Yellow Pages
SEDRO-WOOLLEY — The mayor’s goal for 2010 may not sound lofty, but it will be difficult.
“My top objective for 2009 was the same as 2008, economic development,” Mayor Mike Anderson said in his budget message to the City Council. “Unlike 2008 and 2009, the very top objective in my proposed 2010 budget is simple: preservation of core services.”
Like cities across the state and country, Sedro-Woolley is eying a rough 2010.
The 2009 budget was almost $8 million — or 30 percent — bigger than preliminary spending projections for next year. Tonight, the City Council will contemplate the budget as prepared by the mayor and his staff.
“This has been a tough year in Sedro-Woolley,” Anderson’s budget message stated. “With so many people in our community hurting through job losses and reductions, so many storefronts closed and declining revenues for city services, 2009 brought budget cuts at the city and 2010 continues that trend.”
The mayor’s proposed budget would cut the equivalent of almost five full-time positions, not including seasonal workers, according to Anderson’s budget memo. Of those positions, two are in the Police Department, one is in parks and one is in streets. Part-time staffing cuts would also be made in the sewer department and among administrative personnel.
The mayor and City Supervisor Eron Berg could not be reached for comment Wednesday, which was a city holiday. But budget documents state that most of the positions slated to be cut were already eliminated this year or are vacant.
Spending will not decline in the Fire Department next year thanks to the purchase of a new ladder truck and a fire engine — with a grant and loan package from the U.S. Department of Agriculture — and work on a second fire station, which is funded through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant and city funds.
The mayor is asking the City Council not to raise property taxes. Tonight, the mayor is expected to ask the City Council to keep the property tax levy even for 2010 except for the increase that will come from new construction.
Under state law, the city could raise next year’s levy by up to 1 percent, or $17,272, according to a memo from Finance Director Patsy Nelson.
n Elliott Wilson can be reached at 360-416-2147 or at ewilson@skagit publishing.com.
