Clyde Hill News: City considers budget deficit options
Also: city council candidate alleges “outright lies/inaccuracies,” and an update on single family housing and state law
The city reviewed options to address its budget deficit at last week’s Budget Advisory Committee meeting. Details on the potential new and increased taxes, and the other options considered, below.
On the election front, allegations by a candidate of “outright lies/inaccuracies/heavily edited emails” on NextDoor resulted in unmet resident requests for evidence. The deadline for residents to return ballots in the city council primary is Tuesday August 1.
Also, an update about state housing and ADUs (accessory dwelling units) from Medina that is relevant to Clyde Hill and other Points Communities.
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Disclaimer: while I am a councilmember on the Clyde Hill City Council, I write this newsletter in my capacity as an individual resident. Any opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the position of the city. City information and references here are from public sources. I welcome email responses — and if the topic is about city business I will respond from my city email account.
Clyde Hill’s budget deficit options
On Tuesday night, city officials walked through over twenty different options to address Clyde Hill’s budget deficit at a meeting of the Budget Advisory Committee. The slides from the meeting are available here (link); the discussion included ideas for reducing expenditures as well establishing new revenues.
Expenditures have exceeded revenues since 2020
This year’s 2023 Clyde Hill city budget has a planned operating deficit of ~$490K. Here’s a screenshot from one of the Tuesday’s slides:
The 2020, 2021, and 2022 budgets also ran deficits, with expenditures exceeding revenue (link).
Council vote in May re future deficits
In May, the five-person city council voted 4-0 that it “will only consider budget proposals for 2024 that eliminate the city’s future operating deficit.” (Cm Ashley Eckel abstained; link).
Actions likely to happen and help
The two most likely options from the discussion involved establishing a new stormwater utility and increasing existing utility taxes. From the slides:
The City may propose increases in Franchise Fees for Water, Sewer or Solid Waste (currently 9%, 9%, 5.5% respectively). Solid Waste Utility Tax could be increased from 4% to 6%.
A stormwater utility has been under discussion for years. While there has been general consensus to establish one, there has been no apparent progress on execution. The slides noted that “The City is pursuing this opportunity.”
Other actions considered
Other options presented appear less likely either to happen or to help address the budget problem. For example:
Leaving the King County Library System. This change would not increase city revenue or decrease city costs.
Deferring equipment replacement. The city’s slides noted “This is not an advisable long-term solution but is a lever we can pull if we need to on a short-term basis.”
Applying for more grants. The city’s slides noted “one-time monies should not be relied on to address ongoing rev[enue]/exp[enditure] imbalances.”
Some residents suggested
reducing the number of police officers, while
charging Yarrow Point more for police services, while
negotiating down what Clyde Hill pays Bellevue for Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
Other factors outside the city’s control have helped in addressing the deficit. For example, interest rate increases have resulted in more city investment revenue.
Considering the larger budget problem, Clyde Hill’s finance staff recommended raising the city’s taxes by more than 1%. They wrote that a larger tax increase is
the best long-term solution to the challenges of revenue shortfalls. Tax increases are generally politically unpopular and would require a vote from the citizens….
Candidate allegations
Last week on NextDoor, a resident posted a claim on behalf of candidate Ashley Eckel, alleging that an unnamed blog
“posted outright lies/inaccuracies/heavily edited emails…. those behind it edited and deleted the parts where I actually discussed important topics (like storm water, our budget, and city code).”
Repeated requests from another resident on NextDoor for specifics about the alleged lies and edits brought no examples and resulted only in suggestions to call the candidate directly.
For context, three residents are currently in a primary race for city council position 2. The two candidates with the most votes in the primary will advance to the general election in November. The deadline for residents to return ballots in the city council primary is Tuesday August 1.
The unnamed blog appears to refer to last week’s newsletter, here (link).
Steve Sinwell, another candidate for city council, noted that his answers were faithfully represented by the blog; for readers not on NextDoor, here is the comment stream:
The third candidate, who is not on NextDoor, commented on his campaign site:
A good friend of mine from Tennessee used to say, “we don't hide our crazy people in the South, we celebrate them.” Let’s all take a minute to celebrate one person coalitions, alternate facts, and free speech.
Brandolini’s revenge
I’ve referred to Brandolini’s law (link) here before; the gist involves how much more work is involved in debunking misinformation than it takes to create the bunk to begin with.
I checked with the resident who originally asked the candidates questions. He confirms that he did not edit or delete the candidate responses he sent out. This newsletter included the material that resident sent out. I have no other specifics on the candidate’s claims of inaccuracies or edits.
Misinformation in a local election is disappointing and at the same time is not novel here in Clyde Hill (link and link).
Ballot deadline: August 1
Last week, I wrote about how residents are asking local candidates questions directly (link) and shared some of the results. The intent was to point out that candidates are available to residents and to encourage engagement.
Some readers found it helpful while other residents suggested that just linking to candidates’ websites was sufficient. (Excerpt from one email: “Honestly I could care less what Mr. Andonian or Mr. Nurse think.”) I respect the feedback; my goal here is a useful newsletter with information for consideration (for example, the next section on state housing law) so that readers can draw their own conclusions.
As of this morning, King County Elections showed about ~19% of Clyde Hill ballots returned:
Update on Accessory Dwelling Units
Medina’s Summer 2023 newsletter (link) included a clear overview of new state laws about housing. The material is relevant to Clyde Hill and other Points Communities residents, so I’m including it here for convenience:
The new laws also require cities and towns to permit multifamily housing (like townhomes, duplexes, or cottage housing) anywhere that single-family housing is permitted. From Medina’s newsletter:
In terms of when local laws need to change, Medina and Clyde Hill are on the same timeline.
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Dean Hachamovitch