PORT ANGELES — The city is going to have to tighten its financial belt to yet another notch next year, and it needs additional public input on spending priorities, the city manager and finance director told an audience of about 35 people Thursday.
The public meeting at City Hall was an earlier-than-usual attempt to involve residents in the budget planning process. Formal public hearings on the 2010 budget will take place Nov. 3, Nov. 17 and Dec. 1.
Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski’s presentation included information on how the budget works and upcoming financial problems.
During the presentation, Ziomkowski asked attendees to picture the city’s financial situation in this way:
“You have some revenue going away. You have s ome revenue shrinking. You have some revenues which are not growing, and on the other side, you have services and demands for service which is going up and up. There’s no way not to have this [financial] gap.”
If spending did not change and reserves were used to make up the difference, she said the city would be out of money in 2012.
“Replenishing reserves would be almost impossible because we will be very limited,” she said.
At the end of this year, Ziomkowski told the City Council on Tuesday, the general fund is projected to be in the red by $150,000 because of several revenue sources coming in below what was projected.
While revenue is decreasing because of the economy, Ziomkowski said expenses continue to grow, partially because of additional services the city has had to take on in the last few years and increased demand for street maintenance and improvements.
How about luxuries?
The financial problems prompted one resident in attendance, Jeannette Ashley, to ask if the city plans to reduce some of its “luxuries,” such as flower baskets.
City Manager Kent Myers responded by saying it’s too early to tell what would be cut, but added that the city has cut back on seasonal employees, who tend to the plants, already this year.
Ashley’s question, and several others, came after Ziomkowski’s presentation, when the floor was opened up for questions and comments.
Jack Slowriver, director of Family Planning of Clallam County, requested that the city reconsider eliminating assistance to nonprofit agencies entirely.
That funding was cut in half last year, and staff have recommended that it be eliminated in 2010.
“While it looks maybe like a little bit of money, it has a huge widespread impact,” said Slowriver, adding that nonprofits use those funds to leverage grants.
A man who did not provide his name recommended that more residents volunteer their time to offset city expenses in any way possible. This, he said, would allow the city to focus on sustaining core services, such as police, fire and streets.
“After that, a lot of things are negotiable,” he said.
The idea prompted some applause from the audience.
Myers said no further meetings are scheduled before the public hearings on the 2010 budget later this year.
Referring to Thursday’s meeting, he said, “I think this is a good start to the process, and we’re just hoping to get public input.
“We think it’s important for the public to understand the challenges we are facing and help us work through the difficulties that we will be addressing over the next several months.”
Ziomkowski also spoke against state Initiative 1033, which would limit the growth rate of state, county and city general fund revenue, not including new voter-approved revenue, to inflation and population growth, with any revenue collected above these limits used to cut property taxes.
Ziomkowski said the measure, if voters pass it in the Nov. 3 general election, would limit core city services such as police and fire.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
