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The Mountlake Terrace City Council at its Thursday meeting agreed to a rate increase to continue participating in the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management’s (DEM) interlocal agreement.
If approved, the council’s decision would raise the city’s annual service payment from $34,934 in 2025 to about $46,322 in 2026, an increase of $11,388, which would be paid from the city’s general fund.
The additional funding would help offset shortfalls caused by the expiration of three federal emergency management grants, including the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG), the State Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative. These grants have historically funded about one-third of DEM’s core emergency staff, according to DEM Director Lucia Schmidt in a letter to the City.
Renewed in December 2024, the interlocal agreement provides cities across Snohomish County with coordinated emergency management services, such as planning, training, public outreach and disaster response. Eighteen jurisdictions currently participate in the agreement.
Earlier this year, DEM officials warned that reductions in federal grant funding could force local agencies to choose to raise rates, reduce services or a combination of the two.
City Manager Jeff Niten said that without additional funding, services such as volunteer and donations management, catastrophic earthquake planning and vulnerable populations transportation planning could be scaled back or eliminated. Non-911 outreach services, such as the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program that trains residents to respond to emergencies, may also be reduced.
Niten added that new federal grant requirements for fiscal year 2026 include provisions tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives established through recent executive orders.
These executive orders direct federal agencies to terminate DEI/DEIA offices, programs, grants, “equity action plans” and mandates tied to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and to restore merit-based hiring and contracting practices.
According to Niten, Washington’s Keep Washington Working Act restricts state and local agencies from sharing certain personal information with federal entities, such as immigration data. Because some of the new DEI-related grant conditions may require compliance measures that conflict with that state law, Washington and Snohomish County legally cannot accept those federal funds unless the rules are changed or clarified.
Niten said the DEM is part of the lawsuits that challenge those federal restrictions. The results will not be known until later this year, he said.
Councilmember Laura Sonmore asked whether the cost would go back down if the federal grants return.
“If federal grants come back, if the lawsuit is successful, I would imagine that the option packages would go away. They wouldn’t need this additional funding in order to carry out the same duties,” Niten said.
Sonmore then asked if that could be written in a contract because “a lot of time we see things go up, and they never come back down again.”
“I’m sure we can,” Niten said.
Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright reminded that many people forget that DEIA includes seniors and people with disabilities. “If we’re asked to scrub [DEIA]…it’s also asking people not to fund seniors and people with disabilities,” she said.
Niten said he will take the Council’s consensus to a DEM meeting in November. Afterward, he will bring the updated interlocal agreement to City Council for a formal vote.
Annexation of residential property
The City Council voted 6-0 on the property annexation of 24229 48th Ave. W. Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl was absent from the meeting.
The 4.4-acre property is surrounded by city limits and lies within Mountlake Terrace’s Urban Growth Area. The property owners have petitioned for annexation to connect to city sewer services.
Under the proposal, the property would be designated R1 residential, which is consistent with the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
The full meeting can be viewed on the City’s YouTube channel.
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