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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08City of Port Townsend (360) 379-5047 (email: citycouncil@ci.port-townsend.wa.us) www.ci.port-townsend.wa.us August 2005 City Update by City Manager David Timmons As budget season approaches and the Council begins consideration of 2006 funding for the City’s operating and capital programs, the overall outlook for the City’s finances is positive in some areas and problematic in others. Finance Director Michael Legarsky and I have reviewed the City’s finances and have authorized short-term investment of 16,432,538.00 of city funds. The majority of these funds are construction, bond and trust fund reserves and not operating cash. Also, the City currently has over $50,000,000.00 available debt capacity. With property reappraisal completed this year, the City debt capacity will increase to an estimated $92,000,000.00. Simply stated, the City has very little debt and its finan- cial picture appears stable. The annual financial audit is currently being carried out by the State Auditor’s Office. They will be conducting a higher-level audit that follows federal guidelines as we have been successful in receiving over $800,000.00 in grants for 2004. In the past five years, the City has received a “clean” audit report. The term “clean” means there are no findings or recommendations by the State Auditor’s Office. In fact, the City’s grant admini- stration procedure is being used as a model by other cities. We still maintain an “A” rating from Standard and Poor’s that was granted to us in the last two bond issues. Twice the reports stated that the community’s rating was an “A-“, but due to the strong financial management of the administration, they recommended an upgrade to an “A”. This is unique for a small community. The financial issue that is stressing the community is basic and one that is an issue for all small communities. We have 100 year old infrastructure that is deteriorating. We have addressed the utility portion of this issue through our rate adjustments and capital facilities planning and isolated the remaining need which is mainte- nance and improvements to the streets. The General Operating Fund cannot continue subsidizing the Street Fund as it has in the past. We need to find a source of sustainable funding for the streets. Because the levy approach failed our strategy has shifted to alternatives such as fire district consolidation and/or alternative taxes and fees. If a solution is not found, we compromise our ability to maintain current service levels. In ba- sic terms, this is the fiscal vise impacting communities all across the country. As we enter into the budget process for 2006, we invite you to participate. All meetings will be open to the public and dates and locations announced in The Leader, on the City’s web site, PTTV channel 48 and posted on the door of the Waterman and Katz Building. Please join us. HOOD CANAL BRIDGE CLOSURE The latest scheduled bridge closures will be: August 11, 8 pm thru August 15, 4 am and, August 21, 8 pm thru August 25, 4 am In last month’s newsletter, the phone number for additional information and alternate routes was in- correct. The correct number is 1-877-595-4222. You say the bridge is out? What will you do? Come join Main Street’s “ParTy in P.T.” August 12, 13 and 14 featuring storewide sales, restaurant discounts, outdoor dining, Point Hudson open house ac- tivities, beer and root beer gardens, music on the street and of course, Bizarre Bazaar August 13 and 14, 9 am to 1 pm at the Mount Baker Block Building. LIBRARY NEWS The filling of the Youth Services Librarian and Senior Library Associate/Teen Specialist’s positions is finally complete. Jean Tarascio has been promoted to the position of Youth Ser- vices Librarian and Rachel Aronowitz has been hired as the new Senior Library Associate/ Teen Specialist. Jean possesses a strong back- ground in early childhood education. During her four-year tenure in the Youth Department she has been responsible for developing creative and inno- vative programs for children including such suc- cesses as summer reading, baby story time and a Spanish language collection. She will be working with staff and the community to evaluate and de- fine the future direction for youth services at the Port Townsend Public Library. Rachel Aronowitz comes north from the Berkeley Public Library where she held the position of Teen Reference Librarian. Rachel is no stranger to Port Townsend, having come numerous times to attend Centrum’s Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. One objective of the library’s long-range plan is to re-establish the library con- nection with teens. Rachel has excellent creden- tials and experience in this area and we anticipate many exciting teen “happenings” very soon. UPCOMING LIBRARY EVENTS: §Gypsy Caravan Day on Friday, August 10 from 2-4 p.m. Young adults, ages 12 and up, will spend an afternoon in the land of the gypsies. There will be tarot card readers, henna tattoos, and a presentation on the unfortunate history and plight of the gypsies around the world from Spain to India as well as traditional music and photographs. Everyone is encouraged to dress up and refreshments will be served. §Uptown Parade on August 20. A giant dragon puppet created by children with the guidance of Thaddeus Jurczynski will be part of this Port Townsend tradition for kids. §Readers Are Novel Lovers Book Group on August 19. This is a new library book group initiative that will hold its first organizational meeting on Friday August 19 at 6:30 p.m. This program will provide a unique opportunity to discuss books and to meet new book lovers. CITY COUNCIL E-MAIL Many citizens communicate with City Council members via e-mail. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this means of communication; however, when e- mailing your City Council members, please keep in mind that e-mail messages are public records which are disclosable to the public under Washington State’s Public Disclosure Act (PDA). Requests for confidentiality of any e-mail cannot be honored un- der the PDA. Each e-mail to Councilors is logged and downloaded into a correspondence file which may be viewed by any member of the public. All e-mail correspondence to elected officials must be sent to their official city email address. City pol- icy requires that any e-mail communication regard- ing city business received at a home address by an elected official be forwarded to the City Clerk’s of- fice. This policy protects the City from incurring penalties under the PDA for potentially making an incomplete response to a records request, and also protects Council members from having the contents of their home computers subject to discovery in liti- gation. Council email: citycouncil@ci.port-townsend.wa.us (for entire council) or at the following individual addresses: Catharine Robinson, Mayor crobinson@ptcitycouncil.org Michelle Sandoval, Deputy Mayor msandoval@ptcitycouncil.org Kees Kolff kkolff@ptcitycouncil.org Geoff Masci gmasci@ptcitycouncil.org Freida Fenn ffenn@ptcitycouncil.org Frank Benskin fbenskin@ptcitycouncil.org Laurie Medlicott lmedlicott@ptcitycouncil.org Jean Tarascio Rachelle Aronowitz