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Mukilteo budget director outlines 2027–28 goals: fire department review, waterfront focus and ARPA exhaustion
Summary
Director Nunez presented Mukilteo’s 2027–28 biennial budget calendar and goals, highlighting a planned evaluation of the fire department (city operation vs. regional fire authority), waterfront development priorities, and that the city has expended its ARPA allocation ($5,991,000).
Director Nunez presented Mukilteo’s calendar and high‑level priorities for the 2027–28 biennial budget at the May 11 work session.
Nunez walked the council through fund types and legal restrictions, noting that the general fund has the greatest flexibility while many special revenue and proprietary funds are restricted by state rules. She said the council’s retreat goals — particularly a complete evaluation of the fire department (to weigh joining a regional fire authority or maintaining a city‑run department) and waterfront development — will guide multi‑year planning.
Nunez told the council that American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the city must be expended by the end of the federal deadline and that Mukilteo has already expended the $5,991,000 it received. "We spent every penny," she said in response to a council question about whether ARPA funds remained. Nunez also noted that the successful passage of the EMS levy reduces the general fund transfer to EMS operations.
She described other budget mechanics to the council: proprietary enterprise funds operate as self‑sustaining business units, internal service funds cover technology and equipment replacement, and transfers across certain fund types are restricted. The director flagged that the biennial process forces long‑term planning for projects expected to extend beyond a single year.
Council members asked about the new financial software implementation; Nunez said the city began implementation April 1, paused for rework, and had restarted reimplementation on the previous Wednesday in order to go live on the vendor’s revised timeline. She closed by noting the long‑range financial planning committee’s modeling and that a refresh of numbers will be provided before the end of June.
The presentation provided policy direction rather than final budget decisions; the city will continue department‑level conversations and return to council with specific asks and details later in the budget process.
