Medical Lake approves comprehensive plan update, increase in taxes - The year in review - top 10

MEDICAL LAKE — The City Council approved an update to the city’s Comprehensive Plan that will help guide its direction for the next decade in October, while also approving a 5 percent property tax increase.

The first, a 4 percent tax increase, tapped into the city’s available 8.04 percent “banked levy capacity” — tax increases the city had opted not to use since 1985 that allows it to raise taxes beyond the state’s 1 percent per-year levy cap limit.

The increase will add an additional $22,256 to city’s estimated $5.1 million 2020 budget, according to city officials.

The city would have gained...