No to Tile, Yes to Turf
How I'm thinking about your tax dollars.
The April 7 council meeting had two capital project decisions on the agenda. I voted differently on each, and I want to explain why.
City Hall Flooring: No
The tile floor in the City Hall lobby has been failing since 2024. The original installation back in 2006 didn’t include required expansion joints or waterproofing, so the tiles have been cracking and lifting. Staff brought a contract for $265,000 to tear it out and replace it.
In the grand scheme of the city budget, that’s not much money at all. But, the city is in a structural deficit. We are spending heavily from our fund balance (our savings). The city’s financial forecast shows the fund balance going negative by 2029. We need to make major corrections to our budget. In this environment, I can’t support spending $265,000 to replace a floor in city hall. That’s nearly the entire amount the city would generate from a year’s worth of the maximum allowable property tax increase.
When we’re facing a structural deficit and will have to ask residents for more taxes, major cuts to services, or a mix of both, I can’t support spending your money on a new floor at city hall.
The vote was 4-3 to cancel.
East Sammamish Park Turf and Batting Cages: Yes
Council unanimously approved a contract with Coast to Coast Turf for $923,960 to convert the two baseball infields at East Sammamish Park to synthetic turf and resurface the batting cages.
This is a bigger number. Here’s why I supported it.
The 20-year cost comparison between keeping the current natural infields and converting to turf is close. The total net cost to taxpayers is actually lower with turf, about $943,000 over 20 years compared to roughly $1.09 million to maintain the status quo. The difference is where the money lands. Turf cuts annual maintenance costs by about $37,000 and cuts required staff hours nearly in half. That’s operating budget relief, which is exactly where our budget pressure is. The funding for the new turf fields comes out of a fund that can only be spent on parks capital expenses.
On top of that, turf fields reduce rainouts and increase playable hours by an estimated 15%. Eastlake Little League uses these fields for about 74% of total field hours. More playable time for kids is a straightforward win.
There is a tradeoff. Field rental fees are penciled in to go from $20 to $26 per hour (though the $40 restriping fee would no longer be necessary). During the meeting, I asked staff whether we could bring on sponsors for our ballfields, the same way we do for city events, to help offset that cost and bring the fees down for Sammamish teams. There’s nothing that would preclude it. I’m going to research what other cities are doing and come back with a specific proposal. Our youth sports organizations shouldn’t absorb the full cost increase if there’s a way to share it while providing our business community a new opportunity to reach our community.
Work is scheduled to begin this summer with fields reopening in the fall. Thank you to the Parks and Recreation Commission for the thorough review of this project.
Coming Up
The April 14 study session includes a preview of the 2027-2028 budget calendar and process, plus a fiscal sustainability discussion. I’ll have more to say on both next time.