Residents present 'Keep Edmonds Vibrant' poll results; urge $12 million levy lid lift and $9 million in new non‑property revenues

A volunteer group called Keep Edmonds Vibrant presented results from an online civic poll and focus groups to the Edmonds City Council at its May 27 meeting, urging the council to pursue a $12 million levy lid lift and at least $9 million in non‑property revenue measures to address a projected budget shortfall.

The group’s co‑organizer, Adele Safriwe, told the council that the team used two focus groups and the open‑source Polis platform to solicit ideas and that nearly 600 members of the community participated in the online conversation, casting 43,395 votes. “We are on track to reach financial insolvency by 2027, as you can see in this budget,” Safriwe said during the presentation.

Keep Edmonds Vibrant summarized its findings as four sequential goals: define a vision of a ‘‘vibrant Edmonds,’’ estimate the cost of running that city, identify long‑term revenue sources and recommend policy options to the council. The volunteers said their “apples‑to‑apples” comparison with peer cities showed Edmonds’s per‑resident spending lags comparable cities and that full funding of a ‘‘vibrant’’ level of services would cost roughly $65 million in 2025 — about $19…