Don’t be so quick to slap that hand reaching for your wallet. This time, it may be putting money back – well, sort of.

While the Mukilteo City Council approved a 1 percent property tax increase at Monday’s meeting, the city projects the average tax bill actually will drop – ever so slightly.

That’s because while the total amount collected goes up slightly, it’s being divided by more properties, resulting in smaller numbers across the board.

Adding in new construction, and the pie slices narrow even further. (Adding buildings to previously vacant property or additional space to existing buildings increases their value, hence their piece of the pie.)

Mukilteo came close to losing the annual Lighthouse Festival in 2003, when city officials opted out due to budget constraints, taking $35K in funding along with it.

Now the Festival could be in danger of going away again, as the volunteers who took up the baton feel it’s outgrown their capacity to effectively manage it without some city-provided leadership.

“We learned that if you build it, they will come,” volunteer and past executive director Kathy Wisbeck told the council Monday. “We are proud of what we built, but we are victims of our success.”

The volunteers are running out of steam, she added. They feel it’s time for the city to resume control of the event, although Wisbeck envisions a partnership with the existing volunteers.

Mukilteo resident and Gallery Homes Real Estate owner Elizabeth Erickson has fond memories of driving around with her young children, enjoying the various holiday decorations and the unique ways people celebrate this special time of year.

Now she shares those moments with her grandchildren, who get just as excited today as her children did many years ago.

After seeing a holiday decorating contest sponsored by the City of Redmond, Erickson thought that Mukilteo is the perfect sized town for such an event. In 2003, she launched the annual Peace on Earth Holiday Decorating Contest.

“There are always special decorations, off the beaten track, that people put so much effort into, but only their neighbors ever see it,” Erickson said. “This is a way to showcase some of those homes.”

Since 1999, Mukilteo has been my home and home-away-from-home. As I've ventured out on my own to Los Angeles and beyond as a singer, songwriter, actor and photographer, often feeling alone and overwhelmed, the Mukilteo community and specifically the community of Mukilteo Presbyterian Church has been a supportive life-line. There I've seen lives change for the better, families heal and sadness turn to happiness — I’ve been moved by the pastor's inspirational words.

 I've also had the chance to participate each Christmas through song and have always been touched by the sincere place from which the many talented musicians of the community make their music.