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Council workshop weighs budget adjustments: $50,000 rental-assistance reserve, court staffing from photo enforcement revenue
Summary
Finance staff presented baseline adjustments and new program requests; council agreed in principle to earmark $50,000 for rental assistance, to fund court clerical support tied to photo-enforcement workload, and to consider public-information staffing in 2026.
At a Dec. 4 budget workshop the Poulsbo finance director reviewed baseline adjustments and new program requests for the two-year budget cycle. Staff recommended funding a judicial specialist (or specialists) for municipal court to handle increased workloads from recent photo-enforcement and parking citations, and proposed holding $50,000 in reserve for rental assistance to respond to urgent displacement risks reported during public comment.
Deb (finance staff) told council that photo-enforcement activity has increased court workload and initial revenue collections; court staff (Amy) reported 705 parking citations filed through Nov. 28 (111 still pending) and nearly $8,000 collected for November, with approximately $6,200 collected Dec. 2–3. Staff recommended two judicial positions or reclassifications supported by those revenues and suggested returning with formal ordinances as needed.
Councilmembers discussed funding increases for economic- development partners (KEDA and Western Washington Small Business Center), options for a public-information officer (PIO) in 2026, and targeted rental-assistance to partner with Fishline for income verification and administration. Council indicated support for earmarking $50,000 from the affordable-housing revenue source to create a rent-supplement reserve and asked staff to return with eligibility criteria and program design.
