No matter what decisions the Vancouver City Council reaches, one thing isn’t going to change — there will be deep cuts to city staff and services in 2011.
The city’s $135 million general fund will fall up to $12 million short next year, and with costs rising faster than revenues, things aren’t expected to get rosier as the economy strengthens.
From where the 2011 cuts will come isn’t certain yet, except the mayor and others have indicated that no city department is likely to be spared.
Following a spring-long effort to get citizen input, the council is set to spend a day prioritizing services on May 21.
With unpleasant short-term decisions looming overhead, the city’s seven elected officials and department heads spent Friday brainstorming fixes for 2012 and beyond.
The heads of the fire, transportation, and parks and recreation departments all presented strategies to break away from the city’s general fund and form separate taxing districts or authorities.
Department heads talked about creating separate, possibly regional (including Clark County and cities such as Washougal, Camas and Battle Ground), districts.
Each special district would have to be approved by voters. Each will take time.
“None of them address the 2011-2012 budget,” city Economic Development Director Eric Holmes said. “None of them.”
Held in a conference room at the Vancouver Police Department’s West Precinct, Friday’s meeting was the third in a series of four planned budget retreats.
None of the solutions — which include the possible formation of a transportation benefit district, a metropolitan park district and a regional fire authority or district — are being advocated at this point, City Manager Pat McDonnell was careful to point out.
“I don’t want to look like we’re supporting this,” he said. “It is: ‘Should we be moving forward in a planning mode with this?’”
The fire chief, transportation, and parks and recreation directors each gave presentations on how dividing their departments would work. With each splintering of departments, the city lessens the strain on the general fund, but the council worried that there would also be a loss of local control.
Some still seemed drawn to the idea of wooing voters with service-specific tax measures, rather than general services levies.
“We’re moving away from the idea of general purpose government because residents aren’t ready to say ‘Here’s our money, we trust you,’” Councilor Jack Burkman said. “We’re moving more toward that breaking up model.”
Fire Department
Vancouver has started talking with fire districts 5 and 6 about creating a regional fire authority, Fire Chief Don Bivins said.
Under a fire authority, a new governing board is created, and resources of all the departments are pooled.
So are the problems — such as the five Vancouver fire stations that have been found to be highly vulnerable to earthquakes. It would cost $9 million to upgrade them, or $27 million to replace them.
Still, Bivins said, efficiency could possibly increase and funding could become more stable.
“What’s driving fire authorities across the state is everyone is drowning in the effort to try to maintain services in an ever-declining revenue basis,” he said, noting Kent voters overwhelmingly approved a fire authority there Tuesday.
Under state law, the district becomes a junior taxing district and could charge up to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value on property taxes. (Or up to $1.60 if 60 percent of voters approve a slightly different taxing scale).
A fire district could also be formed, where the city could be annexed into nearby Fire District 5, he explained. Currently, the city answers all of Fire District 5’s calls under a contract for service.
Cost-benefit work is being done on both options and will be brought back to the council.
Transportation
It’s long been known that this year marks the end of the city’s ability to pay for any construction of new roads.
The system needs $15 million to $20 million a year to keep up with the city’s development plans, city budget staff told the council Friday.
One way to start bridging that gap is to create a transportation benefit district, Transportation Manager Thayer Rorabaugh said.
The city council can create a benefit district and then levy up to $20 in annual vehicle license fees without voter approval — which would raise about $2.8 million a year. Numerous city councils, including Olympia’s government, have done that, he said.
However, other funding solutions would require voter say.
The city can ask voters to approve up to $100 in vehicle license fees, which would bring in more than $14 million a year.
Also, they can ask for a maximum sales tax increase of 0.2 percent, which would raise $4.4 million a year.
The benefit district could be regional, allowing any license fee or sales tax revenues to be drawn from a larger pool and serve a larger area, Rorabaugh said.
Vancouver and Clark County governments are co-chairing a look into creating a countywide benefit district, he said.
“I have personally met with all the cities in the county; all of them have said yes to include them in the process,” he said.
Parks and Recreation
The Vancouver-Clark Parks District has taken a lot of hits as local governments’ budgets have shrunk.
As a result, Parks Manager Pete Mayer said a metropolitan parks district may be the best choice.
The idea would be similar to the Greater Clark Parks District, which voters approved in 2005. The district and matching levy of up to 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value provides for the construction and maintenance of 35 new parks, seven miles of walking trails and additional youth sports fields. That district lies outside of Vancouver’s city limits, but within its urban growth boundary.
“An MPD is the most flexible, and we’ve had some success here,” Holmes said. “We are on track to explore an MPD and some other options with neighboring communities as potential solutions.”
Metropolitan parks districts can ask voters to approve levies of up to 75 cents per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value.
McDonnell and Mayor Tim Leavitt will meet Monday with Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart and county Administrator Bill Barron to discuss a park district. Recommendations are expected to return to both governments as soon as January 2011, Mayer said.
Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542 or andrea.damewood@columbian.com.
