Councilmember Craig Reynolds Shares Meeting Recap: 2026-05-05
CITY GOVERNMENTFEATURED
In this column, Council Member Craig Reynolds shares his perspective on recent issues before the Mercer Island City Council as well as insight in to how he votes and shapes city planning and policies.
May 5, 2026 Council Meeting Update
Another Mercer Island City Council meeting is a wrap.
On May 5, 2026, the City Council held its regularly scheduled meeting at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center. All seven councilmembers were present, with Councilmember Anderl participating remotely. Key agenda items included:
AB 6918: Puget Sound Regional Council (PRSC) General Assembly Voting Delegate
AB 6919: Continuance of the April 7, 2026 Public Hearing and Adoption of 2027-2032 Transportation Improvement Program
AB 6921: Fiscal Year 2025 Year-End Financial Status Update and Budget Amending Ordinance
AB 6920: Presentation on the Existing Condition of the Public Works Building
My take on each of these issues is below.
You can offer feedback on these or any city policy issue via email to council@mercerisland.gov. If you have an issue with city services rather than policy matters, please email customerservice@mercerisland.gov.
AB 6918: Puget Sound Regional Council (PRSC) General Assembly Voting Delegate
Not surprisingly, we had only one volunteer. The Council voted 7-0 to approve Councilmember Hsieh as our delegate.
AB 6919: Continuance of the April 7, 2026 Public Hearing and Adoption of 2027-2032 Transportation Improvement Program
In our last easy vote of the night, Council voted 7-0 to approve the six year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP).
AB 6921: Fiscal Year 2025 Year-End Financial Status Update and Budget Amending Ordinance
Spoiler Alert: The Council voted 7-0 to adopt Ordinance No. 26-04, amending the 2025-2026 Biennial Budget. This closes the books on 2025 and sets us up to have productive discussions for the 2027-2028 biennium budget discussion this coming fall.
Details of note:
See my notes on the agenda for this meeting to get an overview of key items of interest in the spending and revenue recap for 2025. The meeting included few new insights not available from the excellent agenda materials. Items you may want to remember include:
Staff did an excellent job (99%) at forecasting expenditures for this year and a good job at forecasting revenue,
Revenues were a little higher than expected due to variances in sales tax, B&O tax, and investment earnings,
I encouraged staff to do further digging to determine the drivers of B&O tax differences. Variances appear to be driven mostly by more returns being filed. But how is that happening? Are that many new businesses being opened on MI? Is this a one time blip or the start of a new normal?
Similarly I suggested further sharpening the pencil on investment income and Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) forecasts.
If present trends continue, and we do not make changes in our strategy, the YFS fund will likely run out of money in 2027. Councilmember Hsieh and I both encouraged staff to prioritize finding a way to make YFS funding sustainable. (I cannot speak for others, but i suspect that this is a widely shared view.)
YFS fund balances are low, but even lower than forecast, largely due to lower than expected thrift shop revenue (likely because it was closed for repair for part of the year) and decreased insurance reimbursements.
Mr. Mornick did a good job of explaining, and I further emphasized in discussion, why city "fiund balances" are not free money to use or refund. City long-term financial obligations (pensions, debt repayments, previously committed expenditures, etc) dwarf our fund balances.
Multiple Council members praised staff for good work and a great presentation.
AB 6920: Presentation on the Existing Condition of the Public Works Building
In a nutshell, the existing public works building is in bad shape. It does not meet current code. Many of its systems are at or beyond useful life. It is 46 years old, and it shows.
Examples of specific deficiencies include:
Not built to even Level III seismic stability
No fire sprinklers
Inadequate fire zone separation and signage
Inadequate accessibility
Moisture intrusion and inadequate insulation
Not designed for current use (including staff working in maintenance bays)
All mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure needs to be replaced
In round numbers, it would cost about $20 MM to upgrade the facility (though we would still have a 46- year-old building), or about the same amount to build something new with similar space and functionality---but new. Note, this would still not have the same functionality as the significantly more expensiv bond measure we proposed. It would be for a much smaller building without room for police, the EOC, or a customer service desk. A lot of staff would need to move to the 9655 building. Yard improvements would not be included and many vehicles would still need to be stored outside.
Further work remains to be done before making any decisions.
Councilmember Reports
Councilmember Hsieh reported on an impressive lsit of community events she had participated in or will participate in including a Sustainable Fashion Show, First Friday Art Walk, an Earth Day event at Clarke Beach Park, and a Port of Seattle visit with Councilmember Weinberg and Deputy Mayor Becker. She also announced a community light rail event for May 7. (Sorry for not getting out this update in time, but judging from what I saw on Facebook, it seems to have been a success.)
Councilmember Weinberg reported in his next open Brunch. May 16 at 11 AM at Crawlspace