EVERETT — The Everett City Council unanimously approved a $613 million budget for 2026 on Wednesday, pausing some pension contributions and using one-time funds to prevent staffing cuts.

No city employees will be laid off after budget cuts last year saw 31 people lose their jobs and others furloughed. The service cuts the city made for the 2025 budget, which included reductions of library hours and the elimination of the city’s park ranger program, will remain in place through 2026, as Everett continues to cut spending amid an ongoing structural deficit .

The city closed a looming $7.9 million budget gap in its 2026 budget mostly by pausing contributions to LEOFF 1 pensions — a pension available to police and firefighters hired before Oct. 1, 1977 — and through the injection of

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