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2023-11-20 Special MeetingEDMONDS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING APPROVED MINUTES November 20, 2023 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Neil Tibbott, Mayor Pro Tern Vivian Olson, Council President Pro Tern Will Chen, Councilmember Susan Paine, Councilmember Dave Teitzel, Councilmember Jenna Nand, Councilmember ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember Mike Nelson, Mayor 1. CALL TO ORDER/FLAG SALUTE STAFF PRESENT Dave Turley, Administrative Services Director Dave Rohde, GIS Analysis Angela Tinker, City Attorney's Office Scott Passey, City Clerk Jerrie Bevington, Camera Operator The Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by Mayor Pro Tern Tibbott in the Council Chambers, 250 5t' Avenue North, Edmonds, and virtually. The meeting was opened with the flag salute. 2. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Council President Pro Tern Olson read the City Council Land Acknowledge Statement: "We acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Sdohobsh (Snohomish) people and their successors the Tulalip Tribes, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water." 3. ROLL CALL City Clerk Scott Passey called the roll. All elected officials were present with the exception of Councilmember Buckshnis and Mayor Nelson. 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER NAND, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 5. RECEIVED FOR FILING Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 1 MEMO TO COUNCIL 6. AUDIENCE COMMENTS Carl Zapora, Edmonds, former member of the salary commission, said he has been the CEO of multimillion -dollar nonprofits, a governmental entity with over $100 million in assets and two small businesses. He mentioned his background because the City is clearly in a budget crisis and he wanted to speak to that. It appears the City will have a deficit of $10-15 million without the use of one-time funds; one-time funds are not a good way to balance a budget as it digs a hole in a spiral that is often very difficult to get out of. He encouraged the council to freeze all non -essential expenditures, a prudent thing to do to reverse the curve. He did not believe the problem could be solved with just additional revenue which means raising taxes. In light of the City facing very sizeable funding and deficit challenges, he also encouraged the council to consider a 14-month moratorium on new programs. He clarified his comments were his own and not those of any organization. By freezing non -essential expenditures and having a moratorium on new programs, he asked all entities of the City's government to be laser focused on getting the budget balanced including the administration, the mayor, city council, all department heads and all staff by reducing expenses where possible and holding off on new expenditures and new programs. He encouraged the city council to make great use of citizens in the community; there are many residents willing to volunteer, himself included, as the council looks for ways to work through this budget challenge. Nora Carlson, Edmonds, urged the council to ensure community safety is fully addressed in the budget. She has frequently spoken to council about ongoing issues of speeding in various areas of the community, including her neighborhood near Westgate Elementary. This includes drivers rushing through stop signs and signals. There have been numerous near misses with vehicles and pedestrian and recent injury accidents involving pedestrians. These issues need to be addressed to effectively ensure public safety to avoid a memorial intersection due to a future fatality. With the installation and upcoming activation of the school zone safety cameras near the intersection of 96t' & 220t1i, a dangerous intersection near Westgate Elementary, she was confident drivers would slow down and abide by the posted speed limit to ultimately keep pedestrians safe. When she has observed the end of school day crossing at the intersection, crossing guards do their best with the supplies provided to offer safe crossing for children and adults. At times she has witnessed an Edmonds motorcycle police officer pulling over and ticketing speeding drivers. Due to the urgent need for additional police officers in the Edmonds Police Department, this approach is not sustainable. To effectively provide for the safety of all Edmonds residents, she hoped the council would be united in their budgetary decisions to wisely utilize available funding. Lora Hein, Edmonds, referred to the memo in the packet signed by directors and urged the council to consider what the City's capable staff said. City staff is charged with carrying out council direction and have done an admirable job during trying and difficult times and their recommendations deserve the council's serious consideration. Jim Ogonowski, Edmonds, referred to the budgetary process and the lack of transparency that is becoming prevalent in the process. For example, the September financial report should have been available to citizens for review prior to this meeting, either posted on the administrative services website or at least in the packet particularly since the quarterly report is included. Likewise, he questioned why the staff proposed