Duvall council debates use of $1.1M strategic fund as staff propose personnel and reorganization changes
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Summary
Finance staff reported a roughly $1.1M balance in the strategic fund. Council debated options — conserve funds for one‑time capital, restrict to public‑safety/parks, or move to the general fund to support critical staffing needs. Staff proposed combining communications and events roles, eliminating a temporary permit technician, creating a term‑limited utility locate technician and reorganizing community development.
City finance and administrative staff presented a mid‑biennial budget review on Nov. 18 that included several personnel and organizational adjustments and flagged the city’s strategic fund balance at roughly $1.1 million.
City Administrator Cynthia McCann said the strategic fund currently makes the general fund look artificially depressed and recommended council discuss a strategy for the fund during the biennial process. "I do think holding that money without a purpose or a strategic plan for what to do with it is something that at some point council should tackle," she said. The city proposed four broad options: (1) retain the fund and discontinue future deposits; (2) retain and restrict remaining balance for specific general‑fund initiatives like parks or police; (3) continue the fund as currently structured; or (4) move the balance into the general fund and pause future deposits.
Councilmembers were split. Several argued the fund exists to capture one‑time construction‑related sales tax so the city does not rely on growth for ongoing operations; they supported keeping the fund for capital or growth‑mitigating projects such as a new municipal campus or third‑Avenue improvements. Others urged drawing down a portion to secure staff funding for critical services (police and parks) or to shore up contingency/emergency reserves.
On personnel, staff proposed combining the communications coordinator and community events coordinator into a single, higher‑level position to reflect current duties; eliminating a term‑limited TLT permit technician vacancy because workload can be covered for now; and adding a term‑limited public works utility‑locate technician to manage a large pending volume of right‑of‑way locate requests tied to fiber and utility deployments. Staff noted right‑of‑way permit revenue has grown substantially this year and that current locate workload is diverting lead staff from other maintenance tasks.
Council gave direction to staff to continue the biennial budget work and to schedule a deeper strategy discussion on the strategic fund and the fiscal implications of accepting any multi‑year grant or staffing obligations.