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Woodinville council adopts property tax levy, budget adjustments and several fee changes
Summary
Council adopted the 2026 property tax levy ordinance, approved mid-biennial budget amendments and first readings for positions and pay ranges; it also approved several fee adjustments including a $5/hour sports-field rental increase and CPI-based permitting fee increases.
Woodinville’s City Council on Nov. 4 completed actions tied to the mid‑biennial budget review, including adoption of the 2026 property tax levy and adjustments to fees and positions.
Finance director Mr. Fritz presented three ordinances: updates to authorized employee positions, pay ranges and benefits (including a 2.7% across‑the‑board wage increase and authorization for up to four engineer FTEs in combination), a 2025–26 budget amendment that adjusts appropriations by fund and a property tax levy ordinance that levies up to $4.1 million for 2026 (staff estimated an actual maximum levy nearer $4,030,000 based on King County figures).
Council adopted Ordinance 797 to levy property taxes for 2026 by recorded unanimous vote, and passed first readings/adopted other budget and positions ordinances as presented. Mr. Fritz also outlined several fee and rate changes: a $5 per hour increase to sports-field rental rates to better align market pricing, a 3% annual adjustment to surface-water management rates, 2.7% CPI adjustments to most permit fees (with a smaller 1.4% increase for preliminary subdivision fees), a proposed $350 fee for construction-hour exemptions (non-noise), and a proposed $182 hourly fire marshal charge in limited circumstances. Staff said most fee changes are intended to move permit-related activity toward cost recovery while keeping general-fund support for parks and capital needs.
Public-works staff briefed council on the status of on-call civil engineering professional services agreements (AECOM, Parametrics, KPFF). Staff said the agreements are extended through December 2027, that task orders control scope and budgets, and that roughly $3.2M–$4M of on-call workload could be available for 2025–26 under current budgets, with a larger list of potential task orders totaling up to roughly $7M in potential projects across funds.
Council approved the levy and related budget motions unanimously. Staff will implement fee schedule updates consistent with adopted ordinances and return with any required follow-up.
