Lake Stevens council reviews mayor—s proposed 2026 budget, gives staff direction toward public hearings

Finance staff presented the mayor—s proposed 2026 budget and capital improvement program to the Lake Stevens City Council on Nov. 6, outlining project priorities, funding sources and operating-cost assumptions ahead of the public hearing cycle.

Finance Director Barb (last name not provided in the transcript) summarized the 2026-2031 capital improvement program, saying the plan lists 46 projects with roughly $27 million of capital activity slated in 2026 and about $19.4 million rolled forward from prior years. She told the council that many projects are multiyear and that several depend on grant awards. "Some of those are waiting on grant funds," Barb said during the presentation.

Staff singled out transportation, parks, facilities and stormwater as major capital categories. Barb said the Transportation Benefit Program will fund pavement preservation and next phases of 91st Avenue and named North Lakeshore Drive and Soper Hill as projects included in the 2026 TBP budget. She also reported roughly $8 million budgeted for street and sidewalk projects, about $2.3 million for stormwater capital, and about $4.5 million for parks projects, funded largely from park-mitigation fees and real-estate excise tax proceeds.

On funding sources, Barb said grants make up the largest single share of capital resources and noted a Public Works Trust Fund loan on the books; she described changes under a recent state law that increased flexibility between the two local real-estate excise tax accounts, enabling some REIT2 funding to support projects normally financed from REIT1.

On the operating side, Barb said wages and benefits are the largest recurring expense and described cost-of-living and contract assumptions in the mayor—s proposal. She said a 2.44% cost-of-living adjustment is modeled for nonrepresented staff and a 3% increase for commissioned police positions, and she noted placeholders for a market study and other labor negotiations. "We have a balanced budget. We do have a deficit," Barb told the council while explaining the city—s long-range forecast and reserve strategy.

Councilmembers used the workshop to probe staffing and service risks. One councilmember (S9) raised the police force and permitting center as particular concerns, saying, "I get it. We can't hire them fast enough even though we budget them." Director Wright (department director for permitting in the transcript, S10) responded that permitting delays are driven by a temporary staffing shortage (two unfilled positions) and that those roles are actively being recruited for 2026.

Other councilmembers praised staff work and signaled differing comfort levels with the mayor—s proposal. One councilmember (S7) said she would vote in favor of the budget if it came up for a vote now; another (S4) warned the long-run forecast still shows substantial downward pressure and urged further work to avoid relying on reserves. The presiding officer summarized council direction by noting a majority appeared prepared to move ahead with preparing public hearing materials.

Staff said the presentation served as the final budget workshop before the hearings; Barb told the council she would prepare materials for the first public hearing in the coming days. The council then recessed to an executive session on collective bargaining; the presiding officer said no action was expected to follow.

What happens next: staff will finalize and advertise the public hearing packets and the council will take formal votes after the advertised public hearings. The workshop produced direction to proceed toward those hearings but did not include any formal budget vote.