped dramatically. Consequently, we have adjusted our estimates for the balance of 2009 and all of 2010. With this reduction in revenues, our ending cash balance is in danger of dipping into negative territory, so we can’t wait until after the proposed November 2009 ballot measure to make service cuts. The cuts must begin immediately.
This is the first of several budget cuts that will be implemented in the next 60 days. Unfortunately, there will be some positions eliminated and some layoffs in the days ahead. I will notify union leadership next week of the areas where cuts will be made.
Cuts will be made to the Police Department, and this school year will be the last for the DARE program that has been a great asset to the youth of our community. We have notified the City of Mountlake Terrace that we will be terminating the animal control services contract we provide them, and it will not be renewed. We are also eliminating the balance of both the Crime Prevention Program and the Police Reserve Program.
The Police Department and Fire Departments will not be participating in Edmonds Night Out this year from a monetary or personnel standpoint.
Approximately $33, 000 has been eliminated from the Economic Development advertising budget.
For many years the City has funded the South County Senior Center programs, and the $60,000 authorized for 2009 will be honored but will not be funded in 2010.
Yost Pool will not open this year. No part-time employees will be hired to work at the pool. No seasonal help will be hired in the Parks Maintenance Department. Existing staff will do their best to keep up, but expect our parks to look less maintained than our citizens are used to, and garbage pickup and restroom cleaning will be more sporadic. Effective at once we will no longer pay for the flower program from the general fund. It will be paid for the balance of 2009 from a donation fund that has been in existence for some time. And the size of the program will be roughly cut in half.
The Mayor also asked the City Council President to eliminate $25,000 from the Council contingency fund.
“The focus of Edmonds city government in these troubled times will be to provide what is necessary to our citizens, not what might be nice to have,” said Mayor Haakenson.
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City of Edmonds
Mayor Gary Haakenson
March 13, 2009
For Immediate Release
To: Edmonds City Council
The Edmonds Beacon editor@edmondsbeacon.com
The Edmonds Enterprise edmonds@heraldnet.com
The Everett Herald newstips@heraldnet.com
Contact: Mayor Gary Haakenson
425.771.0247
Mayor makes service cuts to city budget
(Edmonds - WA) Mayor Gary Haakenson has announced the following service cuts to the City of Edmonds’ budget that will be implemented immediately.
Since the approval of the 2009-10 budget in November of 2008, the City’s sales tax revenues have dropped dramatically. Consequently, we have adjusted our estimates for the balance of 2009 and all of 2010. With this reduction in revenues, our ending cash balance is in danger of dipping into negative territory, so we can’t wait until after the proposed November 2009 ballot measure to make service cuts. The cuts must begin immediately.
This is the first of several budget cuts that will be implemented in the next 60 days. Unfortunately, there will be some positions eliminated and some layoffs in the days ahead. I will notify union leadership next week of the areas where cuts will be made.
Cuts will be made to the Police Department, and this school year will be the last for the DARE program that has been a great asset to the youth of our community. We have notified the City of Mountlake Terrace that we will be terminating the animal control services contract we provide them, and it will not be renewed. We are also eliminating the balance of both the Crime Prevention Program and the Police Reserve Program.
The Police Department and Fire Departments will not be participating in Edmonds Night Out this year from a monetary or personnel standpoint.
Approximately $33, 000 has been eliminated from the Economic Development advertising budget.
For many years the City has funded the South County Senior Center programs, and the $60,000 authorized for 2009 will be honored but will not be funded in 2010.
Yost Pool will not open this year. No part-time employees will be hired to work at the pool. No seasonal help will be hired in the Parks Maintenance Department. Existing staff will do their best to keep up, but expect our parks to look less maintained than our citizens are used to, and garbage pickup and restroom cleaning will be more sporadic. Effective at once we will no longer pay for the flower program from the general fund. It will be paid for the balance of 2009 from a donation fund that has been in existence for some time. And the size of the program will be roughly cut in half.
The Mayor also asked the City Council President to eliminate $25,000 from the Council contingency fund.
“The focus of Edmonds city government in these troubled times will be to provide what is necessary to our citizens, not what might be nice to have,” said Mayor Haakenson.
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