Cheney's current expense woes

Cheney Mayor Tom Trulove calls it the “trouble fund.”

It’s technically known as the current expense fund, or the general fund. It’s the section of municipal government whose revenues rely mostly on that five-letter word citizens hate most — taxes.

And yet, like a drink with multiple straws, it’s the fund many municipal departments rely on to operate — departments such as police, fire, courts, administration, finance and, to a much lesser degree in Cheney, parks and recreation. And like other cities around the state, Cheney has found its current expense fund shrinking in its ability to keep up with the mounting expenses and needs of the departments it supplies.

That was evident in a current expense budget workshop the City Council held several weeks ago, Oct. 6, at the Utility Building’s conference room. While firm figures are still being worked on, Finance Director Cindy Niemeier and City Administrator Mark Schuller told council members the current expense fund wouldn’t differ much from last year’s $6.728 million number, with Niemeier adding the 2016 fund was out of balance on the expense side by about $57,000.

As of this Oct. 27, that had not changed.

“The general fund is still in the same funding as it was at the workshop,” Niemeier said in an email.

While enterprise funds such as Public Works and Lighting are relatively healthy, thanks to service charges based on usage, the current expense fund has suffered due to circumstances outside the city’s control. Statewide citizen initiatives have eliminated or drastically reduced motor vehicle excise taxes and liquor revenues while capping the annual increases in property taxes to a rate that lags well behind in goods and services the city uses.

As an example of one area of loss, the Association of Washington Cities projects Cheney will lose $419,315 in liquor revenues from 2013 – 2017 due to the privatization of liquor by initiative in 2011.

The loss of large businesses such as Bonanza Ford, along with a sluggish housing market at the end of the last decade also played a role. The city has seen some relief through sales taxes from construction at Eastern Washington University, and the housing market appears to be bouncing back, but these haven’t led to increasing health in the current expense fund.

To meet long-delayed staffing and equipment replacement needs in public safety, the city is asking the public to pass a ballot measure Nov. 3 raising the city’s property tax levy lid. That would result in an estimated increase to the city’s general fund of $410,975 a year, but it is money city officials have stressed goes first to meeting public safety’s requests before anything else.

That leaves other departments looking elsewhere in the budget for money to meet needs they have put off, or hoping public safety gets taken care of as soon as possible, if the measure passes.

At the Oct. 6 workshop, Niemeier and Schuller said the city’s utility management system needs to be upgraded. The current system dates to 1995, and while still good, it needs to be augmented with something more efficient.

“We have a lot of stand alone systems right now,” Schuller said. “We need one that integrates everything.”

Niemeier said state auditing costs are increasing by $5,000, adding she has moved some money around in the budget to account for this, and that new accounting standards coming down the pipe will affect how all city funds are handled, including enterprise funds.

Cheney Municipal Court Administrator Terri Cooper said her department is really the “third arm of public safety” in its work. New laws opening up public records access and establishing more offender rights in court create additional costs to the court, such as the need for better courtroom security and equipment to handle attorneys’ document requests while in court.

Cooper said over the last four years, court funding has been cut 67 percent. Among the 11 items Cooper ticked off as needed was a part-time clerk to handle the expanding workload – including parking ticket increases at EWU and in the city – at an estimated $9,600.

She also asked her title be elevated to department head, with accompanying pay increase as she is not compensated for time served on the bench, something currently saving the city money over hiring an outside administrator. Finally, she requested $4,000 annually, for the city’s domestic violence advocate A.R.M.S., Abuse Recovery Ministry Services, which has been doing the work free for the last three years.

“I think it would be a nice thank you to this non-profit,” Cooper said.

Schuller offered a bit of good news in noting the Parks and Recreation Department’s interfund loans have been paid off, and the city is beginning to establish a bit of reserve. He said they are looking at doing organizational restructuring, steering away from an actual department head, and that recreational programs remain strong.

He went on to say park upgrades, such as repairs to restrooms, replacing damaged playground equipment and fixing Sutton Park’s Gazebo, have been neglected for a long time and are coming due. The city is looking at additional pool work, including lighting upgrades for safety and a new chlorinator, but needs to come up with a long-term solution regarding its aging aquatics facility.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].