SEQUIM — The City Council in a 3-2 vote approved cutting $6,000 originally allocated to council goal-setting from the 2012 Sequim city budget this week before it gave a unanimous nod to the overall $20.5 million proposal.
The council’s action came after a public hearing Monday night in which no comments were heard.
The council’s action increased fees for water and sewer service by 2 percent, which would mean an increase of $2 a month for a monthly bill of $100.
With city sales tax revenues remaining sluggish during the recession, City Manager Steve Burkett recommended no pay raises for most of the city of Sequim’s staff of 73 — except union police officers who previously bargained for contracted salary increases.
The council’s action backed that plan.
After some debate over whether the city should continue to put off increasing property taxes by the state-allowed 1 percent, the council approved not to increase the levy.
Council member Don Hall asked that the council consider scratching $6,000 toward a facilitator to guide the council through its goal-setting process, but both council member Ted Miller and Mayor Ken Hays voted against the move.
Miller and Hays said the facilitator helps council members and would benefit council member-elect Candace Pratt, who will be taking over the seat that council member Susan Lorenzen is vacating after year’s end.
Council members Bill Huizinga and Lorenzen joined Hall in voting down the $6,000 expenditure.
Hays contended that a facilitator is part of the reason the council has had past successes in meeting its goals.
“I think the retreat is good every year” for the council, Hays said, adding that he saw it as a small expenditure compared to the multimillion-dollar city general fund.
Miller said he was “strongly opposed” to not having a goal-setting session since Pratt was coming on board.
Burkett did not recommend a 1 percent property tax increase at a savings of $12,979 to taxpayers, which is allowed under state law, but Huizinga voiced concern about continuing to bank the property tax year after year if it means approval of one large increase down the road.
City Finance Director Karen Goschen said the city can take a certain percentage of increase in the future but that could be limited.
The council was again divided on the whether to increase property taxes by 1 percent with Huizinga favoring it, Miller abstaining and Lorenzen, Hays and Hall voting against the 1 percent increase.
Even though Sequim has seen two new big-box stores — Ross Dress For Less and Grocery Outlet, with an expanded Walmart grocery store on the way — Burkett said those stores are not necessarily boosting sales tax revenues, since Grocery Outlet and the Walmart expansion mainly will be selling food, which is tax-exempt for the city.
The 2012 budget projects a sales tax revenue increase to $86,000 over the 2011 forecast.
That’s a 3 percent increase based on new stores and 1 percent growth in the base revenues.
Sales tax is over this year’s budget by only $18,000, Burkett said.
The major element of a $440,000 increase in city expenses includes a $369,000 chunk for salaries and benefits for union-represented police personnel.
Police sergeants will see a 3 percent salary increase while the union group of officers is getting a 2 percent increase.
The other non-uniformed police bargaining unit agreed to no salary increase.
Another bargaining group of mainly management-level union employees agreed to no salary increases.
Regardless, benefits continue to go up, Burkett said, projecting an increase for health insurance premiums of about 11 percent and a decrease of 8 percent for dental insurance.
Burkett also cited a July 2012 rate increase of 20 percent in the city’s required Public Employee Retirement System contribution.
Despite the salary freeze for 76 percent of the employees, total compensation costs are projected to increase by 7.1 percent — a rate that is not sustainable in future years, Burkett said.
In other action Monday night, the council unanimously approved awarding a contract to C&J Excavating of Carlsborg for a block and a half of new sidewalk along the east side of North Third Avenue.
C&J’s low bid came in at $39,074, one of eight bids the city received.
Funding for the project, which will extend north along Third Avenue to the Sequim school campuses at Fir Street, comes from the city Transportation Benefit District.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
