As Aberdeen City Council began discussing Mayor Erik Larson’s proposed 2018 budget during its Wednesday night meeting, the appointment of a city administrator and deciding how to spend its lodging tax funds came up as two of the main points of debate for upcoming meetings.
The city administrator position is intended to fill in and take up some of the day to day operations that are currently associated with various other city government positions, thus freeing up Larson and other department heads.
The first year’s allotment for the position comes out to $200,000, according to finance director Mike Folkers, a number that includes benefits and cost to set up their office with a computer.
Since the position was first announced, Larson has made a few changes to satisfy any department officials worried the job would take away their power to make decisions, explaining it would be more of a side role to help out.
“We fixed it to clarify it would be a supporting role, and not supplanting the department head in roles specific to them, with respect to planning and other activities,” he said.
While some council members think it’s a smart idea to take the load off Larson and others, Margo Shortt is concerned the position will not satisfy the large salary that comes with it.
“I’m not convinced we’re going to get that amount of money’s worth out of the position,” she said, adding that after reading the job description it’s hard to conceive how it would reduce work for other departments. “I don’t see any work coming out of our department heads at all. Attending outside meetings, yes, they could do in the name of the mayor.”
For Shortt, a better example of how to use the city administrator is in Hoquiam, where Brian Shay works both that role and as the head of Public Works.
Council member Dee Anne Shaw was similarly not satisfied with how the position is explained in the budget now.
“I hope we have total clarity for how the position would be funded,” said Shaw. “Just saying level 33 and a job description doesn’t really say how it will be worked into the budget.”
The other area of contention could be the Lodging Tax Fund, which is built up through a state tax on hotel rooms that is then partially returned to the city and set aside to promote general events and tourism. Council member Tim Alstrom said more than $200,000 worth of funds has been requested from various groups vying for the $75,000 set amount, which led to some tough decisions.
“It’s awesome — these are all community volunteers trying to do great projects for the community,” Alstrom said. “The bad part is, there’s over $200,000 requested and only $75,000 to give out. I take my hat off to the committee, that’s tough. Because these are all positive things for the community.”
In the recommendations from the Finance Committee, the fund’s breakdown went as follows: $20,000 for Greater Grays Harbor; $9,500 for the City Beautification Program; $7,500 for Our Aberdeen Art Promotion Committee; $7,000 for City Traffic Control; $5,500 for Founder’s Day Parade; $5,000 for Art Walk; $5,000 for Winterfest; $5,000 for USPA Powerlifting; $4,500 for Concerts in the Park; $3,000 for the Midnight Cruizers Car Show; $2,000 for Grays Harbor Historical Seaport and $1,000 for Friends of Aberdeen Museum.
The budget for 2018 looks to continue increasing spending after Larson reported that sales tax revenue increased by 7 percent, which helped balance out a 3.5 percent increase in city expenditures along with the capped 1 percent property tax increase.
The Aberdeen City Council will next meet on Wednesday, Nov. 29, to further discuss the city administrator, the lodging tax funds and other budget-related issues.
