REPORTER
Mercer Island
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
Islanders had their say Nov. 6
A festival of colors, too
Holiday Calendar Check the Reporter 2012 Holiday Calendar on page 18 for special Island events. The Reporter will update this page each week to reflect festive holiday happenings throughout December. If you wish your holiday event to be included, email Rebecca Mar at rmar@mi-reporter.com.
More than 86 percent voted in general election
Special School Board meeting Monday, Dec. 10
See Lisa Katsman’s latest On Food column on page 20 this week for Hanukkah recpies featuring potato latkes and sufganiots. For more on the holiday, which starts on Saturday, Dec. 8, see page 12.
Lights, chili and Santa this Saturday As if you did not know it by now, the Mercer Island firefighters will be holding their annual Firehouse Munch at the North end firehouse. The Munch, at 7 p.m., is immediately after the Christmas tree lighting at Mercerdale Park. There will be music, lights, treats, Santa and more — bring a donation of nonperishable food and an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. See more on Page 18.
City budget is sign of the ‘new normal’ 2013-2014 budget combines new taxes, fees with spending cuts set to continue By Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
On Monday evening, the City Council was expected to approve a new city budget for the coming two years of $112 million The vote was set to take place after Reporter deadline. Similar to most government agencies working to balance a budget in hard economic times, the city looked to a combination of cuts along with new revenue sources to balance the books. The city’s finance staff proposed
that the Council enact changes to collect additional dollars through increases in four areas. They are: 1. Increasing property taxes by one percent; 2. Increasing utility rates paid on water, sewer and stormwater management, including Emergency Management Services (Note that this is the transport fee approved by the City Council earlier this year that is collected from insurance companies). 3. Increased taxes on utility use. And, finally, increases in room rental rates at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center and some building permit fees. The city has steadily reduced its spending. By 2011 the city had cut or left vacant five regular full-time workers and five contract employees. Those spots will
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remain vacant at least for the next two years. In 2009 and 2010, the city spent 5 and 8 percent less than was budgeted in the General Fund for those years — but those budgets were set higher than the previous years by 6 and 5 percent, respectively in part to allow for some inflation. City staff indicates that during that period, there was a “greater than anticipated drop in tax revenues.” As such, they “underspent” the city budget by $1.8 million in 2009 and $1.99 million the following year. In 2011, the city spent nearly 2 percent less than was budgeted for the general fund that year. The 2011 budget amount had already been reduced by more than 7 percent from what was set in 2010. For 2012, the city expects to again come under budget by 2.5 percent. Over the next two years, Islanders with a home assessed at $700,000 will see their tax bill increase by $17.22 in 2013, with
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REPORTER
Special treats for Hanukkah
Rebecca Mar/Staff Photo
A menorah is part of a wide selection of Judaica items from Israel and around the world at the Herzl-Ner Tamid Judaica Shop on Mercer Island. Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, begins on Saturday, Dec. 8.
Mercer Island
The Mercer Island School District Board of Directors will hold a special meeting on Monday, Dec. 10. The meeting, which will take place in the City Council Chambers, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and will allow the board to get an update from Transpo, Triangle Associates and EMC on master facility planning.
By Reporter Staff
King County Elections (KCE) said that to date: 973,274 votes have been counted and verified, representing more than 82 percent of eligible voters. In the 41st Legislative District, KCE reports that 91,550 votes were mailed to registered voters. Of those 76,964 were returned, verified and tallied for a return rate of 84.37 percent. A total of 17,646 ballots were mailed to registered voters on Mercer Island. Of those, 15,233 or more than 86 percent were received and verified. Only the City of Normandy Park and Legislative District No. 36 (with over 101,000 voters) had a higher return rates of 86.71 and 86.81
One year $39, two years just $59
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