City news briefs | Council OKs more dollars for YFS and transportation

Published 12:41 pm Monday, November 24, 2014

Council OKs more dollars for YFS and transportation

At its Nov. 17 meeting, the City Council decided to increase the General Fund support of the Youth & Family Services (YFS) Fund from $300,000 to $350,000 per year in 2015-2016.

This is funded by property tax “new construction,” which is greater than originally projected, said Finance Director Chip Corder. The YFS fund, facing a $260,000 deficit in the preliminary budget discussions, is now projected to go into the red in 2016 by $160,000.

The Council also agreed to set aside $150,000 per year for transit funding in 2015-2020, which was requested by Mayor Bruce Bassett and Deputy Mayor Dan Grausz.

City Emergency Operations Center finds a home

The city will convert a basement storage room in City Hall to be a dedicated Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

The previous EOC space was the City Council Chambers, but it takes about an hour to set up and take down, said Police Commander Dave Jokinen.

“In a real emergency, that hour is critical,” Grausz said.

During the ‘boil water’ advisory, the EOC was set up and taken down four times. The 1,090-square foot space will cost $138,000 to renovate. That includes the purchase of some equipment, though there will be ongoing costs for the EOC, Jokinen said. It will not impact the space currently occupied by the Historical Society.

Lakes’ residents cry foul over balls from playfields

Parks superintendent Jason Kintner said that the city has been having problems at the South Mercer ballfields with foul balls. Little League teams use the fields simultaneously, so foul balls often go into other fields or even hit people sitting in the stands.

To solve this problem, the city will install nets above the bleachers to protect spectators. The cost is expected to be $100,000, with $72,500 coming from a King County grant.

“This is just the city making sure we meet the demands of the community,” Kintner said.

The Ballfield User Group, composed of soccer clubs, boys and girls lacrosse clubs, the Boys & Girls Club, the school district and the Parks & Recreation department, brought these concerns to the city. The group will contribute to the project funding, per the grant requirement.

$25,000 cut from open space management budget

At its last meeting, the City Council considered a $50,000 yearly cut from the Open Space and Vegetation Management fund. After expressing opposition to that proposal initially, the Council ultimately decided in a close 4-3 vote to cut $25,000 per year, or $50,000 in the biennium.

Corder proposed other funding cut options, including pushing back several projects: $32,000 for City Hall Repairs project and $30,000 for North Fire Station repairs. The Council did not approve any of the proposed cuts.

Corder also suggested funding $25,000 of the Mercerdale Park playground equipment project in 2018 with private contributions instead of real estate excise tax, and recommended pushing a $50,000 City Hall parking lot re-paving project from 2019 to 2021, reducing the Luther Burbank Administration Building Repairs project by $70,000 in 2019 and pushing the $104,000 Mercerdale Park amphitheater project from 2019 to 2021.

Council pushes budget decisions to January

On Nov. 17, the Council was slated to finalize changes to the 2015-16 budget, but decided to push a few decisions to its January planning session.

Many councilmembers felt that especially with the South-end fire station construction delays and the recent water situation, it’s too early to make long-term spending decisions.

The city also has a “use it or lose it” $144,960 banked capacity fund that Corder suggested using to address the YFS deficit, and to fund the long-term care costs for a LEOFF I retiree.

The city’s 2015 property tax levy is increasing 2.16 percent, which includes a one percent increase plus the banked capacity.

“To put (that) levy increase in perspective, the June 2014 CPI-W for the Seattle metro area was 2.2 percent,” Corder said.

The Council did not make any decisions about the banked capacity at its last meeting. City Manager Noel Treat said it’s “a great planning session topic.”

Corder said he wanted the six-year capital improvement and street funds to be balanced, which is why the Council created a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) – to address a street fund deficit with $350,000 in annual funding from a $20 car tab fee. The Council approved the fee 6-1 at the first meeting of the TBD on Nov. 17.

The city also has $352,000 in capital reserve monies that are currently serving as a contingency fund for the fire station, and which could be transferred to the capital improvement fund after that construction is done.