Cheney City Administrator Mark Schuller said some much needed parks and recreation projects are on the table for possible funding in the 2018 budget. Among those are repairs to restrooms and picnic shelters, such as the one above at Centennial Park, that have been damaged by vandalism or need upgrades.
One possible solution to providing more irrigation water for Cheney officials might explore is to run more irrigation-only piping from the city's non-potable Well 4 in Sutton Park (above) to other parks and school district fields.
The seasons are changing.
Summer becomes fall. Baseball winds down, football ramps up.
It's also time for a season most people seldom paid attention to until its impacts are felt later.
Yes, it's budget season, and it begins with Cheney department heads scrambling to collect yearly numbers, gather input from staff and council members and assemble it into a form painting a picture of what the city needs, wants and most importantly, can afford.
City Administrator Mark Schuller sees several issues in 2018: rebuilding reserves, replacing the fire department's No. 1 attack engine and dealing with Cheney's ongoing water resource usage.
After several years of no-frills budgeting, Cheney's revenues improved last year. Schuller said that continues in 2017 and should into 2018.
"It's been a good year, lots of building," he said. "When there's lots of building going on, there's a lot of sales tax."
Taxes represented 59 percent of Cheney's overall $10.127 million governmental (general) fund revenue budgeted last year. Of that, $1.25 million was in general sales tax and Schuller said they are about 13 percent ahead of sales tax revenue received at this time in 2016.
That should continue with revenue from ongoing residential projects such as homes at Harvest Bluff and apartment complexes, coupled with upcoming renovation work at the Cheney School District's high school and Betz Elementary School.
Eastern Washington University's Pence Union Building remodeling project is also continuing, but there's concern over the status of an addition to its science building. The estimated $70 million project, slated to receive full state funding, is tied up in the Legislature's still un-passed capital projects budget, and Schuller hopes negotiations will resume this fall to get the bill done.
The construction should lead to an increase in Cheney's overall assessed value, something providing more property tax revenue into governmental fund coffers. The city's $34 million increase in assessed value in 2017, up from $539.75 million to over $573.82 million, was the largest since a $55 million boost from 2009–2010.
That $573.82 million was also made possible by an over $25 million jump from 2015–2016 due to Cheney officials challenging the assessed value provided by the Spokane County Assessor's Office during fire contract negotiations with EWU. The challenge resulted in the county admitting it had not factored in construction work that had taken place at EWU over the previous decade.
Schuller said due to Assessor's Office staffing shortages, the valuation numbers for 2018 won't likely be available until mid-October when the budgeting process is nearing its end. Given the amount of construction, and that Cheney has seen an average 4.2 percent increase in valuation over the last decade, he believes the city will see another "bump," but likely not large.
It creates an opportunity to build departmental reserves for a time when construction tails off, but Schuller added there are also important needs. One of those is replacing the fire department's 21-year-old main attack engine that is antiquated and continually requiring major maintenance.
In November 2015, voters approved a one-time lift of the city's property tax levy, resulting in an additional $300,000 – $400,000-plus set aside annually for public safety needs only. Over $100,000 goes to funding a police officer added in 2016, with another $100,000 set aside yearly to replace the engine while the rest is used for equipment needs and a reserve.
Schuller said the city should have $300,000 for a down payment on a new engine in 2018, which could run up to $750,000 once all of the department's requirements are included. Schuller said they may pursue state funding to make up the balance.
Another need is one residents have become keenly aware of in the past 3–4 years - water.
"There's nothing bigger than water," Schuller said.
The main issue surrounding water is irrigation, which has grown due to more green space in the city and a now longer, and hotter watering season. In the short term, Schuller said the city will look at redrilling one of it's non-producing wells, No. 3, while also exploring laying more irrigation only - purple pipe - infrastructure from non-potable water Well 4 to other parks and school district fields.
"We need to match that growth with capacity," he said. "We have enough for domestic consumption. It's irrigation (that's the issue)."
In the long term, Schuller sees an answer in using reclaimed water from Cheney's treatment plant for irrigation, and city staff are working on ideas to take to council.
Schuller also cited the need to perform a number of projects repairing parks and recreation facilities, such as outdated restrooms, shelters and playground equipment damaged by vandalism and at least nine projects at the city's aging pool. An upgrade to the finance department's computer system is also in order so that it can communicate more efficiently with other department's systems.
Unfortunately, none of these are cheap. To take care of the water issue, Schuller said they are looking at a stepped rate increase at some point. Also on the horizon is an increase in electrical rates coming from the Bonneville Power Administration, along with upgrades to Cheney's electrical system.
"Again, that comes with a cost," Schuller said.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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