Recently the Covington City Council has made the decision to go forward and possibly increase the utility tax to construct the first phase of Covington Community Park. I have been very involved in local athletics for the past 15 years. I have coached many of your sons and daughters in youth sports and currently coach girls fastpitch at Kentlake High School.
Although I understand the need for more athletic fields I do not believe that it is fiscally prudent to move forward at this time.
The city has posted on its website a fact sheet regarding this utility tax increase. I believe the fact sheet is decidedly one sided and biased. I was disappointed that the fact sheet doesn’t mention the severity of the deficits we’re facing, not only in our General Fund but also in the Street Fund, and the Parks and Recreational Services Fund. It also doesn’t mention we’re facing having to cut vital core services such as police, possibly having to shut down the pool, laying off critical staff members, and not being able to properly maintain our streets.
Our ability to meet our debt service on our bonds may also be in danger. Our commitment to funding Human Services is also in jeopardy.
The fact sheet states, “The city has already invested almost $600,000 in city funds and grants for the master planning and design phases of Covington Community Park.” That is a true statement, but it is trying to mislead you into thinking that this money would be wasted if we do not develop this phase of the park now. The master plan will be relevant and valid for many more years whether we build this phase now or in the future.
According to city staff projections, the City of Covington, is facing future deficits in its General Fund of $368,000 in the year 2013, increasing to $581,000 in 2017. Recently in an effort to close the state’s deficit gap, the Governor has proposed taking away the cities and counties share of revenue received from liquor sales. If this becomes a reality then our deficits will be increased by $200,000 a year. Our street Fund has deficits of $91,000 in 2012 rising to $185,000 in 2017.
The Parks and Recreation Services Fund has deficits of $37,000 in 2012 rising to $233,000 in 2017. These figures are from the long range forecast that was presented by city staff to the city council at the October 25th City Council Regular Meeting. It needs to be stated that these deficit projections are based on the professional expertise of our city staff. They are speculative, and depending upon the economy may change for the better or for the worse.
The Covington City Council voted 6-1 at their October 25th meeting to direct staff to prepare an ordinance that would levy the last .5 percent of the utility tax available to them. The cost to the individual families is minimal, approximately an extra $24 a year, raising about $180,000 a year.
These funds will be dedicated by ordinance to begin development of Covington Community Park at the corner of Wax Road and 240th across from Tahoma High School. Going forward, the funds from this portion of the utility tax will pay for the ongoing maintenance of this park. Please do not be fooled or confused if you are familiar with the Master Plan for this park.
This is not what is being developed. What will be developed and maintained with these funds are a limited trail system, one grass multi-purpose athletic field, a parking lot, and porta potties.
The city of Covington has received $1.275 million in grants from three sources for construction of this park. Without these grants the city will be unable to develop this field and trail system. If these grants are not used now, it is a very likely that the money will
for construction of this park. Without these grants the city will be unable to develop this field and trail system. If these grants are not used now, it is very likely that the money will be reappropriated and not be available to the city. However, once we use these grants, due to provisions in the grant contracts, we are committing the city to maintain this field for 10 years at a cost of approximately $180,000 a year. Foregoing these grants may also have a negative impact on our ability to receive future park grants and our ability to develop this park in the near future.
This is a very real concern. However, the cost for completely developing this park in accordance with the master plan is in excess of $20 million. The city certainly does not have those funds available nor will we in the foreseeable future. Given the financial climate on both the State and Federal level, I do not foresee grants of that size being available any time soon.
The bottom line is this: if this park is going to be built in accordance with the Master Plan, then the citizens of this community are going to have to make the decision to vote for a funding source.
During these trying economic times the city, just like you, has been greatly affected and has been vigilant to live within its means. City staff has been reduced by 20 percent to a bare bones working force. Merit and COLA increases have been postponed and many other services such as our street overlay program have been curtailed. We’ve also worked closely with our neighbors, Maple Valley and Black Diamond, to share services that have resulted in savings.
As a result of these and other prudent fiscal policies the city is in much better financial shape than many other cities. But as you can see from the previous mentioned future deficits, the economy is catching up to us. Without cutting core services such as police services, there really isn’t room to make significant reductions in spending to cover these deficits.
We have worked very hard on economic development and have been very successful in bringing new businesses to Covington that has helped us weather this economic crisis facing everyone. But the city has very few options left to increase revenue. We can levy the aforementioned .5 percent of the utility tax available to us. We can also form a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) in which the city can impose up to a yearly $20 licensing fee per licensed vehicle. This would not only include automobiles, but, basically any vehicle that is licensed.
As you can see this would be much more costly than what is being collected through the utility tax increase. We can hope that the economy turns around, and the housing market picks up but there are very few, if any, economic experts that are predicting this happening in the near future. The remainder of our utility tax is one of the few remaining safety nets available to us for the upcoming years. Money, which if needed, could be used to continue to fund core services.
The utility tax and the TBD will not solve all our problems. Even utilizing these funds, we still face serious deficits in the near future, and very tough decisions will need to be made.
We need to reserve these funds so we have them available to put towards retaining as many core services, such as police, as possible. What do you think? We are having a public hearing on this issue at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 8, at Covington City Hall.
I urge you all to take the time and attend this hearing and let us know what you believe we should do.
You can also email your council members at: citycouncil@covingtonwa.gov. It’s your city and your money. We work for you.
Thank you and I looking forward to hearing from you.
Mark Lanza
Covington City Council
Position 2
