November 3, 2025 Update: Having just launched this project on October 10th, we have not yet had the volunteer resources available to distribute physical surveys to District 3 residents, but 6 online submissions were received, including one from candidate Lindsay Smolko who gave PV4I permission to include her comments below, along with few other comments from District 3 surveys can be seen at the bottom of this page, and you can click on our final blog post of the campaign season to see survey results including candidate preferences.
Puyallup City Council voted 100% to raise several taxes and fees in 2024-25 without asking the public. Puyallup Voters for Integrity wants to know if District 3 voters are aware of the new taxes and fees, whether voters agree, and if the tax increases affect who we should support in the current election.
Individual responses will be kept 100% confidential. We will publish blog posts each Tuesday through election day with general survey result updates. Results of the survey will be used to inform PV4I on where to direct future resources to help keep candidates accountable when they are elected to city council. If you are in District 1 or District 2, please click to complete the survey for your area.
Click here to start the District 3 Survey
Text of District 3 Survey:
1. For your responses to count in this poll, please type your name and voting address so we can cross reference with the county’s voter registration list for Puyallup’s District 3. Your responses will be kept 100% private. Click here to take the survey.
2. Puyallup City Council increased our property taxes by 6% in a procedural maneuver called “banking” from years when past councils did not raise taxes, resulting in an increase of our city portion of property taxes from $1.00 per $1,000 house value in 2024, to $1.08 per $1,000 in 2025. Council also increased taxes on our electricity and gas from 4.2% to what is now 6.3% on our bills, and well as increased Xfinity/Comcast fees from 3.4% to 5%. Council also cut 7 staff positions including one from the senior center causing the end of Activity Center Rentals to the public, two library positions resulting in the end of external library projects like school collaborations, and four other positions including the elimination of the city’s Economic Development Manager. These cuts to staff unrelated to the police department, and the tax increases, were made to pay for the renovation and 30 year rental of an out-of-the-way building off 39th Ave SE as a police station. Adding up itemized costs on the city website, the project is projected to be $73.5 million for Puyallup taxpayers. In comparison, the 2023 bond measure to build a police station and jail on the land we still own in a more prominent location adjacent to the new fire station off 39th (but rejected by 52.51% of voters citywide, while District 3 voted in favor by 53.5%) would have cost approximately $44 million for the police station (specifically, a projected $35 million for the police station, plus a projected $9 million in shared groundbreaking costs with a jail if they had added that for another projected $31 million). District 3 candidate for city council Mark Crosby states on his August 14 Campaign Facebook page post that: “It was great to be at the ribbon-cutting for Puyallup’s new police station up on the hill today. Exciting to see this investment in public safety moving forward…” while District 3 candidate Lindsay Smolko has not published a position on the project prior to this survey. In addition, the city sent out a Request for Qualification (RFQ) proposal last month to renovate our current city jail at an unknown cost, despite maintaining throughout the 2021-23 campaigns that the old jail was not feasible to renovate. Neither candidate for District 3 have published whether they support going forward with downtown jail renovations, or if they prefer what Puyallup Voters for Integrity has recommended: close the expensive, old run-down jail, and instead, use our new Pierce County jail as all other cities have done to save millions per year.
Do you agree with all, some, or none of the Puyallup City Council tax increases and staffing cuts for a rented police station, and more to come for jail renovations? Click here to take the survey.
3. If you would like to have us include reasons for your opinion about the Puyallup City Council tax increases and staffing cuts when we post our next Tuesday survey update, please describe the things you agree with, and what you disagree with. All responses will remain anonymous. Click here to take the survey.
4. Last year, the Puyallup City Council circumvented state restrictions on sales tax increases by voting to create a new Transportation Tax District without its own elected commissioners, and instead made city council the de-facto commissioners, then increased sales taxes from 10.1% to 10.2% in the City of Puyallup. As of October 14th, neither candidate for District 3 has published whether they support the actions city council has taken regarding the new Transportation Tax District.
Do you agree with all, some, or none of Puyallup City Council’s actions creating the new tax district without voter approval, and whether city council should control decisions of the tax district, and their vote to impose a .1% sales tax increase within city limits? Click here to take the survey.
