The Des Moines City Council meeting on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 included a heartfelt send-off for the interim city manager, public concerns about a ballot proposition, and a detailed update on the city budget.
The council also grappled with the upcoming expansion of Sea-Tac Airport and the need for resident input, despite the tight deadline.
Public Comments
During public comments, many staff members gathered to give heartfelt thanks to Tim George, who has been serving as interim city manager for the last year. This is his final council meeting in that capacity before the new city manager takes over. George will return to his former role as city attorney. Staff thanked him for serving so effectively, with both humor and efficiency.
One speaker shared that he, like many, voted “No” on Proposition 1 in August only to give himself more time to learn about it, since he knew it would also be on this current ballot. However, he has been dismayed by the inconsistency of information about what exactly the money will fund. He said the city’s website and flyers are saying different things. Later, it was explained that the exact use of the money from Prop 1 cannot be specified accurately, as it will be up to Council. However, the money will all be held in a special public safety fund, and will only be spent in that arena. The list of likely expenditures for Prop 1 money is available at this link.
The Commissioner for King County Water District 54 asked for a delay on the proposed franchise fee for the utility to discuss the impact of the fee. She also addressed misinformation that she said Councilmember Matt Mahoney said about the water district in a previous meeting. She wanted to clarify that three statements he made were misleading and incorrect. Contrary to his claims, she said the pipes downtown were all replaced in 2011 and are not asbestos-lined nor 70 years old; chlorination levels are all proper and sufficient; and that they do have the capacity to meet the needs of both the current use and the planned population increase. She said her statements were all supported by recent outside investigation. Later, the council agreed to delay making a decision on the fee.
Public Input On Airport Expansion Sought By Port Of Seattle
Council was split on whether to create an airport committee in light of the coming expansion of SeaTac. While they all seemed to agree that an airport committee is a great idea in the long term, the city needs to be able to provide feedback to the Port by December 5th. In the end it was agreed that there is just not enough time to get a committee off the ground that would have a meaningful output by that date. Several area cities are asking the Port to extend that deadline through the new year, to give everyone more time to process the information and provide informed feedback.
Instead of a committee, the city will rely on staff and paid experts to make recommendations, and the public can give feedback directly to the Port in multiple ways Information about the airport expansion can be found here. Comments can be submitted directly to the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) website. In addition, interested public can attend one of several meetings, listed on the SAMP website. Finally, emails can be sent directly to samp@portseattle.org. Councilmember Matt Mahoney thought that it would be important for the Port to hear about the ways that living under the flight path affects the daily lives of families in Des Moines.
Budget Presentation
Council heard a very detailed Budget report for the 2025-2026 biennium, by Finance Director Jeff Friend. He explained that this is the first time the city is doing a biennial budget, and it means that there will be less staff time spent budgeting next year since it will only require a review every other year, once the framework is in place.
While many planned and completed cuts have worked to temporarily balance the budget, the longer term forecast does show the city budget back in the red by 2030. As explained in the presentation, costs have been and will continue to rise faster than the city can increase revenue, which leads to inevitable shortfall.
The planned budget will raise the business license fee, expand the utility tax, and move senior services in-house. In addition, they are planning to reduce the Human Services budget, end the contract with Burien CARES for animal control, and continue to freeze empty staff positions. Eliminating the City Currents magazine saves an additional $80,000 per year. If these and other measures are not enough, there could potentially be staff layoffs down the road.
City Manager George added that the budget presentation did not include a potential revenue increase of $600,000 to $800,000 per year from a new Warehouse Tax if that is instituted. Nor does it include any revenue from Proposition 1, so things will change in the public safety sector of the proposed budget if Prop 1 is passed. The budget passed unanimously to a second reading. More info on the budget can be found here.
Mayor’s Minute
Mayor Traci Buxton shared that she has been publishing an informational update each week on the city website. The Mayor’s Minute can be found at this link.
Video
Below is full video of this council meeting:
