LYNNWOOD, Wash. — A growing number of cities in our state are facing budget deficits.
The mayor of Lynnwood is now warning his city’s deficit is more significant than previously reported, even though Lynnwood has the highest sales tax in the state at 10.7%
Lynnwood Mayor George Hurst says his staff has reassessed the budget, and its new projection found that if the city continues spending at the current rate, “Really we’re looking at a 2.2 million dollar deficit, where we thought we had zeroed things out.”
Eating away at the current budget is continued inflation and the Iran war, which has increased fuel prices. Both have prompted consumers to spend less, so the city is collecting less sales tax revenue.
Hurst says the city relies too heavily on its sales tax, which he’s working to change, and he’s told city departments to cut back.
Lynnwood isn’t the only city facing a deficit.
“The problem’s very widespread,” said Candice Bock, Government Relations Director for the Association of Washington Cities.
“It does have to do with the structure and how we fund cities, local governments in Washington- our overall tax structure in this state.”
Bock explained that cities rely on sales, business and utility taxes, but those can be volatile. Cities also depend on property taxes, but property tax increases are limited by the state.
Mayor Hurst says he’s confident the city can make changes to balance the budget. “We really believe by just looking at some of the expenses that we normally have in the course of business- we can cut those, and we’ll be OK,” Hurst said.
Long-term, Bock says lawmakers need to figure out how to fund cities in a more stable way.
“It is about providing key services like police and fire, parks, street maintenance, filling potholes; it’s kind of the basic services that residents are counting on,” Brock said.