5. If you would like to have us include reasons for your opinion about Puyallup City Council’s creation of the Transportation Tax District when we post our next Tuesday survey update, please describe what you agree with, and the aspects you disagree with. All responses will remain anonymous. Click here to take the survey.
6. Puyallup City Council increased city utility fees, and changed the frequency of when we city residents have to pay, from every-other-month, to every month, with water rates raised 7.5% from 2024, sewer rates up 5.5%, and the stormwater rate up 16.5% according to footnote on our January and February utility bills. City Council also used $600,000 of our sewer and stormwater fees for a $5 million project to rebuild one block of 9th Ave SW into a “festival street” for the fair this year, just 4 years after we paid to rebuild the exact same block, wasting the $2 million spent from our general street fund at that time. As of October 14th, neither candidate for District 3 has published whether they support the actions city council has taken regarding the new Transportation Tax District.
Do you agree with all, some, or none of the utility fee increases, expenditures, and bill frequency decisions Puyallup City Council made over the last 2 years? Click here to take the survey.
7. If you would like to have us include reasons for your opinion about Puyallup City Council’s utility fee increases, billing frequency change, and festival street expenditure when we post our next Tuesday survey update, please describe the aspects you agree with, and what you disagree with. All responses will remain anonymous. Click here to take the survey.
8. District 3 incumbent Julie Door is term limited, so this open seat for Puyallup City Council is a race between Lindsay Smolko, a STEM Teacher emphasizing on her website equity, inclusivity, and transparency in local government, competing with Mark Crosby who doesn’t have a campaign website but says on Facebook and in the Voter’s Pamphlet that he enjoys mutual support with a majority of sitting council members, and expressed excitement about the new police station ribbon cutting. Please let PV4I know if you can find published opinions from either candidate relating to the tax and fee increases, or select if you prefer Lindsay Smolko, Mark Crosby, or neither of the candidates running for Puyallup City Council representing District 3. Click here to take the survey.
9. If you would like to have us anonymously include the reasons for your candidate preference in our next Tuesday survey update, please share: Click here to take the survey.
10. Please include your contact information if you would like to receive final survey results, and stay informed of future Puyallup Voters for Integrity projects: Click here to take the survey.
If you are registered to vote in the City of Puyallup but not in District 3, please click the link below corresponding to your voting district. See map for reference. Puyallup Voters for Integrity will publish blog posts every Tuesday through election day with updates on the district surveys. If you live inside city limits and are not registered to vote, first go to https://www.piercecountywa.gov/6572/Register-to-Vote and then click for the District survey corresponding to your address.
• District 1 Survey – Click if you are registered to vote inside Puyallup City Council District 1 boundaries. The survey focuses on the actions of the incumbent Jim Kastama who is taking a 2 year turn leading the council as mayor. Running to unseat him is candidate Jeff Bennett, a retired Puyallup Police Officer now working in the solar industry who lists fiscal responsibility as the first priority on his website’s issue page.
• District 2 Survey – Click if you are registered to vote inside Puyallup City Council District 2 boundaries. The survey focuses on the actions of the incumbent Dennis King who is taking a 2 year turn on the council as deputy mayor. Running to unseat him is candidate Heather Schiller, former chair of the Puyallup Planning Commission and an insurance industry professional who promises fiscal responsibility second on her website’s issue page after infrastructure improvements.
• District 3 Survey – Click if you are registered to vote in Puyallup City Council District 3 boundaries. The survey focuses on two candidates running for an open seat as incumbent Julie Door is term-limited. Running with no website but claims of support on his facebook page from a majority of other city council members is candidate Mark Crosby, versus candidate Lindsay Smolko who is a STEM Teacher emphasizing on her website equity, inclusivity, and transparency in local government.
District 3 Survey Comments Received Oct 15-Nov 5, 2025
Regarding Question #3 – Responses from candidates, multiple members of the same household, and from officials with vested interests have been withheld for now, but we will include those on election day after self-identifying comments are edited out. Otherwise, these are ALL the comments received via the online District 3 Survey portal for Question #3 through Oct. 20th.
