Yakima City Council Study Session - October 29, 2024: Review of Proposed 2025-2026 Biennial Budget
Yakima City Council Study Session - October 29, 2024: Review of Proposed 2025-2026 Biennial Budget
The Yakima City Council held a study session on October 29, 2024, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:24 p.m. to review the proposed 2025-2026 biennial priority-based budget. Presentations covered Public Works Administration, REET 1 & 2, Streets and Traffic, and Parks and Recreation. The session concluded with a budget wrap-up discussion on revenue options and next steps.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Lucia Cuevas Ramos, a Heritage University student and Yakima resident, spoke against potential budget cuts to the Parks and Recreation Division. She emphasized the public health importance of parks, citing CDC and National Recreation and Park Association research, and urged the council to consider the benefits of parks for mental and physical well-being.
Discussion Items
- Public Works Administration Budget Presentation: Director Scott Schafer presented an overview of the division's administrative services, safety/training program, and building maintenance. He highlighted accomplishments (e.g., CityWorks asset management software, roof replacements, City Hall elevator replacement) and requested a new Deputy Public Works Director position, funded primarily through enterprise funds (less than 10% from general fund). The proposed budget is $1.86 million for 2025 and $1.94 million for 2026.
- REET 1 & 2 Budget Presentation: Schafer explained the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) program, noting that REET 1 funds facilities and REET 2 funds materials for streets and traffic projects. He reported declining REET revenues (approximately $400,000 below projections in recent years). The 2025 budget is $2.35 million for REET 1 and $3.4 million for REET 2. Projects include contributions to the YMCA Aquatic Center capital reserve fund ($100,000 per year starting in 2025) and traffic signal upgrades.
- Streets and Traffic Budget Presentation: Schafer outlined the division's operations, including snow and ice control, street maintenance, and traffic signals. He noted six vacancies in the 17 street maintenance specialist positions, impacting chip sealing and snow removal. The 2025 budget is $7.0 million, increasing to $7.3 million in 2026. Accomplishments included chip sealing, grind and overlay projects, and traffic signal installations. Future goals include expanding chip sealing operations and upgrading 15 more traffic signals to 12-inch LEDs.
- Parks and Recreation Budget Presentation: Manager Ken Wilkinson presented an extensive overview of parks and recreation programs, including Washington Fruit Community Center, Fisher Park Golf Course, Lions Pool, Franklin Pool, Harman Center, youth and adult sports, park maintenance, and Tahoma Cemetery. The 2025 budget is $6.7 million (up from $6.5 million in 2024) with 53.28 FTEs. The cemetery budget is $448,000. Key requests include $200,000 for parks capital improvements and an eight-month aquatic specialist for the new Aquatic Center at MLK Jr. Park (opening June 2025). Wilkinson highlighted participation numbers (e.g., 17,642 rounds of golf, 54,500 hours at Washington Fruit Community Center, over 9,000 volunteer hours at Harman Center).
- Budget Wrap-Up Questions and Recommendations: City Manager Vicki Baker thanked staff and council, and outlined plans for community engagement on priorities. Finance consultant Mike Bailey explained the priority-based budgeting process, emphasizing the need for a structured approach to balancing the budget. Director of Finance and Budget Viren Mayani summarized the projected general fund deficit (approximately $7.2 million for 2025, expected to increase to $9.5 million) and presented a list of revenue options, including: rolling engineering fees into grants, maximizing cost allocation plans, implementing technology user fees, updating business license fees, establishing an in-lieu tax, reviewing the Transportation Benefit District (TBD) and sales tax, collecting impact fees, increasing sales tax restricted to public safety, adding an EMS levy, creating a fire district or metropolitan parks district, implementing levy lid lifts, and adjusting CPI language in the city charter. Council members discussed the need for community education and a comprehensive approach.
Key Outcomes
- Council requested that staff provide detailed revenue-generating amounts for each of the identified revenue options, presented in a digestible format for the next meeting.
- Staff will bring back a spreadsheet showing all programs by priority level (1-4) and the impact on the general fund reserve (currently 16.7%, with a goal of 25%).
- The council discussed the need to balance the budget without solely relying on reserves and to consider long-term structural fixes.
- The meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m. with a motion to adjourn to the next regular city council meeting on November 4, 2024, at 5:30 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome. I call the Aqua City Council study session October twenty nine, twenty twenty-four to order. Roll call, please. Here. Brown. Here. Fire present. Here. Here. Here. Roy. Council Member Roy. Thank you. Okay, good. Okay, thank you. Next on the agenda is public comment. We will have fifteen minutes for public comment this evening. If you wish to make public comment, please make sure you fill out a slip in the lobby and deliver it to the city clerk. When you come to the microphone, please give us your name and the study in which you live. And I am a Yakima resident. So I am currently currently learning about public health and policy and how it affects everyone on a day-to-day basis. Today I would like to speak about the importance of not cutting budgets for parks and recreation. This is an important public health matter because it affects the community's mental and physical well-being. According to the CDC, parks provide a safe space to play and exercise away from busy streets and commercial zones. I'm sure we can all think about busy streets like Knob Hill, 16th Avenue, First Avenue. Having a proper budget to have these parks on and around safe areas are very important safety concerns. Knowing this, it also serves as a preventative practice by decreasing the number of accidental injuries on busy streets and provide a healthier lifestyle. One article from the National Recreation and Park Association states that spending time in nature lowers cortisol levels and blood pressure while also improving sleep. As a Yacoma resident, I have noticed that parks play an important role in my own lifestyle as well as my family's. This has allowed my family, friends, and myself to stay active, de stressed after a long day of work, or just going on a nice walk at a cost-free price. For these reasons listed, I would like for you to take what I spoke about today into consideration when discussing the next budget for parks and recreation. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Beeler, do we have anyone on Zoom who would like to make public comment this evening? No, Mayor Myers, we do not. Thank you. So we will close public comment for tonight. And we are going to um move in to our agenda, which is a review of the proposed 2526 biomarking based budget session. And Vicky Baker, do you have anything you'd like to say at this point? I am going to actually introduce the last portion of this with the wrap-up. Okay. So I think we'll just kick off with Scott. Right. Thank you. Thank you. So first is Public Works Administration budget presentation. Mr. Scott Schaefer, our director of public works.
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