Municipalities continue budget approvals

As cities in and near Clark County finalize their budgets for next year, employees in at least two unions have agreed to provisions to help cash-strapped municipalities.

Members of Woodland’s union for public works and exempt employees will not take a cost-of-living increase in 2011. The police union has agreed to discuss with the city its members’ 2011 contractual cost-of-living increase of 2.5 percent. The city is still negotiating 2011 contracts with the fire and clerical union members.

The city of Woodland has also negotiated a change in health care plans that will increase premiums by 4.5 percent, as opposed to the current plan’s scheduled premium increase of 17 percent.

In Washougal, the police union agreed to a new three-year contract that will save the city more than $32,000 in 2011. Union members will not receive a cost-of-living increase in 2011 but will receive an increase of 1 percent in 2012 and 2013.

Next year officers also will change medical insurers, saving the city $14,000 in annual premiums. Beginning in 2012, officers will pay more for their dependents’ medical insurance coverage. Single employees covered in the medical program will also start paying for coverage, according to a news release from the city.

The city and its two other unions — one for firefighters and one for employees from various departments — have begun preliminary discussions to open their contracts a year early.

The salary commission in Washougal also reduced the mayor’s salary from $2,000 to $1,800 per month and each council member’s salary from $500 to $450 per month. Those changes don’t go into effect until the position terms end. However, so far, Mayor Sean Guard, Councilwoman Jennifer McDaniel and Councilman Dave Shoemaker have requested their pay reductions go into effect Jan. 1.

The salary reductions and union concessions make up just a piece of the cities’ budgets. City councils in both cities passed their 2011 budgets Monday night.

Councils in Camas and Battle Ground also approved their budgets Monday.

Here are the details of the approved budgets:

Washougal

• General fund: $9.9 million; all funds: $32.1 million.

• Property taxes: No increase. The city has reached the statutory limit for property taxes.

• Utilities: 13.5 percent increase for water; 28.5 percent increase for sewer; 14.5 percent increase for stormwater.

The budget was approved by a vote of 5-2; Councilmen Michael Delavar and Shoemaker voted against the budget.

The budget includes eliminating two police officer positions — one a vacant position; the other to be eliminated through attrition — and a building inspector position. The staff reductions are not expected to impact service levels, City Administrator David Scott said. The city also implemented a pay freeze in 2011 for employees not represented by unions.

The utility increases are driven by required capital expenditures, Scott said. The utility systems require enhancements to remain in compliance with state and federal regulations, he said. In addition to the utility projects, the budget also includes funding for the E Street “road-diet” project.

Woodland

• General fund: $4.1 million; all funds: $15.3 million.

• Property taxes: 1 percent increase.

• Utilities: 22 percent increase for sewer; 7 percent increase for water.

The city council unanimously adopted the budget.

The council reduced spending in all funds citywide by at least 15 percent, Clerk Mari Ripp said. The reductions were made without laying off any employees, she said. The city will not fill two vacant public works positions.

The water and sewer increases will finally get the two utilities operating in the black and will cover basic repairs and maintenance, Ripp said. In the past two years, the city has used about $400,000 in reserves to make up for the shortfall, she said.

Battle Ground

• General fund: $19.9 million; all funds: $60.9 million; the city has a 2011-12 biennial budget.

• Property taxes: 1 percent increase.

• Utilities: Water, sewer and stormwater utility taxes increase from 16 percent to 18 percent.

The budget was approved by a vote of 3-2; Councilmen Alex Reinhold and Phil Haberthur voted against the budget. Council members Lisa Walters and Paul Zandamela were absent, but Zandamela has been vocal in his opposition to the budget.

The utility tax increases will cost residents an additional $13 per year, Finance Director Catherine Huber Nickerson said. The revenue from the increases will go into the general fund to help cover the cost of city operations.

The city also trimmed expenses by more than 2 percent across the board, instituted a hiring freeze, restructured staff positions, reduced street overlay funding, and used some money from reserves. The city could face layoffs in the future if revenue does not increase, she said.

City employees will not receive a cost-of-living increase, with the exception of the police union members under contract, Huber Nickerson said. The council voted Monday night to provide non-represented employees with 60 hours of paid time off in lieu of the cost-of-living increase.

Camas

• General fund: $15.8 million; all funds: $49.3 million.

• Property taxes: No increase. The city has reached the statutory limit for property taxes due to dropping assessed values, City Administrator Lloyd Halverson said.

• Utilities: 11 percent increase for stormwater; 3 percent increase for water; 11 percent increase for sewer; 3 percent increase for garbage; no increase for recycling.

The city council unanimously adopted the budget.

The declining assessed value of homes means the city is expecting to lose about $720,00 in property taxes, Halverson said. The utility rate increases, which were approved in 2009, are to pay for capital projects, he said.

The budget includes cutbacks in library hours and parks maintenance, among other areas. The budget also reduces staffing from 185 full-time equivalent positions to 175 through attrition, Halverson said.

Vancouver and Ridgefield city councils earlier approved their budgets; La Center City Council is expected to adopt its budget this week.

Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.