The question: If you would like to have us include reasons for your opinion about the Puyallup City Council tax increases and staffing cuts when we post our next Tuesday survey update, please describe the things you agree with, and what you disagree with.
| 2025-10-17 | I disagree with any tax increase that was NOT voted on by the citizens of Puyallup. I disagree with a new police station that was previously voted down by citizens. |
| 2025-10-28 | These increases, staffing cuts, and wasteful expenditures are disrespectful to tax payers. Your willful zeal to raise the cost of living for residents without adding value is misguided and smacks of corruption. |
The only candidate in any district who added comments to their survey responses was Lindsay Smolko, and she said “You’re more than welcome to share my survey responses, and I welcome anyone to contact me to share their thoughts and questions.” In response to the first question, she said “Elected officials are responsible to do what is BEST for their community–based not on their own greed or personal wishes, but on the voters’ responses and a diversity of voices from all stakeholder groups. The current council seems to have forgotten who they work for–it’s not themselves.”
Regarding Question #5 – Responses from candidates, multiple members of the same household, and from officials with vested interests have been withheld for now, but we will include those on election day after self-identifying comments are edited out. Otherwise, these are ALL the comments received via the online District 3 Survey portal for Question #5 through Oct. 21st.
The question: If you would like to have us include reasons for your opinion about Puyallup City Council’s creation of the Transportation Tax District when we post our next Tuesday survey update, please describe what you agree with, and the aspects you disagree with:
| 2025-10-28 | This is disrespectful to residents and to the political process. You should be sanctioned for it. |
Candidate Lindsay Smolko, as mentioned above, was the only candidate in any district to add comments to the survey, and she gave PV4I permission to publish her responses. On this question, she said “Voters should have a voice at the table, to put it mildly.”
Regarding Question #7 – Responses from candidates, multiple members of the same household, and from officials with vested interests have been withheld for now, but we will include those on election day after self-identifying comments are edited out. Otherwise, these are ALL the comments received via the online District 3 Survey portal for Question #7 through Oct. 20th.
The question: if you would like to have us include reasons for your opinion about Puyallup City Council’s utility fee increases, billing frequency change, and festival street expenditure when we post our next Tuesday survey update, please describe the aspects you agree with, and what you disagree with:
| 2025-10-17 | This was an absolute waste of tax payer money. The street did not need to be rebuilt again and only appeared to have dmbeen done so as a favor to the fair. Our utilities are already high and in today’s economy, raising them, without a vote of the people, only further hurts the people who live here. |
| 2025-10-28 | The move to monthly billing came with a huge increase. What was $160.00 every two months became $104.00 every month, without any increase in usage. You are screwing fixed income residents and playing political games that you do not have the right to play. |
Candidate Lindsay Smolko responded to the survey and gave permission to share the following response to the question on municipal utilities: “I am one of the two District 3 candidates, and it’s not with any intention that I haven’t publicly posted my thoughts on these issues. Here are my thoughts: The tax changes and utility fee increases can have several impacts on the average resident…1) Financial Burden: Increasing utility rates mean we will pay more for essential services. This increases monthly household expenses, which can strain budgets, especially for seniors, low-income families, or those on fixed incomes. And in the most uncertain of economic times I have experienced in my adulthood, I’m greatly concerned about these effects on all of us. 2) Altered Payment Schedules: Moving from bi-monthly to monthly payments can make budgeting more challenging for some of us, as they need to plan for smaller, more frequent bills. 3) Higher Overall Costs: The combined increase in utility costs and new taxes or fees can lead to a MAJOR rise in monthly living expenses, reducing disposable income and potentially affecting affordability. 4) Impact of Local Projects: Spending sewer and stormwater fees on projects like the festival street—especially when they JUST did this recently—may lead all of us to question whether our taxes dollars are used efficiently and if future projects are financially justified. 5) Transparency and Trust: I realize that uncertainty about support or opposition to new taxes like the Transportation Tax District can create concern regarding transparency and accountability in local government decision-making. Overall, these changes could result in higher living costs for residents, increased financial strain, and I have concerns about how tax revenues are allocated and managed by current city officials, who hear but blatantly ignore their constituents. I’m going to work my butt off to problem solve with as many stakeholder voices as I can find and hear.”
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