Ben Walters, director of Lynnwood’s Development & Business Services (DBS), briefed the council on cuts the department made to help the city reach adopted budget targets and on where work will be delayed.

Walters said DBS froze three vacancies (an administrative assistant, a combined plan‑reviewer/building‑inspector position and the former economic‑development manager role), transferred a senior construction inspector from Public Works, and laid off one planner and one permit‑center technician. The department also cut roughly $300,000 in consultant spending for planning work, with a further $50,000 reduction planned for 2026.

Why it matters: Walters said the consultant reductions will delay work on a planned‑action ordinance for Alderwood (the city already has a planned action in place for City Center), slow any new annexation analysis that would require additional consultant study, and reduce the department’s ability to rapidly process heavy waves of construction activity. He told council that preserving surge capacity and core permitting/inspection functions was a priority when selecting cuts.

Key facts and figures
- DBS headcount target referenced by earlier organizational study: about 35 positions (Walters said the department has been reduced as part of the citywide effort but continues to prioritize core service capacity).
- Consultant reductions: roughly $300,000 (planning/technical consultants) with another ~$50,000 in 2026.
- Permitting metrics: Walters said permit counts were up ~23% over an eight‑month snapshot compared with the prior year but total permit revenue was down (more smaller, lower‑fee permits arriving instead of a few large projects).
- Anticipated near‑term projects: two mixed‑use projects that had paused in 2025 are actively preparing to move to construction in 2026; two other similarly sized projects are potential 2027 starts. Two school construction projects are expected in the coming year.

What Walters said
Walters said the department will preserve code‑enforcement capacity (aiming to keep two officers), maintain economic‑development program managers who run grant‑funded programs, and use internal reallocation to provide managerial support for city‑center work. He said the department has made efficiency gains (new permitting software and process simplifications) and will engage builders about the city’s updated Unified Development Code and ADU/DADU rules; he reported early interest and rising applications for ADUs.

Council questions and next steps
Council members asked about statutory deadlines for plan review (Walters said DBS is meeting those deadlines in the absence of large projects that typically test capacity), potential uses of AI and standard plan sets for ADUs, and whether consultant funds can be reprioritized for annexation work. Walters said some money remains but full annexation analysis would require additional funding.

Ending note
Walters described the cuts as calibrated to preserve permitting and inspection capacity while deferring large consultant‑funded planning efforts; he said staff will monitor workload and return to council if the surge of projects requires restored positions or consultant support.