PORT ANGELES — Two Clallam County commissioners are willing to tap the county’s general fund to pay for Economic Development Council staff.
Commissioners Jim McEntire and Bill Peach on Monday directed county staff to prepare budget documents to spend up to $150,000 on the EDC for the remainder of this year.
In what he describes as a “one-time experiment,” McEntire has championed an effort to help the private nonprofit organization become more effective in recruiting businesses and keeping jobs in Clallam County.
His original pitch to use the sales-tax-supported Opportunity Fund is in the process of being shelved after a citizen sued the county for a code change that would enable such spending.
As a “matter of principle,” Commissioner Mike Chapman objected to the draw on the general fund, which is used to support day-to-day operations at the county.
“It is a new day of doing business financially with that move right there,” Chapman told his fellow commissioners.
Commissioners today will call for a March 24 public hearing on the use of the $150,000 from the general fund and other debatable budget emergencies.
McEntire, an EDC board member, first proposed to spend up to $500,000 for EDC personnel through 2017.
The council requested the money to hire two full-time employees to double its capacity.
Although McEntire lowered his $200,000 commitment for this year to $150,000 for the EDC staffers because of timing, McEntire and Peach remain committed to helping the EDC thrive.
The mission of the organization is “to ‘set the table’ for economic growth; to identify, understand and align the economic drivers throughout the County; and to be the advocate for Clallam County commerce.”
A second option for the county to fund EDC staff would be to draw non-sales tax revenue from the Opportunity Fund.
That option needs further analysis, officials said.
The Opportunity Fund can be used for public infrastructure projects and personnel in economic development offices, according to state law.
Clallam County has $2 million in its Opportunity Fund and about $12.3 million in general fund reserve.
The rainy day reserve contains $7.5 million that is restricted for things like cash flow liquidity, law and justice emergencies, public health, insurance, unanticipated capital and employment separations, County Administrator Jim Jones said.
The unrestricted reserve, which is often used to balance county budgets, has about $4.8 million left.
“That money is important for ongoing operations, although we believe we’ve covered those expensive emergencies by the $7.5 million,” Jones told commissioners in their board work session.
Technically, nearly half of the Opportunity Fund could be removed from a sales tax budget designation that prevents it from being spent on the EDC, Jones said.
“And then we have about $4.5 million or so available in general fund,” Jones said.
“There really aren’t any other sources of monies.”
McEntire defended the use of either fund with “appropriate safeguards” from the EDC.
“If you don’t do something valuable with this [money], you’re not going to get it again and the EDC probably will just go away,” McEntire said.
“This is the experiment where we’re trying to fix the organization.”
The actual amount paid to the EDC this year will be negotiated.
Peach and McEntire agreed that $150,000 would be an appropriate target.
“I support the $150,000 from the general fund,” Peach added.
Former Commissioner Ron Richards sued the county over a Jan. 27 ordinance that changed code to allow the county draw from the Opportunity Fund to pay for EDC staff and eliminated the Opportunity Fund Advisory Board.
McEntire has proposed a new council with representatives from the various local governments to oversee economic development efforts.
Chapman opposed the code change and abstained last week when commissioners called for a March 17 hearing on the repeal of Ordinance 898, the target of the lawsuit and a referendum petition.
That hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the commissioners hearing room (160) at the Clallam County courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