changes to the 2024 budget were not included in the packet for review and comment prior to tonight's meeting. Those are two examples of a recuring theme at council meetings, lack of foresight for the public to be involved in the conversation. He took the suggestions in the memo from staff as an insult, in essence their recommendation is to work with staff outlining a collaborative process beginning in the first quarter of 2024. He questioned why wait until the first quarter of 2024 and recommended using a collaborative process now. The problem exists now and the letter is indicative of the lack of coordination and cooperation between the council and the administration. As he stated in an earlier public comment, the City has a real problem. The memo refers to spending cuts already made by council, however, the only thing the council has done Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 2 is decline two new hires. He was bothered by the memo from staff and suggested it should bother council as well. Finis Tupper, Edmonds, spoke in favor of the school zone safety cameras, commenting he was involved in an accident on 220' at 96t' where he was not at fault although it was not during school hours. Standing at a bus stop near Edmonds-Woodway High School during the snow last November, he found the driving appalling. The resolution regarding school zone cameras was adopted in February and council was told earlier it would start in December which has been updated to January. He questioned why it took so long to implement that program, suggesting it should have been activated with the start of the school year. That demonstrated the lack of priority until there is a budget crisis and then all of sudden the council is asked to reconsider their vote opposing red light cameras. He did not think staff was listening to citizens and hoped the council would represent the citizens. He wished all a Happy Thanksgiving. 7. COUNCIL BUSINESS 2024 BUDGET STAFF PROPOSED CHANGES Mayor Pro Tem Tibbott announced this item had been removed from the agenda and postponed to a later date. 2. COUNCIL 2024 BUDGET DELIBERATIONS Mayor Pro Tern Tibbott suggested starting with decision package in the proposed budget. He advised the council will consider amendments proposed by Councilmember Buckshnis when she is present. Councilmember Teitzel advised this is a new item related to Olympic Beach Park Restroom at the fishing pier (CIP/CFP R7). On November 6, 2023 the council approved moving funding from 2025 to 2024 where it was originally. This amendment memorializes moving funds into the 2024 budget. COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEM OLSON, TO APPROVE ADVANCING $20,000 IN FUNDING FROM 2025 BACK INTO 2024 FOR THE OLYMPIC BEACH PARK RESTROOM. Councilmember Teitzel provided the following rationale for this amendment: This item relates to CIP/CFP item R7 regarding renovation of the Olympic Beach Park restroom (this is the restroom at the Fishing Pier). This item was previously in the CIP/CFP to commence work in 2024, but was moved back to commence in 2025 in the proposed CIP/CFP. This work Is needed now, as this restroom is heavily used by waterfront visitors and fishing pier users. According to Parks Director Feser, the work was delayed so it could be coordinated with needed roof repairs at the restroom. But in further discussions with Council, it appears that coordination can still be accomplished if this project is moved forward into 2024. Funding source is REET 2 revenue. Councilmember Paine said she was leery about moving anything into 2024 until it is clear there are enough resources in the 2024 budget so she will not support motion. Councilmember Nand spoke in favor of the motion. Public restrooms are a dire matter of public safety and cleanliness. For the first time during the pandemic, she saw human waste on sidewalks in Edmonds, mostly in the area where she lives, the Highway 99 community. If staff, the Port and the parks director who frequently interface with the public say this is necessary, she supported moving it to 2024. Councilmember Teitzel reminded the council already approved this on November 6, 2023 as part of deliberation on the CIP/CFP. This is simply a housekeeping item to ensure it is included in the 2024 budget. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 3 Council President Pro Tem Olson expressed her support for the motion. In that prior meeting it seemed like REET funds were available to fund that work and with job order contracting (JOC), it was possible to move it into the prior year. She appreciate her council colleagues being very conservative and the comment that was made. Councilmember Chen expressed support for the proposal because REET funds are separate from the General Fund and as Councilmember Nand said, this is related to public safety and is very important. MOTION CARRIED (5-1), COUNCILMEMBER PAINE VOTING NO. Councilmember Chen referred to his proposed new decision package on packet page 9, 2024 Overall Expenditure Reduction Cut of $4 million. In looking at September's financial results, the General Fund is down to $2 million; the requirement is $8.9 million so the City is already dipping $7 million into the reserve and there are three months of expenditures ahead, primarily payroll and benefits. COUNCILMEMBER CHEN MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL, TO PROPOSE AN OVERALL EXPENDITURE CUT IN THE 2024 BUDGET BY $4 MILLION. Angela Tinker, City Attorney's Office, said City Attorney Jeff Taraday would like this decision package to be deferred until tomorrow when he can be present to comment on it. Observing this was an important conversation to have, Mayor Pro Tem Tibbott suggested Councilmember Chen complete his explanation and then determine if there was additional action the council wanted to take. Councilmember Chen recommended the council have a conversation about this. Based on the financial reports, the City is nine months into the year and $7 million into the reserve. With three months remaining, he estimated the City may have to dip into the contingency reserve by year end. There are one-time funds that can be moved to plug the hole for the time being, but that would not address the root cause and the council needs to look into cutting some nonessential expenditures. The council needs to show the citizens they are doing what they can to control expenditures before proposing a tax increase. Councilmember Nand thanked Councilmember Chen for the motion, commenting it is an important discussion to have. However, there are key players missing tonight, not only the city attorney but also Mayor Nelson and Councilmember Buckshnis. Approving such as motion would signal to staff that a majority of council is asking them to make significant cuts to the 2024 budget. It would make more sense to give the department directors a chance to respond and for council to review their proposed revisions tomorrow. She was hopeful Councilmember Chen would consider that this would be a more impactful vote to take tomorrow. Council President Pro Tem Olson said one of the issues the city attorney may advise the council on tomorrow is with regard to this motion being executable so she agreed with the idea of waiting until Mr. Taraday was present. She reminded the hole in the reserves cannot be plugged with ARPA funds, there is an express prohibition on the use of those funds for that purpose. They can be used for a direct expense in the General Fund, but not to restore reserves. Conceptually, she was in favor of the motion, whether it was across the board, noting council will be considering how its budget can be reduced such as decreasing training, equipment, etc. The concept is appropriate and she was sure council could work collaboratively with staff to find places to make cuts whether that was in professional services or in other areas. Councilmember Paine said she was in favor of having this discussion later after hearing from everyone. It is council's job, not the administration's, to make strategic decisions. She wanted to ensure the council had Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 4 adequate time and information provided by the professionals who work for the City. She was in favor of delaying this to a future date. Councilmember Teitzel spoke in favor of this approach, because it was not prescriptive and instead sets a target that could be achieved by the administration; the administration could be asked the best way to achieve this. As Council President Pro Tem Olson said, council could come up with budget amendments to cut professional services by a certain amount such as 50%, a broad gauge approach without the knowledge of why staff needs those services. He preferred to let staff identify where reductions could happen to make this work. He reminded the council recently took action to increase revenue by raising property taxes the maximum amount allowed by law and so the council needs to show the citizens they are doing everything possible to tighten their belts to make the numbers work. Councilmember Chen commented due to the situation, it was good to bring this forward for discussion. COUNCILMEMBER CHEN WITHDREW MOTION UNTIL TOMORROW WHEN ALL THE ELECTED OFFICIALS AND CITY ATTORNEY ARE PRESENT. THE SECONDER AGREED. COUNCILMEMBER CHEN MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER NAND, TO INCLUDE $2M FROM ARPA FUNDS TO POTENTIALLY BUY THE 7-ELEVEN SITE ON HIGHWAY 99 AT 8101 238TH STREET SW. Councilmember Chen commented the majority of crimes experienced in the City occur on Highway 99. The 7-Eleven site has been closed for 2+ years due to crime. The site is very visible, located on Highway 99 across the street from the Safeway which the police department reports has the highest theft, shoplifting in the county. It is a wise investment. In 2023 the council included $70,000 in the budget to search for a potential police substation site on Highway 99. He invited Public Works Director Oscar Antillon to provide update on that search; Mr. Antillon was not present. Councilmember Nand said it is a common misconception that the former 7-Eleven site where Nagendiram Kandasamy was murdered is not being utilized; it is used as an office at this time. She suggested this may be premature and it would make more sense to allocate funds for the Longbay contract to inquire whether the property owner is interested in selling before the council approves a budget amendment authorizing the purchase. Council President Pro Tem Olson said this issue has been on her radar for a long time and she has been concerned about having the necessary public safety