LFP Mayor: The Economics of City Finances

Property tax allocation for Lake Forest Park

From Mayor Jeff Johnson

With soaring inflation and home values, I often hear from residents that the city must be flush with additional revenue due to the increased property tax collected on those ever-increasing home values. 

Well, nothing could be further from the truth. 

By state law, the city has two options every year: 

• one, collect the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year, regardless of home values; or 
• realize a one percent increase in that revenue by a vote of the council. Any increase beyond the maximum one percent set by the state requires a vote of the residents. 

As you can imagine, with annual inflation since the incorporation of Lake Forest Park in 1961 averaging 3.73%, and revenues increasing by a mere one percent it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain levels of service.

Every year, cities across the State of Washington struggle to keep providing consistent levels of service, let alone provide the new programs, parks and pedestrian pathways I hear are priorities for many of our residents, as well as your Mayor and Council.

The Administration and City Council have done an excellent job over the years of keeping this city financially stable while working to provide the services and amenities the community desires and deserves, considering the growing disparity between revenue and costs. 

We know what we want as a community, now we need to discuss how and how quickly we achieve those goals. As I work with the Council over the coming months to adopt the 2023-2024 city budget, I encourage your involvement and feedback as we look to continue moving this city forward.