Councilmember Nehring's November Newsletter

I hope you and your family are gearing up for an exciting Halloween this weekend. In this month’s newsletter, I will highlight the 2022 budget process and my priorities, an update on our broadband expansion efforts, a presentation to Economic Alliance of Snohomish County, and some innovative manufacturing work happening in North Snohomish County. 

2022 Budget 

On November 9th, the Snohomish County Council is scheduled to adopt the budget for next year. The public hearing for budget adoption is scheduled for 10:30 AM on 11/9/21 via Zoom. Budget adoption follows months of presentation, analysis, and public input into the budget.  

We received presentations from County departments, offices, and courts earlier this month highlighting the requested changes in their proposed budgets for next year. Councilmembers asked questions and provided feedback on these items. It is always helpful to have the opportunity to dive into each budget individually with representatives from those departments.  

My main priority this year is to advocate for a balanced budget with no property tax increases. The Executive’s proposed budget includes an increase the County’s general property tax levy by 2.5%.  

If passed, this would be the first time since I joined the Council in 2017 that the County increases its general property tax levy. We have managed to balance the budget in years past by reducing waste and utilizing increased sales tax revenue that has come with increased economic activity. 

In my opinion, it would be inappropriate to raise property taxes on county residents in this budget. We have received approximately $300 million in federal assistance in response to COVID-19 and our sales tax revenue projections account for nearly $11 million more in collections than we had anticipated for this year. When families are struggling, inflation is out of control, and government funding is in excess of our projections, there is no justification to raise taxes. 

I am proposing amendments to the budget proposal which would eliminate the property tax increase and reduce spending to account for the difference. That proposal will be voted on with the budget as a whole at the November 9th public hearing at 10:30 AM. If you would like to provide comments to the Council regarding the property tax increase or any other aspect of the budget, you can email the Council at contact.council@snoco.org or joining the public hearing on the 9th. You can find the information about the public hearing by following this link and scrolling down to “Public Hearings”. Information about the hearing will be posted on Friday, November 5th.  

Broadband Expansion Project 

Earlier this month, Snohomish County partnered with Ziply Fiber to submit a funding pre-application to the State Broadband Office for a broadband expansion project along the SR 530 corridor from Arlington to Darrington. This project would bring reliable internet access to nearly 5,600 residents and businesses in North Snohomish County.  

The project funding is coming from Ziply’s provider contributions, a funding application to the Federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and the State Broadband Office.  

We are in a good position to make this application due to the work of the Snohomish County Broadband Action Team (BAT) which I have had the opportunity to lead with Executive Somers and Councilmember Low. We have broad support for this project in the community and I look forward to the next steps on this effort.  

Following the pre-application, there will be a formal application for funding later this year. I will be sure to share any updates we receive on this and other efforts to expand broadband access to more residents and businesses in Snohomish County. 

EASC Elected Officials Event 

On October 14th, I had the opportunity to join elected officials and business leaders from across the County for Economic Alliance Snohomish County’s (EASC) Public Officials reception. This event gave us an opportunity to talk about important issues we are facing and ways that we are working together to solve them.  

Some of the main topics that I was excited to discuss were broadband expansion, workforce development, and economic development.  

On the broadband front, we are continuing to pursue project opportunities like the one I highlighted along SR 530. On workforce development, we are continuing to support and grow the Regional Apprenticeship Pathways (RAP) Program serving high school students in Snohomish County. And on the economic development front, we are continuing to explore ways to support local businesses recovering from the pandemic and attract commercial investments and family-wage jobs. 

I appreciate EASC for hosting the event and the many elected officials and business leaders who joined to participate in these important discussions. 

Eviation Tour 

On October 14th, I joined Executive Somers and the leadership team at Eviation Aircraft to tour their new manufacturing location in the Cascade Industrial Center in Arlington. Eviation is building the world’s first all-electric commuter aircraft. This exciting work complements our County’s long history in the aviation industry and we are very excited to have them here in North Snohomish County.  

Eviation is doing great work creating new, sustainable transportation opportunities. Companies like this are making great investments in Snohomish County and providing good paying jobs for our residents.