City of Everett, WA Facing $10 Million Dollar Budget Gap for 2012

Everett will try to avoid layoffs but "everything's on the table"

Everett’s Chief Financial Officer, Deb Bryant, delivered a warning to the Everett City Council last night that the projections for the 2012 operating budget show a $10 million dollar gap. She said she’s putting out a memo that city department heads will not be able to hire any new full-time employees, not increase current maintenance and operating levels, carry over any surplus to 2012 and not spend it before the end of the budget year and scrutinize all vacancies for attrition. She told me they learned a lesson in forecasting after Boeing’s failure to deliver 787s caused a big shortfall in Everett’s Business and Occupation tax collections during this year’s budget cycle. When asked if there would be layoffs, she said that everything was on the table but it was the city’s priority not to have layoffs happen.