The Mountlake Terrace City Council on Thursday voted 7-0 to adopt the city’s first Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP). The UFMP is a blueprint and guide for the city to expand urban forest canopy and maintain existing trees and their health.
The goal is to plant 137 trees a year primarily in heat-prone, underserved neighborhoods and diversify tree species, according to Mountlake Terrace Environmental Programs Manager Patrick Hutchins. More details can be found in materials presented at the Sept. 11 meeting.
Hutchins added that Mountlake Terrace spends half the dollar amount per capita per year in tree care practices compared to similar U.S. cities, which amounts to about $5 per resident a year.
“Even if we were to double our capacity, it would only cost an individual taxpayer about $11, so we’re doing a really good job with the resources that we have, and we have a lot of opportunity to grow without overloading our system,” Hutchins said.
Regarding tree species diversity and age, Hutchins said there are six notable native tree species in Mountlake Terrace. These include the shorter-lived black cottonwoods (average 200 years) and Douglas firs and Western red cedars that could live to 1,000 years.
“By preserving these trees, you might literally be leaving a 1,000-year legacy on the city of Mountlake Terrace…and that’s not always something someone could say,” he said.
Hutchins compared a 1936 aerial view of the Lake Ballinger area with a 2025 version. He said that before the early 1900s, this area was “stripped down” to the bare ground due to heavy logging. Since the 1930s, some of the trees have grown back.
“We don’t really have that many trees that [are] near the end of their lifespans,” Hutchins said. “If they’re able to live 500 to 800 years [and] we invest in their care, we’re really ensuring that these trees that are in the prime of their life are getting to experience the prime of their life in the most positive way possible.”
The UFMP does not currently require any funding, but it will be considered in a future budget, Hutchins said.
Councilmember Laura Sonmore asked for clarification on the different funding and cost options presented in the UFMP, such as the $119,000 from the Department of Natural Resources.
Hutchins said the funding options shown were for reference only and not part of the current vote. Those options outline varying levels of tree management activities and staffing that could be implemented based on future council decisions, he said.
Councilmember Steve Woodard said Mountlake Terrace is the only part of Interstate 5 that has evergreens on both sides. He also emphasized dead trees that play a crucial role in the ecosystem and in community education. He shared how a dead tree near his home has become a nesting area for birds and a place for fungi to grow.
“It’s been such a wonderful educational tool. People walk by, pause, have conversations over the tree,” Woodard said. “As much as we’re talking about the livelihood of the canopies and all that, let those dead trees still have their roles.”
Details about the UFMP are on the city’s website.
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Public safety costs
City Manager Jeff Niten shared with the council the rising costs of public safety services. Public safety makes up 42.7% of the city’s 2025 general fund of $21.18 million, which excludes capital, utility, street operation and recreation funds.
Salaries and benefits are the largest share of public safety costs, totaling more than $6 million in 2024 for sworn officers and non-sworn staff, including administrative personnel and animal control. Combined with jail fees, public defense and prosecution, the city spent $9.04 million in 2024.
Niten added that the police department gets a lot of public records requests. “Much of that is driven by insurance companies looking for police reports as part of their claims process,” he said. “When we implemented the body-worn camera systems, we had a tremendous volume request for video. Each one of those videos has to be redacted frame by frame before they’re sent out, which [has a] significant amount of cost of staff time to do that.”
Indirect costs add another $1.71 million to the public safety bill. These include:
- Fleet repairs/maintenance (including vehicle replacement savings): $436,170
- Insurance: $369,456
- SNOCOM dispatch fees: $322,543
- Property maintenance: $180,914
- Other services (emergency management, phone, animal sheltering, travel): $161,428
- Supplies and small equipment: $95,263
- Computer programs/maintenance: $82,029
- Training: $36,354
- Translator fees: $29,094
Niten said that legal costs are also climbing. The city pays $150,000 a year to Zachor, Stock and Krepps for prosecution services under a contract that expires at the end of 2025. Court fees added another $113,498 in 2024, with the city charged $47.39 for each non-criminal infraction and $137.33 for each criminal infraction sent to court.
Niten added that public defense services are seeing some of the steepest increases. The city spent about $311,000 in 2024, paying $18,000 per month for public defense services. That monthly fee jumped to $26,500 in 2025 and is expected to reach at least $35,000 per month in 2026, driven by a Washington Supreme Court ruling that requires smaller public defender caseloads and higher compensation.
“We fairly regularly have to pay for conflict counsel, a defense attorney who represents an individual when the primary public defender has a conflict of interest,” Niten told MLTNews, in response to the unaccounted $94,000 from the public defense total. “A small amount of that…is also to pay for defense counsel when the accused appeals their conviction.”
Jail and inmate costs added nearly $700,000 in 2024 for booking, housing, video hearings and medical care. Niten said those costs will rise by the following amounts in 2026:
- Booking fee: From $147.19 to $151.61 (+$4.42)
- Housing rate: From $204.84/day to $210.99/day (+$6.15)
- Video court fee: From $243.81 to $251.12 (+$7.31)
Niten added that in 2010, Mountlake Terrace had 32 sworn officers, a deputy chief and four public records specialists. In 2025, there are 28 officers, no deputy chief and three records specialists.
“As [the] population continues to grow throughout the city over the last 15 years, [there is a] reduction in personnel and an increased demand,” he said.
Councilmembers and Niten discussed options to reduce public safety costs, including investments in crime prevention and affordable housing. Niten said that 70% of criminal defendants needed public defense, according to what he heard from a city manager conference that he attended last month.
“If that’s true, I think you [should] invest in early childhood education,” he said. “I think you make sure that people are well equipped to be productive members of society rather than having to resort to this.”
Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl discussed the potential collaboration with neighboring jurisdictions to reduce costs and improve efficiency in court services, prosecution and public defense.
“It doesn’t make sense for our [city] prosecutor to have a prosecutor,” Wahl said. “The same prosecutor, going to one court to do their job, and then at the same time, having to go to a different court across town.”
Councilmember William Paige, Jr. asked what Walla Walla’s 70% “indigent number” means for Mountlake Terrace, highlighting the high percentage of juveniles who require public defense and the impact on the city’s budget.
“A juvenile can’t even plead guilty unless they have an attorney present,” Paige said. “And if a person doesn’t have affordable housing for their family…then things start to spiral.”
The City Council will continue on this topic at a future meeting.
In another agenda item, the City Council proclaimed Sept. 17, 2025 as Constitution Day, which marks the 238th anniversary of the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Liz Runkle, regent of the Lady Stirling Chapter of the Washington State Society Daughters of the American Revolution, accepted the proclamation.
