Letter to the Council: Lean Management Techniques are Required, Not Higher Taxes

Re: Discussion on the Ballot Initiative to Increase Burien Property Tax (Council Meeting Agenda Item on May 6, 2024) Please Vote NO.

This letter was submitted by “Burien Residents for Lean and Prudent Fiscal Management of City/Taxpayer Money.”[NOTE FROM EDITOR: Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Burien-News or Daniel Media. If you wish to submit a story, photo, article or letter, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.]Dear Burien City Council:The City of Burien staff and council need to focus on “Lean Management” educational and budget development techniques rather than constantly proposing to raise the Property Taxes on residents.When Burien first became a city in 1993, one of the most important things residents put into the Comp Plan was that Burien was a city that had to be very conservative in its spending to survive. It was a city with limited resources and for that reason would need to operate as a contract city for a number of its services. This meant cutting costs wherever possible, and making hard budgeting decisions regularly.For example, during the 2008 Recession (when the Town Square opened) Burien had serious budget problems. Between 2008-2012, Burien lost 2,000 good, long-term, well-funded city jobs. It has never recovered those jobs back. During that time, the city staff helped with cuts to allow the city to survive. They used part time workers, interns, school study students, community volunteers to run part time needed city services, reduced grant offerings, reduced council and staff travel time allocations and conference attendance.City staff cross trained to cover and fill in for other city jobs, cut back on optional projects, reduced supply orders and contractor time and services, reduced Parks and Rec services. And likewise, other departments in the city developed cost effective partnerships with other cities, the county and neighborhoods. The city ignored partnerships that were not a cost benefit to Burien, and every city department had to take a percentage budget cut. Councilmembers went to bat for the city and balanced the budget.By contrast, in 2018, the budgetary self-discipline of the Council significantly reversed. Krystal Marx, Jimmy Matta, Pedro Olguin, and Austin Bell shifted the fiscal momentum towards deficit spending. It was further accelerated under Sarah Moore, Cydney Moore and Hugo Garcia.Since then, Burien has been adding more positions at pay levels than it can support. Plus, the city has stopped giving easy-access to the list of city employees. Why hide this information? Residents have a right to know who works in their city.Before any increases in property taxes are voted in this budget amendment process, the staff management needs to look closely at lean management techniques.Some people claim that residents want more services, but the truth is that many of them cannot afford or are unwilling to pay for them.The council needs to vote NO on this proposal until more in depth work is done.Sincerely,Burien Residents for Lean and Prudent Fiscal Management of City/Taxpayer Money[NOTE FROM EDITOR: If you wish to submit a story, photo, article or letter, please contact us. Even if you wish to remain anonymous, please include your name and phone number so we may contact you privately. We look forward to hearing from you.]