Preliminary discussions on the City of Port Townsend’s 2006 budget can be summed up in two words: user fees.
Following voters’ solid rejection a year ago of a proposed 53 percent increase in the city portion of property taxes, City Manager David Timmons and the City Council are shying away from that approach for 2006.
Although no decisions were made at a Sept. 12 workshop on the issue, Timmons outlined options in which the city could either increase existing fees or establish new ones.
New fee ideas include: bicycle registration, false alarm response, special events, jail fees (charged to people incarcerated by the city) and a venue admissions tax (if adopted, this would be implemented in 2007).
Existing fees that might be hiked include rental of Chetzemoka Park (currently $150 for weddings), Pope Marine Park Building rental, building and planning permit fees, compost (both delivery of material, which is currently free, and sale of finished compost), ambulance fees and PTTV cable station user fees.
Higher rates might be in store for water, sewer and stormwater customers. Water and sewer rates were raised 40 percent over the last two years, said Timmons, because the city did not make incremental raises to keep up with inflation. Stormwater rates have not been raised for several years, and a draft stormwater plan that guides that issue continues to languish.
New taxes could include a tax on cable TV, including both programming and Internet access via cable. The maximum allowed under state law is 6 percent, said Timmons. The city has a 10 percent utility tax that applies to other utilities, and Timmons said there is no limit on that tax rate. Some cities have a 30 percent utility tax rate, he suggested.
The library and the city’s composting operation garnered a lot of the fee hike discussion. Councilor Laurie Medlicott asked about the possibility of library fees other than late fines; that idea was raised and defeated about four years ago, when library supporters asserted that such fees aren’t allowed under state law.
The compost operation is losing about $200,000 a year, Timmons estimated. One problem is that more material is being brought in than can be processed quickly; some of that is from clearing of land for development. A second problem is that Goodman Sanitation, which had supplied a key ingredient for composting, started bringing its septage to Mason County after the city raised its rates a few years back.
Selling the compost isn’t the problem, said Timmons, even though it’s available only in bulk. And if there were no compost program, the city would still have to pay for the disposal of solids separated from other materials at the sewer plant.
Timmons and his staff are still assembling preliminary budget numbers. Overall, he estimated, the gap between revenues and expenses appears to be about 5 percent.
One of the reasons that the city is looking to boost fees is that Jefferson County has also been raising fees. Last year, said Timmons, the Washington State Association of Counties successfully lobbied the Legislature to allow counties to impose a voter registration fee on cities. As a result, the city must now pay the county about $15,000 a year for voter registration services, he said.
Timmons expressed some skepticism about jail and dispatch fees paid to the county. Dispatching fees, which are based on call volume, are up about $100,000, he said. “I think the numbers are in error,” he said.
Timmons did not mention any proposals for new services or other issues that would create major budget challenges. “There aren’t a lot of dramatic changes,” he said.
The council has yet to take a final vote on property tax revenues for 2006. If it chooses a 1 percent increase, the general fund and the emergency medical services (EMS) funds would get another $15,000 and $3,500, respectively, not including revenues from new construction. A vote of the people is required for a larger property tax revenue increase.
Timmons and Councilor Michelle Sandoval pointed out that the EMS levy and EMS fees don’t fully fund that program, which costs about $800,000 annually. As a result, the general fund subsidizes the EMS program by about $209,000 a year, they said.
For "the rest of the story" and full coverage of all Port Townsend and Jefferson County news, events and people, subscribe to our award-winning weekly newspaper.
