ARLINGTON — A $275,000 donation from the Snoqualmie Tribe is helping local governments right where it’s needed most: their general funds.
The donation, announced Friday, includes $50,000 gifts for the cities of Arlington and Darrington, as well as the Oso Fire Department.
Arlington city administrator Allen Johnson said that normally any donation to the city coffers would be earmarked for a specific project.
“I’ve been in this game since the early 1970s and I’ve never had that happen,” Johnson said.
This wasn’t the first financial help the city’s budget has received this week. The owner of the Arlington truck stop in the Island Crossing neighborhood donated $10,000 on Wednesday. Then came a donation of $50,000 from the Upper Skagit Tribe in Sedro-Woolley.
Arlington city spokeswoman Kristin Banfield said that 10 Arlington firefighters have been up at Oso since Saturday morning. She estimated the city has spent $60,000 over the first five days of operations.
Emergency response costs are paid out of city government general funds, and the donations are particularly necessary for smaller jurisdictions such as the Oso fire department, which has been running its equipment 24 hours a day at the slide site, she said.
“This is a really big deal for us in the city,” Banfield said.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165 or cwinters@heraldnet.com.
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