The Des Moines City Council held a study session on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 to discuss legislative priorities, financial challenges, and likely service reductions.
As the city faces a projected budget deficit, Councilmembers and staff explored strategies to maintain essential services while mitigating costs.
Key topics included the impact of state budget constraints on local funding and the necessity of streamlining operations to ensure long-term financial stability.
Public Comments
This meeting had just one public comment, a representative from the Rotary Club of Des Moines & Normandy Park who asked Council not to increase the cost of facility rentals for the non-profit group. He said the proposed plan would quadruple their rental costs for the annual Blues & Brews festival, and force them to look elsewhere for an affordable location. He said the popular festival brings thousands of newcomers to the city, as well as raising vital funds for the nonprofit Rotary Club.
2025 Legislative Priorities
According to the presentation, this will be a very difficult year to get any support from the state, as Washington is experiencing its own budget shortfall and will be hanging onto every possible dollar.
The city’s legislative priorities include a public safety sales tax, which is supported by several other cities who could also use the extra revenue for public safety. A similar bill did not receive much support in the House last year, but it might be more popular this year as it increases revenue for cities without taking dollars from the state budget. Council amended the item to prioritize behavioral health, which may have more support from state lawmakers.
Another legislative priority is removing the state’s 1% cap on property tax increases, so that local governments can raise a bit more revenue. This idea faces a lot of opposition, however.
Regarding the airport expansion, there are a few asks. The city supports locating a permanent air quality monitor in Des Moines. In addition, they will request an independent study to evaluate the impacts of the planned airport expansion.
Financial Report
Finance Director Jeff Friend reported that the bids for the Marina Steps came in higher than expected, and will be rejected. The ARPA funds that the city allocated to the project must be assigned by the end of the year, so the too-high bids mean ARPA money can no longer be used for the steps. Because of this, the remaining ARPA money will instead be transferred into the city’s general fund. It was explained that the general fund pays for police, the courts, recreation and senior services, parks and building maintenance, and administration.
Budget Workshop
New City Manager Katherine Caffrey presented an overhauled 2025-2026 biennial budget that will help to improve balance and fiscal sustainability. Before her recent changes, the prior proposed budget predicted that city finances would be in the red starting in 2027.
Caffrey said that while many people had asked her to “trim the fat” in the city budget, she found that nearly all the fat had already been trimmed before she was hired in November, and that the city is a very lean organization.
However, she does have plans to further consolidate and cut costs. She warned that while these measures are essential, residents will see a real reduction in services and an increase in response time. There will be no flowers downtown for the next two years, and park maintenance will be kept to a minimum. She said changes will be made to the City Currents magazine that will reduce costs from $80,000 to $60,000 per year. She found that the magazine is too popular and valued by residents to eliminate altogether.
Staff reductions will mostly happen when people quit, the positions left intentionally vacant– including the two ARPA-funded police officer positions. The crime analyst position will expire in April and go unreplaced. Police will absolutely respond to 911 calls, but in order to be available for that, they will do less proactive policing.
The contract with Burien CARES for animal control will be renewed, but at a bare minimum.
She explained that her long term goals are to use one-time funds only for one-time expenses, strengthen existing revenue and grow new revenue sources, and to increase transparency with regular budget town halls and improved website info. She also mentioned that a complete website overhaul would be coming. Next year, Caffrey will work on an aggressive economic development strategy to improve revenue and restore services in the future.
