Sammamish is facing difficult decisions with a budget deficit, increasing taxes and poorly planned growth. I’m a retired CFO and former city council member and mayor, and I believe the City needs professional financial leadership now more than ever.
The most important budget item is public safety including funding police, fire, and emergency services. Police, Fire and Emergency Management represent about a third of our operating budget, increasing every year. We need to continue to prioritize the safety of our residents as we grow.
The next largest component is transfers to other funds and a reserve for staff vacancies. This includes the $10,300,000 that was transferred to support a new Town Center street and Town Square. These two controversial budgeted items demonstrate the need for more oversight, having been adopted with clear opposition from residents and the Parks Commission. And that doesn’t include the $728,000 that will have been spent on consulting for the Town Center before the end of 2026.
Without going into each budget category, my approach will be to look for opportunities to reduce or defer expenses while we develop a financial forecast based on reasonable assumptions. I would re-establish the Fiscal Sustainability Taskforce to expand its original work to include expenses and Town Center impacts.
The City has already adopted a 6 percent utility tax which is forecasted to generate about $11 million in annual revenue. And early-stage plans to form a Metropolitan Parks District to manage our parks and recreation is being investigated by City staff. This cannot move forward without voter approval, and I cannot support more taxes without seeing a path to control expenses and create financial stability first.
Sammamish has no outstanding debt. This is a double-edged sword, because we could have borrowed at low interest rates and conserved our cash reserves, giving us much more flexibility in the future. Instead, we spent all of our reserves and now find ourselves without the resources to fund a shortfall.
Future financial decisions need to be based on a realistic long-term financial forecast. Taxes should be increased only as a last resort, especially regressive taxes. I will manage our budget with a steady hand, a sharp pencil and a solid plan.