Monroe must fill $290,000 gap in budget

Published 10:18 pm Wednesday, November 11, 2009

MONROE — Some city officials were banking on a promise to plug a big hole in Monroe’s budget.

The $180,000 assumption jumped out when 2010 budget estimates were revealed Tuesday night.

The money supposedly would come from building permits and construction sales tax for a proposed big-box store. But not a single brick has been laid, and negotiations for the land where it may be built are still under way with a Seattle developer.

The council directed city staff to rebuild the budget without factoring in money it doesn’t have.

With sales tax revenue already down, the city finds itself in a $290,000 hole, seven weeks before state law requires a balanced budget be in place.

Monroe officials will weigh unpopular ideas, including more unpaid furlough days for city staff and a new tax.

“We have some good ideas that came out of last night, ones that are realistic,” Councilman Tony Balk said Wednesday. “Some of them are more painful than others.”

Balk proposed five furlough days in an effort to avoid layoffs, saying they could protect jobs by offsetting the cost of a contractually obligated raise.

This year, city employees took two furlough days and saw a 5 percent cost-of-living raise. In 2010, most city employees will receive a 2 percent cost-of-living raise, the lowest amount allowed under union contracts.

City staff proposed other ideas to deal with the shortfall, including a new tax on garbage and recycling. The tax could generate as much as $271,000 by raising utility bills $27 per year.

Other cities, Sultan and Snohomish included, have a similar tax, Monroe officials said.

City staff also pointed to the rainy day fund, which contains about $871,000.

Service cuts are yet another possibility. Mayor Donnetta Walser recommended putting some social services on the 2010 ballot, to let voters decide some funding issues. Currently, the city sends money to places such as the Monroe Family YMCA.

“The city has a bigger heart than a budget right now,” Walser said.

Other elected officials looked at different trims.

For instance, some councilmen suggested reducing legal expenses. Monroe doesn’t have an in-house city attorney, instead working with a Seattle law firm that charges a variable hourly rate.

The 2010 budget already slashes attorney fees by 25 percent, however, from $200,000 to $150,000, finance director Carol Grey said.

The budget situation puts Monroe in a tighter spot than its neighbors. Sultan plans to vote on a balanced budget tonight, while Snohomish is in the home stretch of its budget process.

The glut of ideas to balance Monroe’s budget could come into sharper focus by Nov. 19, when the City Council may hold a four-hour session to winnow out the good ideas from the bad.

“We have a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time,” Councilman Kurt Goering said.

Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com.