Same old budget song and dance - with a twist

For the most part, the Medical Lake City Council budget workshop held prior to the Oct. 20 council meeting resembled the same workshop held in 2014 — and 2013, and 2012 and on back. The city has looming major expenses, but with revenues flat and little sign of increasing, it must either put the expense off another year or look for creative ways to fund it.

There was one sliver of good news delivered by City Administrator Doug Ross, however, and that is the city is scheduled — barring unforeseen developments — to soon be debt free. Medical Lake has been paying off two Public Works Trust Fund loans, one for the water reservoir and the transmission main from the Craig Road/State Route 902 well and the other to cover a portion of the construction of the wastewater treatment and water reclamation plant.

The reservoir and transmission main is scheduled to be paid off in 2016, with the WWTP loan being wrapped up in 2017. With those two milestones looming, Ross told the council that the consideration of taking on more debt in order to finance some needed purchases is an option they might want to consider.

“I’m not a big fan of debt, but it’s really about what does the council feel,” Ross said.

Two major expenses facing the city reside in the Fire Department. One of those is a new brush truck, which could run in the neighborhood of $200,000, while the other is an expense facing fire departments in Cheney and Airway Heights along with Medical Lake — airpacks.

ML Fire Chief Jason Mayfield told the council that airpacks were one of several items purchased 10-11 years ago through a large grant, but were now nearing the end of their life expectancy. Replacing them is something that can’t be done “piecemeal or in increments” due to fairly rapid and constant changes in standards and technology.

Of the department’s 22 airpacks, most expire at the end of 2016, with a few going in early 2017.

“We need to plan for it, but won’t move on it until June,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield said he wants to take a shot at the Assistance for Firefighters grant program to see what funding is available. Medical Lake has not been successful at getting funding from this program in the past, but Mayfield said he is talking with Airway Heights Fire Chief Mitch Metzger about the possibility of getting a grant to cover both departments.

“Regional grants tend to have success if you can show a larger need,” Mayfield said.

The need to purchase a new road grader again came to the surface, as it did at last year’s workshop and was noted then it had been brought up in previous sessions. Ross said purchasing that piece of equipment wouldn’t take place in 2016, but would need to soon as the city is running out of ways to make parts for it.

Several projects Mayor John Higgins would like to see take place in the coming year is the expansion of more parks and recreation programs and events, such as the popular summer movies, along with the painting of the interior and exterior of City Hall. He and Ross both said discussions are taking place about charges for using Waterfront Park, with discounts extended to Medical Lake residents, along with talks with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office on getting cost reductions in the city’s law enforcement services contract.

Currently the city is paying $862,000 for law enforcement, and Higgins said they are working at getting those lowered, although a county proposal to eliminate paying for space at City Hall’s former police station might offset any reductions. Higgins noted this was his 10th budget process as mayor, and that the city always managed to balance its budget while also buying a few things here and there.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.