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Lake Forest Park reviews mid-biennial budget proviso; climate coordinator and court staffing discussed
Summary
City staff told the council that revenues from a new solid-waste service tax are tracking near estimates and could fund a climate coordinator; staff also flagged court- and traffic-camera reviewer staffing needs and broader regional qualification issues that could affect grants and sales-tax options.
City staff briefed the Lake Forest Park City Council on Nov. 13 about mid-biennial budget provisos, including the potential hire of a climate coordinator, court staffing tied to traffic-camera enforcement, and regional constraints on grant and sales-tax eligibility.
Director (Vaughn) told the council that roughly one year's worth of the newly enacted service tax on solid-waste disposal is coming in near the city’s conservative projection of about $523,000, and that the city has received roughly 42% of that estimate to date. “That number was provided directly by Wendy ... and it is coming in,” staff said; staff later quantified the 42% as approximately $217,000.
On staffing, the council asked whether accumulated revenue is sufficient to hire the proposed climate coordinator. Staff said the budgeted salary-and-benefits figure of about $151,500 would be covered by the projected revenue but that additional overhead (desk space, equipment, fully loaded costs) still needs estimating. Staff cautioned that many grants do not allow salary payments and said the coordinator should not be expected to be self-funding.
Court and ticketing impacts were also central to the proviso discussion. Staff said early estimates of additional FTE needs for ticket review were optimistic and that the workload remains higher than first assumed. The city’s traffic-support officer is presently absorbing about 60% of ticket-review work; staff noted that adding enforcement or expanding the program could require further hires. A small pro-tem-judge (0.1 FTE) allocation was noted as part of the mid-biennial conversation to support quicker ticket turnaround.
Regional qualifications for state grant and sales-tax options presented a constraint: staff described a scenario in which cities must ensure that all related contractors and partner agencies meet Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) or other qualification standards; Kent was cited as denied qualification when a partner contract (King County jail) did not meet requirements. Staff said the city is 'virtually there' on qualifications but that partner compliance and legislative fixes at the state level could affect timing and eligibility.
Next steps: staff will return with fully loaded cost estimates for the climate coordinator, specifics on overhead, and the court staffing plan; the council will consider mid-biennial amendments with that information and monitor state-level fixes for grant/sales-tax eligibility.
Ending: The work session moved upstairs to the regular meeting for further council action; no final budget votes were taken at the work session.