presence in the Highway 99 neighborhoods and corridor. She relayed her objections to acting at this time, noting some of the issues mentioned were not on her list of objections. The study of locations has not been concluded and it would premature to take action on a site without considering others that have been identified. In addition to asking about a police department annex, that study was to consider moving the entire police station. As she has delved further into this issue, that is the better answer, moving the entire station somewhere central or in the 76t1i/Hwy 99 area. Doing that might free up facilities that could be sold and further assist with the budget crisis. As a short term solution, the city hall annex that the council funded a few years ago could be better utilized for the police. She recalled a second remodel to make the space more police friendly and add barriers between the court and police rooms. The City needs to get by with existing assets and resources at that site. At the Landmark community engagement events, there have been discussions about a police substation that would have training facilities and meeting rooms which was not what she envisioned. She was unsure everyone was on same page about what a police substation would be. It is one of her priorities and she was grateful it was a priority for the entire council. Councilmember Paine said she would like to see the analysis from law enforcement and the study being done regarding possible sites. That will be critical for making decisions about law enforcement services Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 5 along the on corridor and throughout Edmonds. She would not support the motion now, and looked forward to receiving the study. Councilmember Chen said everyone prioritizes safety, but without action, nothing gets done. There was $70,000 budgeted in 2023 for a site search, but the council has not had a formal report from the team conducting the search. If councilmembers say they prioritize public safety but do not take action, he questioned how they could say they prioritized public safety. COUNCILMEMBER NAND MOVED TO AMEND TO ALLOCATE $50,0000 TO LONGBAY, THE CONSULTANT DIRECTOR FESER HAS SUCCESSFULLY WORKED WITH, TO INQUIRE ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF THE FORMER 7-ELEVEN SITE. MOTION DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND. Councilmember Teitzel said he loved this idea, agreeing a more visible presence on the corridor, which is a high crime area, was needed. However, it may be premature because availability of the property and the owner's interest in leasing versus selling the property has not been investigated. He suggested investigating those issues and having this come back as midyear budget amendment in 2024 after the council has those answers . Councilmember Chen said based on a public source, the site is available for sale which is why he wanted to hear the report from the team working on the search. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION FAILED (2-4), COUNCILMEMBERS CHEN AND NAND VOTING YES; COUNCILMEMBERS TEITZEL AND PAINE, COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEM OLSON, AND MAYOR PRO TEM TIBBOTT VOTING NO. Councilmember Nand withdrew her proposal for small business support grants until staff presents their proposed adjustment to the budget on the excellent suggestion from Council President Pro Tem Olson to reduce the amount of ARPA by $250,000, $6.5 million to $6.25 million and hold that money until the end of the budget process and see if it would be feasible to distribute those funds to the community in the form of small business grants. Councilmember Nand began to address the memo from directors. Councilmember Paine raised a point of order regarding whether that was appropriate as it was not part of the agenda. Mayor Pro Tem Tibbott advised that was not related to deliberations on decision packages and suggested Councilmember Nand address that during council comments tomorrow night. COUNCILMEMBER PAINE MOVED TO ADJOURN. MOTION FAILED FOR LACK OF A SECOND. Councilmember Chen asked if the council preferred to discuss 2025 and out years at a later time or discuss those budget amendments now. Mayor Pro Tem Tibbott advised he was amenable to discussing those tonight. Councilmember Chen referred to a proposed new decision package, Labor Expenditure Inflation Factors of 7% in 2025,6% in 2026, 5% in 2027 and 5% in 2028 should be replaced with 4% assumption for each year. (Strategic Outlook, 2024 Proposed Budget, pg. 16) COUNCILMEMBER CHEN MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEM OLSON, TO APPROVE A NEW DECISION PACKAGE, LABOR EXPENDITURE INFLATION FACTORS OF 7% IN 2025, 6% IN 2026, 5% IN 2027 AND 5% IN 2028 SHOULD BE REPLACED WITH 4% ASSUMPTION FOR EACH YEAR. