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With the city’s first round of federal American Rescue Act funds in the bank, the Lynnwood City Council Monday night discussed how best to spend the $5.45 million in economic relief.
The City of Lynnwood was allocated $10.9 million under the American Rescue Act to be paid over a two-year period. Last month, the city received the first portion of the funds and expects the second to be paid out next summer. At its July 19 work session, the council reviewed proposals from staff and made their own suggestions on how to spend the funds.
During a briefing from staff, city finance Director Michelle Meyer highlighted several suggestions for using the money, including investments in public facilities, personal protective equipment (PPE) needs and making enhancements to city services to meet community needs.
Staff also suggested using funds to restore 18 city staff positions, which Meyer said would bring the city back to pre-pandemic levels. Many of the positions, she said, were in the city’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department. She also proposed allowing the Lynnwood Police Department to fill a vacant police evidence technician position.
Before the city can begin spending the funds, the council has to give staff authorization. During the discussion, Council President George Hurst made several suggestions for how the funds could be spent including hazard pay, business relief grants and emergency housing funding after the eviction moratorium ends Sept. 30. He then encouraged the rest of the council to give suggestions on how the money should be spent.
“There’s all kinds of opportunities on these funds and I’m just curious what other (councilmembers) are thinking about,” he said.
Councilmember Julieta Altamirano-Crosby said the council should engage the community and get feedback before spending the funds. Council Vice President Jim Smith asked if the funds could be used for the future Community Justice Center. In response, Meyer said the funds could be used for capital projects or public service. However, Meyer added that she would have to double check to see if the money could be used for a project that was planned before the funding came through.
“I would just want to clarify that in case there’s some specificity of the date,” she said.
Councilmember Patrick Decker proposed a portion of the funds be allocated toward education and skills training opportunities for the community.
The council is set to continue discussing plans for the funds at its Aug. 2 work session.
In other business, the council reviewed a proposed $5 million increase to the already $64 million future Community Justice Center before authorizing the mayor to execute the construction contract next week.
The project includes renovating the existing Lynnwood Police Department building — located at 19321 44th Ave. W. — as well as expanding east to the adjacent vacant site. After receiving six bids for the project, the city chose to award the contract to Seattle-based FORMA Construction.
During the discussion, Lynnwood Police Chief Jim Nelson explained that recent impacts to supply chains have led to higher costs for building materials and labor, resulting in a $5 million increase to the project budget.
In March, the council voted to assume $62 million in debt to cover the cost of redeveloping the city’s police department and municipal courts. An additional $4 million in funds will come from an existing Criminal Justice Sales Tax.
The ordinance attached to the motion authorized a total interest cost no higher than 4% and the city expected to pay $3.5 million annually to cover the cost of construction. However, Nelson explained the city was able to receive an “unprecedented” 2.5% interest rate, so the city could issue $5 million more in bonds and the repayment would still be under what the city expected to pay under the 4% interest rate.
“The silver lining for us was that the market was such that we received that excellent rate,” he said.
The city plans to repay bonds issued for the center through a combination of savings from contracting with other agencies to house inmates and police evidence, the existing Criminal Justice Sales Tax and contracting with other agencies to house inmates.
After meeting with the city’s bond counsel and financial advisors, Meyer said staff are preparing an ordinance outlining the parameters for another bond issuance. Meyer also said the city could wait until 2022 to issue the bond in conjunction with the scheduled refunding on the city’s 2012 bonds to save money.
“Even though the contract would be awarded this year, this is a long construction period, and the funds likely won’t be expended until the end of 2022 or realistically the beginning of 2023 and that ($5 million) will be the last little push there,” she said.
When Council President Hurst asked how long the council had to approve the contract, Nelson said they had 90 days but waiting could delay construction and have further unknown financial impacts. Hurst then said he was uneasy approving the contract without having all of the funding sorted out.
The council is set to continue the discussion at its Aug. 2 work session.
After the council adjourned into a closed-door executive session, a man in the audience asked to address the council. Mayor Nicola Smith explained that the meeting being held was a work session and comments from the public are reserved for the council’s business meetings.
In response, the audience member, who later identified himself as Snohomish County NAACP Criminal Justice Chair Riall Johnson, asked why none of the councilmembers spoke about the 47-year-old Black female inmate who died in Lynnwood Jail on July 13. The inmate was identified Wednesday by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office as Lynnwood resident Tirhas B. Tesfatsion. The medical examiner’s report also stated that she died by suicide.
During his statement, Johnson accused Lynnwood police of hiding the circumstances surrounding her death. The reason he believes that, he said, is because surveillance footage from inside the jail had not been made available for Tesfatsion’s family to view.
An independent investigation into Tesfatsion’s death was launched by the Kirkland Police Department at the request of Lynnwood police. The investigation is ongoing. In a statement released Wednesday, Lynnwood police spokesperson Joanna Small said police have remained in contact with the family, and they will have the opportunity to review the video.
–Story and photo by Cody Sexton
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