Lynnwood mayor proposes 2027-28 budget, announces 14 layoffs

Published 3:03 pm Tuesday, October 13, 2026

EVERETT — Lynnwood Mayor George Hurst announced 14 staff layoffs at a City Council meeting Monday as part of his proposed 2027-28 budget.

While the council will not approve a final budget until November, Hurst said he issued layoff notifications to staff last week. The layoffs include five positions in the development and business services department; four in the finance department; two each in information technology and parks, recreation and cultural arts; and one each in the executive, human resources and public works departments.

In addition, the city eliminated eight vacant positions. In the police department, 7.5 positions will be held vacant for the next two years.

“I don’t want to do that again,” Hurst said, referring to the layoffs. “So I’m committed to be able to make sure that we’re not going to spend more than what the revenue comes in.”

On Sept. 14, Hurst presented a preliminary look at revenues and expenditures for 2027-28, which showed a $21.5 million deficit in the city’s general fund. The budget presented Monday doesn’t show a deficit, but an exactly even amount of revenues and expenditures.

In the past year, the City Council has implemented a 0.1% public safety sales tax, increased its utility tax from 6% to 10% and lifted its retail cannabis ban, which has brought in an estimated combined revenue of about $3.5 million, Hurst said. But that hasn’t been enough revenue, Hurst said Monday.

In July, Hurst announced that the city was facing a general fund gap of $2.2 million more than anticipated. On Monday, he said that the 2026 gap is widening as revenues fall further behind because of inflation and lower-than-expected sales tax.

In addition, the Lynnwood jail’s medical provider, Healthcare Delivery Services, has said that it may not continue providing services to Lynnwood — and four other municipal jails in the state — after the end of the year, resulting in an additional $1 million per year in expenses. Neither the city nor Healthcare Delivery Services responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

Hurst’s proposed budget includes some revenue assumptions, which the council will decide whether to approve by the end of the year. First, it assumes the council will raise property taxes to the full banked capacity, which would bring in about $2.2 million in revenue each year. Each year, state law allows cities to raise property taxes by 1%. If they choose not to raise property taxes, that 1% goes into the city’s “banked capacity.” The increase would result in an additional $128 per year for the average home in Lynnwood valued at $676,300.

On Monday, the council voted to speed up the timeline to vote on the property tax increase. The council is currently set to hold a public hearing Oct. 26 and vote Nov. 9.

When council members asked what would happen if they don’t approve the tax increase, Harrell said it would likely result in more layoffs, as about 70% of the city’s expenditures goes toward staff. The average cost of a staff member is $150,000 between salary, benefits and liability insurance, Harrell said. That would total nearly 30 positions in the next biennium to make up for the city’s banked capacity.

“For every $1.5 million that there is a gap, that is 10 staff positions,” she said. “So, it kind of gives you a rough idea of the math around trying to balance a budget. … We’ve cut some programs, but the majority of running the city is staff.”

The budget also assumes that the council will approve transitioning its school zone speed cameras to 24/7 enforcement and adding two red-light cameras. It was not clear Tuesday how much revenue the expanded program would generate. Per state law, any revenue from the cameras would need to go toward traffic safety. Some council members have expressed concerns about using traffic cameras as a revenue source.

“Do we have credibility to have conversations with the community about traffic cameras and this automation and everything, where they can credibly think we’re doing that because we truly value road safety, or because we’re just needing to plug budget holes, which is what we’ve been doing with the traffic cameras since we put them in?” council member Robert Leutwyler said Monday.

The mayor also proposed moving the arts, cultural and heritage coordinator’s salary to the cumulative reserve art fund to remove an expense from the general fund.

The council will hold a public hearing on the budget Nov. 9. It is scheduled to adopt the budget Nov. 23.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.