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 6 Councilmember Chen explained staff s assumption of labor expenditure inflation rates is documented in the proposed 2024 budget and outyears, 7% in 2025, 6% in 2026, 5% in 2027, and 5% in 2028. He believed these inflation assumption were overly conservative; the federal inflation rate is 2.2%-4% which is why he selected 4%, a conservative approach and a more reasonable outlook for 2025-2028. Council President Pro Tem Olson said she had a similar decision package that she pulled because it was more complicated to execute. Her decision package was the high end of the federal reserve rate for each of those years plus 1% which is also a conservative approach based on federal reserve forecasts. The percentages she calculated were somewhat similar to the numbers Councilmember Chen has in his decision package but his approach would be easier to implement. Councilmember Nand commented given the way the City has been unexpectedly smacked by inflation this year, it would be better to assume labor will more expensive and be wrong and have some wiggle room in the budget rather than being too conservative. National averages for labor are one thing, Edmonds is within driving distance of Amazon, Boeing and some of the strongest, wealthiest companies in the world and the local labor market is quite different than the national average. She did not support the motion. Councilmember Paine said she forwarded to council HR Director Neill Hoyson response to an email she sent earlier this evening with details about the labor contracts that have already been negotiated and when she expects to have the EPOA mediation and binding arbitration completed. The percentages for out years are based on existing contracts. She agreed with being super conservative and if there is money left over in 2024, amendments/adjustments can be made then. Councilmember Teitzel found this a reasonable approach. Inflation is easing and interest rates are falling and a period of normalcy can be expected. He was supportive of the proposed approach. Council President Pro Tern Olson said good points have been made by council and by staff for the more conservative approach. The council is trying to gauge how to operate and make decisions in the future and it seemed like the high end of the federal reserve forecast plus 1 % was already conservative and was about the same as the numbers proposed by Councilmember Chen. She said this is similar to the approach of assuming there are some vacancies, but not being so overly conservative that good decisions are not made in the budget. She acknowledged it was a balancing act. Councilmember Paine pointed out when talking about percentages, it is important to remember these are staff providing services to community. She did not support the motion as she wanted to be conservative to ensure funds were available to pay staff. Councilmember Chen pointed out when the council adopted the 2023 budget, the inflation rate was 1% which clearly was not enough to keep up with true inflation rates in 2023. Things are slowing now and the feds have adjusts interest rates up so inflation is going down. The fed is also continuing to monitor national inflation rates. Going from 1% to 7% swings from one extreme to another; 4% is reasonable given the economy and federal predictions. Mayor Pro Tern Tibbott reminded these are projections and not the actual budget. Councilmember Nand commented she and Councilmember Chen are both small business owners; he has employees, she does not. Everyone understands how incredibly expensive it can be administratively and logistically to add employees so she preferred a higher range of 5%-7% to give wiggle room for things like a step up, progressions, etc. Jurisdictions are conducting national searches to find people to fill niche roles. She preferred for example when the community asks the council to hire a FTE like the climate action Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 7 manager, the council has a better understanding of the budget allocation. She preferred to retain the 7% and hopefully be too conservative and having extra money at the end of the budget cycle. Mayor Pro Tem Tibbott asked Administrative Services Director Dave Turley if he wanted to comment. Mr. Turley said he had nothing specific to add, this is not a 2024 budget amendment, it is related to the strategic outlook and future estimates. He acknowledged the difficulty the council was having coming up with estimates; the council asked him for estimates for 2023 and he has done the best he can, but it is not as easy as looks. Mayor Pro Tem Tibbott asked how the projections relate to budget planning for 2024. Mr. Turley answered estimates for 2023 result in an estimated ending funding balance for 2023 that becomes the beginning fund balance for 2024. Revenues and expenses are budgeted which results in an ending fund balance for 2024 so looking at future years might impact decisions the council makes in the 2024 budget. If the future looks good, the council may be less conservative in the 2024 budget. He was confused with the motion to change the labor percentage estimates, as the explanation refers to labor and benefits. Absent clarification, if he were to implement this, he would not be sure whether it applied only to labor or to labor and benefits. As soon as changes like hiring freezes or eliminating positions are made, that has a big impact on the future which throws off the estimates. As soon as an estimate for future years is calculated, he feared council would approve another amendment to the budget that would change it again. He suggested the council focus on the 2024 budget numbers. Although it is nice to look into the future, that is not what he came to talk about; he came to talk about the 2024 budget. Mayor Pro Tem Tibbott found it difficult to support the motion because it is related to an out year and something the council can revisit in the future. