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St. Helens officials say general fund shortfall may prompt voter-approved service fee
Summary
City administrators told the Saint Johns Public Library Board the city is on a trajectory to exhaust contingency reserves and is considering a May ballot measure — a general-service fee or levy — to produce recurring revenue; officials also cited a $1.3 million revenue loss after Cascades Tissue closed.
City officials warned the Saint Johns Public Library Board on Thursday that St. Helens is on a spending path that could exhaust contingency reserves by June 30 unless the city secures new revenue or makes spending cuts. Unidentified Speaker (S8) told the board, "we will be … exhaust our contingency and be negative about a 150,000 if we don't make some changes here by the end of the fiscal year on June 30."
Officials described the problem as citywide rather than library-specific. The council’s long-standing reserve goal is 20 percent, officials said; the city entered the year with roughly a 6 percent reserve after prior…
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