Paging through a recently released audit of North Bonneville’s finances, a few phrases come to mind.
Dire straits. Circling the drain. Uh-oh.
The State Auditor’s Office found the Skamania County city was not bringing in enough revenue to pay its bills in 2013 and 2014.
“The city provides a wide array of services but lacks sufficient revenue streams to provide these services at their current level,” auditors wrote.
The state also found there isn’t enough financial oversight to effectively prevent fraud, since there are so few employees who handle the city’s finances.
But though North Bonneville officials admit they’re on thin ice, they’re hopeful the worst is behind them.
“We’re just living by a wing and a prayer,” City Administrator Steve Hasson said. “I don’t want in any way to discount the things they said in the report. We want to work harder to assure financial matters here are good. Many years ago, they were pretty sloppy.”
Last spring, Hasson was faced with an unprecedented quandary. He had $30,000 in city bills to pay and no way to write a check. Though he was able to put the payments off a few months while city revenue picked up, it still shook him.
“I’ve been doing this work for more than 30 years,” he said. “This was the first time in a management position I couldn’t pay the bills.”
Like many rural areas, the recession hit North Bonneville harder, and it’s taking longer to heal. A federal Department of Agriculture report said that’s in part due to “rural counties having a lower population growth trend and an older, less well-educated workforce.”
North Bonneville has been growing, however slowly. Census data show just a 1.6 percent increase from 2010 to 2014 population estimates, bringing the city to about 971 residents.
Hasson said seizing on any growth can put the audit findings — which have been recurring for years now — far behind the city.
“You need outside sources of new energy and income,” Hasson said. “That’s kind of my focus — how can we bring new dollars into the community that can help grow the community rather than cut things or reach in people’s back pockets further for monies that just aren’t there.”
From a birds-eye view, that means convincing people to come to the “Bohemia” awaiting them in the Gorge, as Hasson put it. That could spur development and open up a tight housing market.
On the ground, the city will need to add staff and hope for increased property values and sales tax.
Hasson said the two audit findings — strengthening both finances and financial oversight — are tinged with irony, since one requires having money and the other requires spending it. But he said North Bonneville is on a positive path with a lower unemployment rate, infrastructure grants, utility rate hikes and generally better revenues.
Hasson said he’d also like a third party to oversee finances to add another needed layer of accountability.
“I’ve got my fingers crossed that things are going to improve.” Hasson said. “The issue of trying to protect the public purse is a very important thing.”
