PORT ANGELES — The city of Port Angeles may not be able to afford to spend any money on paving streets, working on trails or improving many facilities in 2010, city staff members told the City Council this week.
“We’re not sure that we have any money to fund any of these projects next year,” said City Manager Kent Myers said Tuesday.
That announcement came during the council’s discussion of the city’s 2009-2015 capital facilities plan, which was passed by the City Council unanimously at the same meeting.
The six-year plan is a prioritized list of roughly 200 proposed projects that mostly covers the construction of, or improvements to, city facilities and infrastructure. The city updates the plan every year, and none of the projects are guaranteed funding.
Some of the proposed projects added to the list include MV Coho ferry terminal upgrades, Marine Drive bulkhead repairs, Ediz Hook erosion repair and repairs to the Waterfront Trail.
Glenn Cutler, city public works and utilities director, said Wednesday that utility-related capital projects, which are funded through utility bills, are not at risk of losing funding next year.
General fund
The projects that are at risk are funded by the general fund. Those include improvements for sidewalks, streets, alleys, trails, parks and other government facilities that don’t involve utilities.
Some street maintenance work, such as pot hole repairs and snow removal, are not considered capital projects.
Myers said Wednesday that it is too early to tell whether any money in the general fund will be available for capital facilities projects in 2010.
“We will know more in about 30 days,” he said. “At this point, we don’t know if we will have any money available for these capital improvements.”
Cutler said that none of the city’s infrastructure or facilities are at risk of failing if funding isn’t allocated next year.
“Our biggest concern from the infrastructure perspective is the Eighth Street bridges replacement, and that has been taken care of,” he said.
Behind on paving
But Cutler added that the city has fallen behind on repaving the city’s streets due to a lack of funding over the last several years.
“It’s an important piece of the infrastructure that needs to have attention to it,” he said.
“You’ll still be able to drive over them, but it’s not going to be as comfortable.”
The city has $2.8 million worth of street projects planned for this summer, which are partly paid for with about $861,000 in state grants and federal stimulus money.
Those projects include:
•Street paving downtown, on Lauridsen Boulevard from Tumwater Truck Route to L Street, on L Street from 18th Street to Lauridsen Boulevard and on Race Street from Park to Olympus streets.
• Reconstruction of Peabody Street between Fifth and Eight streets and on Fifth Street between Liberty and Ennis streets.
• Road paving and the extension of a sidewalk on Fifth Street between Liberty and Ennis streets.
• The construction of sidewalks on the north side of 16th Street from E to G streets and up G Street to Stevens Middle School, and from Front Street between Golf Course Road and Liberty Street.
• Installation of traffic signals at First and Peabody streets and the replacement of a traffic signal at Front and Lincoln streets.
But doing any similar projects next year will be difficult if the current financial trend continues, City Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski said.
Based on figures from the first five months of the year, the city is projecting that sales tax revenue — a significant source of funding for capital projects — will be between $100,000 and $150,000 below budget.
The city already budgeted for a 10 percent decrease in sales tax revenue for 2009 over last year.
Through May, the city is seeing a decrease in sales tax revenue of 19 percent when compared with the same months in 2008.
Capital projects are also funded by property, utility and gas taxes.
To date, Ziomkowski said property taxes are on budget, utility taxes are near budget and gas taxes — even with lower gas prices — is down 7 percent from 2008.
15 years
Ziomkowski said that about 15 years have passed since the city has not spent general fund money on capital projects.
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” she said. “It would be the first time in a long time.”
The city didn’t spend any money on capital projects from about 1991-1995 to build up reserves, Ziomkowski said.
It then spent about $2.2 million on capital projects from 1999-2001, with about half of that money coming from reserves, she said.
Those projects include reconstruction of Eighth Street and repaving of Race Street.
“For the last 10 years, we have really been trying to do some capital projects each year,” she said.
“Since 2000, we’ve been trying to dedicate some funding to street paving.”
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
