Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson presented his 2013 budget address to the Everett City Council tonight
Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson proposed his 2013 budget to the Everett City Council tonight. In his address the Mayor pointed out a budget gap of 10.6 million dollars between annual revenue and expense forecasts. In order to close that gap Stephanson proposed:
**committing to holding a minimum of 25 vacant positions open throughout the year
**establishing monthly contributions for health benefits for elected officials and appointive employees
**eliminating departmental Maintenance and Operational increases for the 4th year in a row
**making 2010 temporary budget reductions permanent, and requiring departments to further reduce spending in 2012 so that the savings can be used to pre-pay 2013 reserve contributions
**suspending the annual contribution to the LEOFF 1 police and fire pension funds. Even with this action, the City will still be on track to fully fund its LEOFF 1 Pension obligation by the year 2030
Tonight was the 1st public hearing on the budget and no council members had any comment. Next week all department heads will report to the City Council and the following week will be the final public hearing on the 2013 budget.
November 7, 2012
Everett, Everett Government