By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
WALDPORT – Waldport city officials say residents should see lots of construction activity around town the next 1-2 years based on their plans and a newly approved 2023-24 budget.
Projects include sidewalks – although probably scaled back – along Crestline and Range drives, a new 300,000 gallon water tank, a state-mandated upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant, the beginning development of Louis Southworth Park, and the cleanup and potential opening of a new recreation center in the former Waldport Middle School building it bought last month.
“We have projects starting in all the enterprise funds,” city manager Dann Cutter told the city council last week before it voted 5-0 to approve a budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. “We’re spending a lot of money, but the best thing is that it’s other peoples’ money.”
For example:
- Although the city is asking the Oregon Department of Transportation to let it scale back the Crestline sidewalk project because bids came in very high, a revised project will use $1.7 million in a state grant;
- The $1.3 million for the new water tank came from a special grant via the Oregon Legislature last year;
- The state is also paying for the $1.4 million treatment plant upgrade it is requiring, and Oregon State Parks has awarded Waldport a $750,000 grant to develop Southworth Park;
- And, the city used $475,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money it needed to spend by the end of June to buy the former gym, cafeteria and kitchen from the Lincoln County School District.
“Bolstered by these large one-time American Rescue Plan Act finds, the city is consolidating a strong financial position, having retired almost 40 percent of its outstanding debt in the last few years,” Cutter said in his budget message. “It has set its sights on being entirely debt free by 2030 while continuing to aggressively pursue outside funding to maintain efforts to accomplish its capital improvement plans and goals.”
Cutter’s 50-page spending plan was reviewed by a 14-member budget committee – seven council members and seven city residents — which met twice in April. The council, in a 30-minute session Thursday, approved it and resolutions authorizing budgets for urban renewal and the city road district.
Highlights from the approved overall budget document include:
- The city expects total revenue – everything from property taxes, to lodging and marijuana taxes, to franchise fees and water and sewer income – to total $8.89 million in 2023-24. That includes $4.17 million in expected grants;
- Salaries and benefits for 20 authorized positions will increase 5.4 percent to $2.27 million;
- Taxes on motel rooms and vacation rentals is budgeted for $250,000, a purposefully conservative number based on the $310,00 the city will receive in the current fiscal year ending June 30. Some $110,000 of that will go to tourism promotion and economic development;
- The city will pay Lincoln County $383,000 for patrols by two sheriff’s deputies – more than half of the $684,000 the city expects to receive in property taxes. While there is a budget to contract for code enforcement, Cutter said he does not expect to use that but instead handle it with city hall staff;
- The Lincoln County Library District will pay $284,000 of the budgeted $394,00 to help operate the city library, including salaries. The remaining $100,000 comes from the city’s general fund; and
- The budget expects to end up with an ending balance – or reserves – of $2.39 million, an increase of $232,000, including a contingency fund of $1.23 million.
Waldport residents will see some slightly higher costs in their water and sewer bill.
As proposed in the budget, the combined water and sewer rates will increase by 8.9 percent to keep up with the rate of inflation and put aside money for future water or sewer capital projects. The average customer who uses 3,000 gallons of water a month will see an increase of $10.22 in their bill.
“For the first time in years we’re covering all of our (water and sewer) costs,” Cutter told YachatsNews. “But we need to start building our reserves.”
The plan, he said, calls for yearly increases of 4 percent for five years to build reserves – in addition to any increases the city imposes to account for yearly inflation.