Mercer Island Cuts Community Center Hours Due To Budget Woes

MERCER ISLAND, WA - City officials are reducing hours at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center in an attempt to save money after the failure of Proposition 1 in November.

The city is cutting about 27 service hours per week, and will keep the center closed on Sundays. Locals will still be able to rent the facility outside the new reduced hours.

The parks and rec department will be hit pretty hard by budget cuts, according to city officials. City Council is expected to enact second phase of cuts in February. In December, the Council began an effort to identify $1.2 million in cuts or new revenues to avoid going into a deficit spending in 2019.

(The City Council reduced its own budget for 2019 by 7.4 percent by cutting Sister Cities spending and some technology costs.)

Mercer Island is facing a budget crisis in the upcoming years. City officials project future expenses will increase about 5 percent per year, but under state law, Mercer Island property tax revenues can only increase by 1 percent per year. Prop 1 would've allowed the city to increase property taxes above that 1 percent threshold.

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