Snohomish County planning to spend another $5M on Everett stadium

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, September 9, 2026

EVERETT — Snohomish County is planning to increase its spending commitment for Everett’s proposed downtown stadium project to $10 million, according to a letter from county officials.

The letter, written by Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers and Snohomish County Council member Nate Nehring in July and sent to Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, states that the county plans to use funds from a 2% county tax on hotels and lodging to invest another $5 million into the stadium, known as the Outdoor Event Center. The county had already committed $5 million of real estate excise tax dollars, spread over four years, to the project.

That letter states that the county supports the proposed stadium project and calls the $10 million “a funding commitment,” but the letter itself is not binding, according to county staff. The city still needs to go through a final application process with the county’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. It will also eventually need a stamp of approval from the County Council, which would need to give budget authority to allocate the dollars to the project, according to Kari Bray, a county spokesperson.

Proceeds from the county’s lodging tax are typically invested in projects that boost tourism or economic development in the area. Major projects that the taxes could help fund include convention centers, performance arts facilities or stadiums, per county code.

The idea for the additional funding came from the county executive’s office, Russell Wiita said in an interview Tuesday, and Nehring supported the measure. Wiita is a legislative aide to Nehring, who also chairs the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee.

The committee voted at a June meeting to support an allocation to the stadium project of up to $5 million, subject to the County Council approving that spending, the July 2 letter to Everett’s mayor read.

“We believe this investment will strengthen Snohomish County’s tourism economy, generate additional lodging tax revenues, support local businesses, and create a regional destination that will serve residents and visitors for decades to come,” Nehring and Somers wrote.

In an email sent to Everett City Council members and city staff on Tuesday, Franklin wrote that the county’s investment in the Outdoor Event Center “will not only benefit the businesses and residents of the City of Everett, but also those in surrounding communities of Snohomish County.”

City spokesperson Jason Kelly wrote in an email Tuesday that the increased funding from Snohomish County is one of two funding commitments from external partners that city officials have referenced in recent months. The second external partner has not been disclosed, set to be announced later in September.

The city hopes those outside investors can help close a large gap in funding for the project that emerged after the estimated cost of the stadium rose by about $38 million earlier this year. The city has previously estimated the gap is about $25 million, or around 21% of the project’s estimated $120 million price tag.

Everett started working on studying a new stadium in 2022 after Major League Baseball unveiled new regulations for minor league ballparks that Funko Field — the current home of the Everett AquaSox — didn’t meet. The city studied sites across the city before the city council decided to focus on a downtown location.

If built, the city plans to lease the facility to the AquaSox and two United Soccer League teams, one men’s and one women’s.

Major sources of funding for the proposed stadium include the city itself, which has spent capital dollars and taken out loans to pay for parts of the project, as well as contributions from the state, the Everett AquaSox and United Soccer League. So far, Everett has allocated about $23.2 million to the project, about $16 million of which through loans from its general fund that the city plans to repay via a bond measure.

The city council will only give final approval to the project after a full funding plan to pay for it is completed; that’s still in the works, according to city officials, but is expected to be released by the end of the month.

“Confirmation of this additional funding from the county will now be added to our capital funding plan,” Franklin wrote in the email to council members on Tuesday. “I look forward to bringing you a full OEC financing plan for your consideration soon.”

So far, Everett has purchased six plots of land for the stadium, planned to be built between Pacific Avenue and Hewitt Avenue east of Broadway, at the cost of about $18.1 million. It currently has two condemnation lawsuits in progress with the owners of three properties on the stadium site. The city council is considering approval of an ordinance on Wednesday night that would allow it to file an eminent domain lawsuit against the owners of another property on the site.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.