City of Everett finance staff reviewed a 10-year history of general government full-time equivalents (FTEs) at the Budget & Finance Committee meeting on May 21, 2025, saying the city population rose about 9.6% from 2015 to 2025 while authorized staffing levels were realigned across departments.

Jamie Lee Graves, assistant finance director, walked the committee through department-level trends. Administration staffing peaked in 2017–2018 and was lower in 2025; communications staffing increased when responsibilities moved from the neighborhoods department; community planning and economic development grew, in part because of grant-funded positions such as added social workers and a limited-term comprehensive-plan position.

Presenters highlighted specific changes: a finance reorganization added staff to a tax-and-compliance team that generated over $1,200,000 in 2024 and $618,000 in 2025 through revenue-detection work; engineering and public services staffing rose to improve permitting turnaround times, supported in part by photo-enforcement camera program revenue; municipal court added judicial assistant positions with partial funding from the same camera safety program. The police department added officers in multiple phases tied to COPS grant funding, while civilian support positions in police declined during the decade.

When asked whether the 2025 FTE totals reflected filled positions, staff clarified that the chart showed authorized positions as approved in the original budget, not current filled headcount. Presenters said vacancies are concentrated in the police department and that recruiting challenges — including regional hiring incentives from other jurisdictions — are a limiting factor for filling authorized positions.

Council members asked staff to include explanatory notes behind the slides when posting the presentation, so viewers consulting the uploaded PowerPoint will see context such as transfers of EMS positions and other reclassifications. Staff agreed to add clarifying notes before posting.