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION FAILED (3-3), COUNCILMEMBERS TEITZEL AND CHEN AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEM OLSON VOTING YES; MAYOR PRO TEM TIBBOTT AND COUNCILMEMBERS PAINE AND NAND VOTING NO. COUNCILMEMBER CHEN MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL, TO REMOVE ANNEXATION INTO RFA FROM 2025 AND THE OUT YEARS. Councilmember Chen explained in the proposed budget for 2025 and out years, the expenditure for contract services for South County Fire (SCF) has been entirely removed. That assumes the City will join the RFA, but the council has not done its due diligence about the best option for sourcing fire services. The City could contract with a different service provider, start its own fire department, continue to contract with SCF, or join the RFA. Including the assumption that the City will join the RFA in the budget before those studies have been done is premature. He recommended removing that assumption and allowing the council to do their due diligence. Councilmember Paine commented the administration has not heard anything as a result of the resolution presented to SCF and agreed it was premature to make this decision. The City of Edmonds was on SCF's November 14 agenda, but the minutes and video are not yet available to the public. She preferred to put this off until more information was available from SCF. The City of Edmonds is also on SFC's November 21 agenda. COUNCILMEMBER PAINE MOVED TO POSTPONE TO DECEMBER 5. MOTION FAILED FOR LACK OF A SECOND. Councilmember Nand said the question she has been asking about the RFA in various meetings with SCF, administration and council is if Edmonds voters chose to annex into the RFA and submit themselves to a new taxing authority, will the City reduce property taxes commensurately or will the City retain it. That Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 8 will be a very complex, high profile and nuanced discussion that the incoming administration and the council will need to have in conjunction with town halls and opportunity for comment from the public. Councilmember Teitzel expressed support for the motion because it is premature to presume the City will be annexed into the RFA by 2025 as that would require the ballot measure go to the voters in early 2024. There is a lot of analysis that needs to be done to determine benefits and risks to residents of making that move. There will be a lot of analysis in 2024 by the new council, work that needs to be done before decisions are made regarding annexing into the RFA. Council President Pro Tem Olson agreed with Councilmember Teitzel, regardless of what needs to happen between now and when decisions are made, it is premature to make an assumption that it will happen in 2025. That may certainly be the council's decision in the end, but that decision is unlikely to occur in 2025 because too much needs to be done between now and then. She agreed with changing this assumption so plans can be made for paying the bills in 2025 which will be right on the heels of 2024 and it is important not to assume that expenditure will no longer occur. To continue funding operations, either the council will have to ask the voters for more taxes or when the City joins the RFA, keep the money that is currently expended on fire services. There will be a lot more information provided to the public including transparency regarding how funds are spent so the public can feel confident there aren't additional cuts that should be made. Councilmember Chen said he was not opposed to joining the RFA. SCF has provided excellent service. His proposal is to provide time to do the work and reach a decision that is transparent to the residents who will end up picking up the bill via a SCF expense on their property tax bill. Residents need information, answers to their questions such as whether the City will keep or refund EMS and property tax revenue, etc. All that information needs to be transparent to residents. Assuming the City will join the RFA and removing the expenditure in 2025 before any communication has occurred is premature. Councilmember Nand was troubled the council passed a resolution to begin the process of information gathering from the RFA, but those discussions has not yet begun. She wondered what the impact would be of removing this from the budget assumptions and whether it would signal to the RFA that the City does not plan to pursue annexation and be unable to have those discussions with the RFA. She supported getting as much information from the RFA about impacts to the community, taxpayers and property owners. She was opposed to the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Tibbott reminded the motion is to remove this as an assumption for 2025 and does not preclude further discussion on the matter. MOTION CARRIED (4-2), COUNCILMEMBERS PAINE AND NAND VOTING NO. 8. ADJOURNMENT COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PAINE, TO ADJOURN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The Council meeting was adjourned at 5:39 p.m. 5;$�7 SCOTT PASSE , CLERK Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 20, 2023 Page 9