November 1 — Budget shows ‘fiscal caution’

Sumner City Council prepares to approve a $57.4 million budget for 2008

Roxanne Cooke / of the Herald

Sumner’s preliminary budget for 2008 is set for $57.4 million, an increase from this year’s $50.6 million budget.

Despite the $6.8 million increase, the budget hasn’t grown too much aside from some new city projects and yearly rises in costs, said City Administrator John Doan. Capital projects for 2008 include a community storage building for parade floats, Sk8 Park improvements, a new library roof and a planter island on 64th Street.

There continue to be cost increases for the city – cost of employee salaries, fuel and energy, for example, Doan said. Aside from those, though, the 2008 budget is one of ‘“fiscal caution,” he said.

After the city’s five-year financial plan revealed the city could face a $7.35 million deficit if it didn’t alter its finances, council members brainstormed ways to reduce costs and increase revenue.

“When you play out the projection, the long-term trend is not positive,” Doan said.

The council’s toolbox of ways to prevent that deficit from occurring includes increasing revenue, increasing taxes and fees, improving efficiencies and changing levels of service.

The city can increase its revenue with the annexation into Fire District No. 22, a process that began this fall; it can increase taxes and fees with the 1 percent increase in property taxes and the council will improve efficiencies by further developing its online billing service.

Property taxes will increase to $2.55 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, which should net the city $42,000, Doan said.

The city doesn’t plan to reduce levels of service, though.

“We’re quite proud that we were able to cut back and yet not impact the level of service,” Doan said. “It’s really something we’d like to not have to do.”

The general fund is more constant than the budget as a whole. It’s only up to $14.5 million, compared to this year’s $14.3 million – a 1.4 percent increase.

The general fund covers the city’s day-to-day operations and tax-supported activities, said the City’s Financial Operations Director, Beth Anne Wroe. It’s the primary operating fund for general government activities.

A project planned for 2008 and covered by the general fund is a community survey to track how Sumner is doing over time in terms of growth and safety. The goal will be to do one every other year.

“It’s not a big item, but it’s one we really need to get started on,” Doan said. “It is about customer satisfaction.”

Sumner is also considering a biennial, or every other year, budget. Because of the tremendous amount of work involved in a budget, it would be one more way to gain efficiency. In a biennial budget, however, a major check-in would be important to make sure the city stays on track with its finances.

Limits on the budget include availability of land, employee costs, employee shortages, the cost of energy, the housing market, the economic development climate and increasing construction costs.

There are a few positions in city departments that remain unfilled, including an associate city engineer, Doan said. It’s a matter of generational change and the demanding nature of the job, he added.

The city council will likely vote on the preliminary 2008 budget at a council meeting in mid to late November.