Olympia City Council Finance Committee Meeting - March 16, 2026
Olympia City Council Finance Committee Meeting - March 16, 2026
The Finance Committee met on March 16, 2026, from 4:30 PM to 6:05 PM. The committee received updates on the Waste Resources Carpenter Road Facility and a budget spotlight on fund history. No public comments were made. The committee directed staff to bring the Carpenter Road facility presentation to the full City Council with additional context on regional rates and privatization options.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the agenda.
- Approval of the February 23, 2026 Finance Committee meeting minutes.
Public Comments & Testimony
- None.
Discussion Items
- Waste Resources Carpenter Road Facility Update (Item 6.A): Public Works Director Mark Russell and Interim Waste ReSources Director Ron Jones presented an update on the proposed new maintenance facility at Carpenter Road. The project has been in development for many years. The current East Side Street facility is nearly 50 years old, has environmental and seismic deficiencies, and would cost $15 million to renovate. The new facility is estimated to cost $40 million, with additional construction costs for a future replacement of the East Side maintenance center estimated at $50 million. The total debt service would be approximately $3 million per year for 30 years, requiring a 24% increase in waste utility rates (from $65 to $81 bimonthly for an average single-family household). Committee members expressed concerns about the high cost, potential inflation, and the impact on ratepayers. They asked about alternatives, including privatization of waste collection, and about regional comparisons of rates and services. Staff noted that the city has been collecting solid waste municipally since 1937 and that few other Washington cities do so. The committee discussed the need for a full council study session with additional context.
- Budget Spotlight: Fund History (Item 6.B): Senior Budget & Finance Manager Joan Lutz presented on three funds: the Development Fee Revenue Fund (006), the Facilities Internal Service Fund (506), and the Fire Fleet Fund (507). The Development Fee Revenue Fund was established in 2015 to track development fees, with a goal of 85% cost recovery. The Facilities Fund was created in 2023 to allow for better capital planning for building maintenance. The Fire Fleet Fund was created in 2025 to track costs for fire vehicle maintenance and ensure rate sustainability. The committee discussed the importance of fund accounting for transparency and accountability.
Key Outcomes
- The committee directed staff to bring the Carpenter Road facility presentation to the full City Council at a future study session, including high-level context on how Olympia's rates compare to neighboring jurisdictions and privatization options.
- Staff will provide additional information on potential inflation scenarios and regional comparisons.
- The committee received the budget spotlight and will continue with future budget spotlights, including cost allocation next month.
- Finance Director Mike Githens reported that the 2026 Operating Budget document has been published, the updated Investment Policy will go to full council on March 24, 2026, and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report is in progress.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the March 16th meeting of the Olympia City Council Finance Committee. It's 4 30 p.m. And I'll call the meeting to order roll call. We have all three committee members with Councilmember Kelly Green and Councilmember Robert Vanderpool joining me, Clark Gilman. We have an agenda to approve. Say it. Right. So the move is seconded to approve the agenda for tonight. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Okay. We have an agenda. Is there anybody signed up for public comment this evening? There's no one assigned up in personal public comment and nobody register on the zoom for public comment. Thank you, Sean. Okay. The next item is to consider approving the minutes from the February 23rd meeting of the planets committee. So all in favor of approving the minutes, say aye. Aye. Wonderful. And this brings us to the first item of committee business this evening. Um, an update on the waste resources carpenter road facility. And Debbie, do you have any introductory comments for this? I do not. Well, then we will call on public works director Mark Russell to kick off the presentation, and you can introduce Ron and Tom and your attorney and anybody on the buddy. Yeah. Well, good evening, Finance Committee. Um, for the record, I'm Mark Russell, Public Works Director, and with me is Ron Jones, our interim waste resources director. And behind me is Tom Jeffers, the deaf fund director of public work. Thanks for having us. I'm here tonight to talk to you about our Carpenter Road waste resources maintenance facility project. So with that, our agenda is um we've been working on this project for a very long time, many, many years actually, as I'm sure some of you know. Um so I'll give you some background, kind of catch us all up on where we've been, and talk about the Carpenter Road facility itself. Um, go over the latest uh project cost estimate, including uh potential debt payments and the rate implications of that debt payment, and then discuss next steps with the project. So if you're okay with that agenda, all right. Super. So let's uh next slide, please thanks. Um just to ground everyone. I know you've all been to the maintenance center on East Side Street, that that's a aerial of the picture. And that building is almost 50 years old. It was the previous transit maintenance facility. Um, it is no longer efficient for the operations crews that work out of that facility. They've outgrown the space dramatically. Ums and building deficiencies exist. Um, they're at the end of their useful life. Um, there's challenging environmental conditions as you can see. We have Bat Mox Lake Creek on one side of the property. There's some wetlands in the middle of the property. Um, so there's just some environmental and stormwater challenges on the site.
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