Clyde Hill News: Big increases to property taxes likely next year
City reconsiders $779K “shed” remodel; tree code and environmental development restrictions planned
Clyde Hill residents will likely face a significant increase in their property tax bills next year, as both the city and King County pursue multiple new fees and levies.
This week’s newsletter offers residents an overview of these efforts with context from last Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Also below, a brief recap of other news of interest to residents from Tuesday’s meeting, including public feedback pushing back on city plans for a $779,000 “shed” remodel and possible restrictions on property development in certain areas of Clyde Hill to protect environmentally critical areas.
Disclaimer: while I am a council member 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.
Property tax bill increases likely
King County residents will vote on three separate ballot measures that, if enacted, would increase most Clyde Hill residents’ property tax bills by at least $1,500 a year.
The median assessed value of a property in Clyde Hill is over $3 million. Taken together, the planned levies would increase annual property tax bills by approximately $500 per million dollars of assessed value (AV):
The April ballot measure (link) involves funding for King County’s Regional Automated Fingerprint Identification System, with an annual cost of $27.50 per million dollars AV.
The August ballot measure (link) involves funding for King County Parks, with an annual cost of $240 per million dollars AV.
The November ballot measure (link) involves funding for King County and Seattle Medic One/EMS, with an annual cost of $250 per million dollars AV.
Stormwater fee ahead
Separately, city staff have asked the council to approve a new stormwater fee on residents by July or August. Key details and specifics — including the final amount and the plan to communicate to residents — are still being worked out.
Preliminary plans shown at Tuesday night’s city council meeting would increase residents’ property tax bills by at least $600:
In a public comment, resident Wayne Burns suggested that the city’s plans for a stormwater fee are confusing and “not ready for prime time,” and called out the ~$250K of city spending on consultants to develop the plan. (link)
“Levy lid lift” possible
An additional significant property tax increase, or “levy lid lift,” is at the top of the city staff’s list of how to address the city’s budget crisis. Details remain unspecified at this time:
For context, the city’s expenditures have exceeded its revenues every year since 2020.
City reconsidering proposed remodel, and other news from Tuesday’s meeting
City staff will reconsider their $779K proposal (link) to remodel the workshop for the Department of Public Works based on the discussion at Tuesday’s meeting.
Two residents provided public comment — Ed Oeltjen via email (link) and Pat Brzusek in person (link) — pushing back on the proposed remodel.
Mr. Oeltjen’s letter strongly criticized the proposal, calling it “bordering on insanity” and requested elected officials to ask themselves “what makes this necessary considering the city budget problems.”
Ms Brzusek also asked about the “shed” in the context of the city’s budget problems:
“We have been out of control in our budget for too long…. I don't know where we get the concept that we can spend more money than we have. We can’t do that in our homes, in our businesses — it should not be done in our city.”
Tree code
The Planning Commission’s unanimous point of view, according to Commission Chair Mark Kroese, is that the city should develop a tree code and that developing one sooner is better than developing it later.
The city council gave the go-ahead to begin work on a tree code. Some council members provided additional guidance about their concerns for property rights.
“Critical areas” ordinance
City staff presented a draft of a new “Critical Areas Ordinance” (link) to the city council and identified six streams and four wetland areas in Clyde Hill for possible protection:
I asked ChatGPT to summarize the 70 page proposal (link) for residents:
Budget
City staff reported that it is tracking to its budget and does not expect to need a budget amendment this year.
As part of its “Budget Monitoring Report” for the first quarter of 2025, the city provided in-depth reporting on revenue and expenditure misses:
Revenues or expenditures meeting certain criteria are classified as being on a “Watch List” or the more significant “Red Flag List.” (link)
As a status update on the effort to balance the budget, resident Wayne Burns offered a diagram as a “simple summary of where… we landed on the Decision Option packages after the last… meeting” so that the group “can start the next meeting on a unified basis and know where there is work to be done:”
On the budget front, the city set expectations that staff will
“deliver an updated projected budget at the April 17 meeting, one that would include recommendations to reduce, and potentially eliminate the projected 2026 budget deficit.” (link)
Improving communications
Councilmembers Steve Sinwell and Ryan Olson reported back at Tuesday night’s meeting on their efforts to improve city communication with residents.
“We heard our residents say it over and over again: we need to do a better job of communicating,” according to Cm Olson. Back in January, the council agreed that improving communication with residents was an important problem, and the two council members volunteered to take on the issue.
You can watch their update here:
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Dean Hachamovitch