Sammamish City Council members at a Feb. 8 retreat agreed to direct staff to draft an ordinance to implement a utility tax across city utility providers and asked staff to research formation of a Metropolitan Park District as a longer‑term funding option to address a structural shortfall in the city’s general fund.

“The thing that's most important for us to accomplish today is that we need to have a fundamental and concrete understanding that we have structural imbalance with our budget,” Mayor Karen Howe said at the start of the retreat. City staff and the council’s volunteer Fiscal Sustainability Task Force have concluded the city’s ongoing revenues do not cover ongoing expenses and that the gap must be addressed by a mix of spending reductions and new revenue.

Why it matters: the city has drawn down reserves to cover the deficit and staff projections show the general fund would be in distress if no new revenue is added. At the retreat staff presented recent actions and options: the city has implemented roughly $8.9 million in general‑fund reductions for the budget biennium and staff said a 6% utility tax applied across utilities is the most reliable near‑term revenue option to buy time for a voter‑approved measure.

Task force, consultant and recommendations

Mike Sugg, Supervising Management Analyst in the City Manager’s Office, told the council a consultant and a 10‑member community task force validated the fiscal imbalance and proposed a three‑phase approach: (1) city‑led expenditure reductions (already taken), (2) a councilmanic utility tax, and (3) a voter‑approved funding measure such as a Metropolitan Park District (MPD). Sugg said the task force estimated a 6% tax on utilities could generate on the order of the task force’s modeling (roughly an $11 million annual estimate in staff briefings), but cautioned that is an estimate and actual revenues will be known only after the tax is collected.

“Starting with our current 2025 budget, we are upside down,” Sugg said. Finance staff warned the general‑fund drawdown will continue without a revenue change: staff showed a scenario in which the city’s available fund balance would fall below reserves in the late 2020s if no new revenue is implemented.

Council direction on utility tax, schedule and rebate

At the retreat council members debated whether to set the tax at 6% immediately or phase a smaller rate. After discussion, council members signaled support for moving forward with a citywide utility tax and asked staff to return with ordinance language and outreach. The council recorded majority backing for a tax (council support for implementing a utility tax was unanimous in the retreat discussion), and a narrower majority supported a 6% starting point: staff summary of the retreat recorded 7 council members in favor of developing the tax and a 5–2 split on immediately adopting 6% as the starting rate.

Staff described the mechanics and consumer impact: at 6% applied to total monthly utility charges, a household with about $300 in combined monthly utility bills would pay roughly $18 a month (about $216 a year); higher‑consumption households would pay proportionately more. Staff also warned that many utilities are already raising rates, which will affect bills and interact with the tax receipts.

To reduce burden on lower‑income households staff proposed a low‑barrier rebate tied to existing eligibility programs: Puget Sound (?) assistance (referred to in staff material as “PSC help”) and the King County property‑tax exemption for seniors and people with disabilities. Staff said roughly 800 Sammamish households are currently eligible under those existing programs and that the city could use participation in those programs as verification for a municipal rebate; cities with similar programs generally provide a modest annual rebate (the retreat discussed examples roughly in the $100/year range as a typical model).

Staff laid out a schedule: staff will bring a draft utility‑tax ordinance to the council on Feb. 18, hold public hearings (Feb. 18, continued March 4) and, if council moves forward, adopt implementing legislation after March 18 to make the tax effective Jan. 1, 2026. Staff said outreach to utilities and to the public will begin in advance of the ordinance hearings.

Metropolitan Park District research

The council also unanimously authorized staff to begin a formal study of forming a Metropolitan Park District — a voter‑approved, property‑tax–based district that would provide a dedicated funding stream for parks and recreation programs and capital. Staff characterized the MPD option as the third leg of the fiscal strategy: the utility tax would buy time and the MPD would be a voter decision to deliver longer‑term capacity for parks and related services.

Scott (City Manager) and Mike told the council the MPD work would be a multi‑year effort that includes options analysis, public engagement and board‑structure decisions. Staff used a conservative illustrative scenario (moving roughly $6 million of current general‑fund parks/recreation spending into an MPD) to show how the two revenue moves could improve the long‑term outlook; staff stressed the amount and scope of services included in any MPD would be a future council decision and would require public outreach.

Work plan and level of service

Council members confirmed they want to maintain the current 2025 level of service in public‑facing areas (roads, parks, safety and core services) while addressing the structural deficit. Staff reiterated that the city is a people‑heavy, services‑heavy organization and that adding new work to the adopted two‑year work plan requires either additional resources or removing other items. Council members and staff agreed that, if a council member seeks to add a significant new work‑plan item, staff should be given direction about what would be removed or reprioritized to keep workload and resources balanced.

Public comment and other topics raised

Two preregistered residents spoke during public comment. Mary Wictor urged the council to pursue an in‑city transfer‑of‑development‑rights (TDR) program to concentrate density in town centers and to accelerate code updates for shoreline, septic conversion and the tree ordinance. “We need to have an in city TDR program that aggregates density into town center and neighborhood commercial modes and preserves environmentally critical areas,” Wictor said.

Paul Stickney, a Sammamish resident, pressed the council to address market‑rate housing shortages and cited regional impacts such as increased vehicle trips, loss of tree canopy and pressure on public services.

What the council decided and next steps

- Direction to staff to draft a utility‑tax ordinance and begin public outreach and utility vendor discussions; staff will present the ordinance Feb. 18 and hold hearings through March (staff schedule published at the retreat). Council discussion at the retreat showed a majority in favor of a tax and a majority of council members backing a 6% starting rate, though two council members asked for further revenue modeling before final legislative adoption.

- Staff to implement a low‑income rebate framework tied to existing assistance programs (staff estimated roughly 800 eligible households under current program participation).

- Unanimous direction to staff to research the formation of a Metropolitan Park District and return with options, cost estimates, community outreach plans and recommended timelines (staff said the end‑to‑end work to reach a ballot decision would take roughly two years).

- Council confirmed intent to maintain current 2025 levels of service while pursuing the fiscal strategy; staff reiterated that adding new high‑priority items will require matching reductions or additional resources.

Quotes and attributions

All direct quotes in this article are attributed to speakers who spoke on the record at the retreat: Mayor Karen Howe; Nancy Campbell, retreat facilitator; Mike Sugg, Supervising Management Analyst, City Manager’s Office; Vicki [last name not recorded], Finance Director (identified in the transcript as finance lead); Mary Wictor and Paul Stickney (members of the public). All other factual summaries reflect staff presentations and on‑the‑record council discussion.

Ending — what to watch for

Staff will return with a draft utility‑tax ordinance on Feb. 18, hold hearings in March and implement steps to launch the tax by Jan. 1, 2026 if council adopts the legislation. Staff will begin the MPD study this year and return with options, including what parks and recreation elements could be moved into a district and proposed governance models. The council directed staff to keep citizens informed through multiple outreach channels while preparing the ordinance and the MPD study.

Key documents referenced at the retreat included the Financial Sustainability Task Force report and consultant (Baker Tilly) modeling, the city’s draft fiscal sustainability plan (Nov. 2023 presentation), and MRSC guidance on local tax authority (cited by staff as the basis for what the city can legally impose).