Budget cuts, no tax hikes in 2010 budget

Liberty Lake Mayor Wendy Van Orman has proposed a 2010 city budget that is 5 percent lower than last year’s but doesn’t ask for the annual 1 percent rise in property tax the city is allowed to take.

The 2009 total budget was $12.6 million with a general fund budget of $6.5 million. The 2010 budget is set at $12.2 million with a general fund of $6 million. Last year Van Orman requested a 1 percent tax increase but the City Council voted it down. It did did, however, vote to “bank” the 1 percent, which means the city could lock in the assessed valuation of property to maintain its base for future tax collections. Van Orman is suggesting that the council again bank the 1 percent.

“We haven’t taken 1 percent for the last four or five years,” Van Orman said. “If you’ve got unemployment up at 9.3 percent nationwide, it’s time for municipalities to live within their means.”

The decision not to raise property taxes by 1 percent will save the average homeowner about $8 a year while costing the city about $23,000 in revenue. “It’s not our pocket change, it’s theirs,” she said.

However, the tax rate per thousand will actually rise from 2009’s $1.51 per $1,000 in assessed home value to $1.55 per thousand in 2010. That’s because the Spokane County Assessor’s Office is estimating a 3 percent drop in the city’s assessed value, which makes the price per thousand rise. In previous years the price per thousand dropped even when tax rates increased because of new construction and rising home values.

The budget had to be trimmed because the city is facing a 12 percent decline in sales tax revenue in 2009, and that level is expected to continue in 2010, Van Orman said.

To achieve these cuts Van Orman is suggesting a mix of staff cuts and trimming operating budgets. The empty deputy city clerk position will be cut, as will the building inspector position. A planning assistant will be reduced from full time to part time with no benefits. The only addition in staff is a part-time accounting technician.

The remaining staff would receive a 2 percent merit increase in pay but no cost of living adjustment under the mayor’s plan. Last year nonunion employees received a 2 percent merit increase plus a 3.9 percent cost of living increase, which the council trimmed from the mayor’s requested 5.9 percent cost of living increase.

Staffing in the police department will remain unchanged, but the vehicle maintenance and supplies allocated face a cut of 21 percent and there would be no new cars leased. Police Chief Brian Asmus said he requested two new cars last year and two this year under a vehicle replacement plan, but so far he hasn’t received any. Some of the department’s cars have more than 100,000 miles on them, he said.

Asmus said he isn’t worried about losing money for vehicle maintenance. His costs in that area have been greatly reduced since the department instituted a new scheduled maintenance program. He’s also hoping that gas prices won’t go through the roof again. “I’m crossing my fingers,” he said.

Van Orman said she plans to wait one more year before setting money aside for new police cars. “We’ll easily be able to bring it back,” she said.

The mayor’s stated goal for the Recreation Department is for it to increase registration for programs by 125 percent in 2010. At the same time the department is losing half of its budget for children’s programming, 70 percent of the special events programming budget and 60 percent of the adult programming budget.

Van Orman said the department actually budgeted more money than it needed last year so the cuts shouldn’t have a large impact. She did say that the city’s plan to launch an after-school program will be postponed and the city plans to collaborate with Spokane Valley and Spokane County to offer some programs more cheaply.

The same argument also applies to the street fund, where she is suggesting cuts of 80 percent for parking lot repair and maintenance and 25 percent in street cleaning, she said. “Although it looks like a major drop, they just looked at what we spent this year.”

Two capital projects have survived the budget cuts. The second phase of Rocky Hill Park was awarded a $503,500 state grant. The city’s match of $345,840 is proposed to come from the Capital Projects Fund and the Special Capital Projects Fund.

The mayor also plans to use $55,000 in community beautification money to begin a scaled-back phase one of the “Nature’s Place at Meadowwood” arboretum. The plan is to put in the “hardscape” – irrigation, steps and items to make the area compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“We can either wait or actually start incrementally as we have funding for it,” Van Orman said. “I’ve had countless residents talk about wanting to donate trees, benches, gazebos. We can’t do any of that until we get the hardscape in.”

Van Orman said she believes her proposed budget is a good one. “We were very frugal this year,” she said. “We’re tightening our belts everywhere we can. I’m excited about our budget.”

It will be up to the City Council to decide if the mayor’s trims and adjustments are acceptable. The council will hold public hearings on the proposed budget in November and must pass a budget by Dec. 31.