Lake Forest Park council directs staff to draft 22¢ levy lid‑lift resolution, defers budget amendment

Lake Forest Park’s City Council gave staff direction on June 11 to prepare a levy lid‑lift resolution that would raise 22 cents per $1,000 assessed value for a proposed 2027–2032 levy period, and held an extended discussion of a proposed 2025–2026 budget amendment that was not adopted that night.

During the budget-strategy discussion, Deputy Mayor introduced a motion directing the administration to draft the levy resolution at the 22‑cent rate and return a formal draft for council consideration at the next meeting. Clerk McLean and Director Vaughn outlined the administrative steps and deadlines: council adoption of a resolution triggers the clerk’s process to solicit pro and con committee filings and the county deadline to place the measure on the November ballot; staff also noted the need to coordinate with the county assessor for revenue estimates and with counsel on the explanatory statement for the voter's pamphlet. The clerk asked that any decision be finalized by early July to meet county timelines for committee notification and pamphlet inclusion.

Separately, Director Vaughn walked through a detailed omnibus budget amendment (Ordinance 261318) that proposed multiple fund trues-ups and transfers: pass-through accounting for a Stride project, increases to general-fund expenditures for SEPA/hearing support and election costs, adjustments to police salary and overtime lines tied to staffing changes, transfers and expenditures from the Traffic Safety Fund (including purchase of a police motorcycle and associated salary allocations), a $500,000 adjustment for lakefront park Phase 2 design in the Strategic Opportunity Fund, capital grant trues-ups, and adjustments in sewer and surface water funds. Vaughn emphasized that some items are pass-throughs rather than city revenue and asked council to waive the three‑touch rule to enact the amendment that evening; several councilmembers requested additional time to review and preferred to return the ordinance on June 25 for further consideration.

Council voted unanimously to direct staff to draft the levy resolution at the 22‑cent rate. The budget amendment was left for further review and will be returned to council at a later meeting.

What’s next: administration will prepare a draft levy resolution for council review at the next meeting, coordinate with the county and the clerk on pro/con committee deadlines and voter's pamphlet language, and re-present the budget amendment after members have had more time to digest details.