EDMONDS — Mayor Mike Cooper has declined to sign the 2011 budget passed by the Edmonds City Council 6-1 on Dec. 21. The budget will become valid Friday without the mayor’s signature.
It is some of the City Council’s amendments to the mayor’s budget that have given him pause, Cooper said.
“I am concerned with the effects these amendments will have on the ending general fund balance, especially in this delicate economy,” Cooper wrote in a memo this week to council members.
He urged working together to find long-term funding solutions for the city.
While Cooper has particularly pointed to amendments to spend $50,000 to hire a compensation consultant and another to put $35,500 into the Park Trust Fund for the flower program as sticking points, it was the more than 20 percent reduction of the city attorney’s budget that he called out in his memo.
This move simply artificially lowers costs, according to Cooper. He pointed out that the city’s legal expenses have risen 15 percent annually since 2008, a trend he believes will continue.
“While I support collaboratively looking for ways to control costs, to do so without a plan of action is, in my view, not a responsible decision and gives a flawed impression when (the public) looks at the ending balance,” Cooper said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
