Telling it like it is

Medical Lake's City Administrator Doug Ross only has a long skinny window in his office, but he seems to have a pretty clear picture about what goes on in the town.

Tasked with how to best spend the $5.9 million yearly budget for the city of 5,000, and making sure there's just enough to go around, Ross said there are naturally many challenges.

It is projected that the city will end 2018 with just short of $1.8 million in reserves, seemingly a lot of money, but one never knows what emergency lurks around the corner.

That would seem to be enough for any number of projects. But in reality the numbers are much tighter. Ross illustrated that by saying that new playground equipment had been projected for Wilcox Park at the base of Fox Hollow.

Then the city's lawnmower had to be replaced and the playground upgrade was shelved. In order to keep a healthy beginning cash balance for the future, the margin can get pretty thin. The project is in the 2018 budget he said.

"We could spend the $700,000 we anticipate ending the year with," Ross said. "We could spend it all now, but then things get really exciting when you have to operate for three months until you get your first property tax revenue."

In case something big and unforeseen occurs there is no safety net. "I don't know that people fully understand that," Ross said, who began his 24-year career at Medical Lake as an intern in the Planning Department in 1993.

Ross is from Brewster, Wash. and is a 1993 Eastern Washington University grad in urban and regional planning. He became Public Works Director in 1995 and City Administrator in 2006. His brother, Don, is an associate athletic director at EWU.

When he has a chance to explain the nature of the budget, residents get it. "They still might not like it but they sort of understand where we're coming from," Ross said.

One time purchases are easy because of a sound fiscal policy. "It's those year after year after year costs," Ross explained.

As an example Ross said, the city could build a new park tomorrow, "But we can't maintain the park, that's the problem, that is a yearly cost."

The unforeseen things that can throw a wrench into the relatively smooth day-to-day operations of the city keep Ross and the rest of the limited city staff on its toes.

He cited the sudden rash of water main breaks that have plagued Public Works. And Ross can't put a finger on it. "I don't really know what that's attributed to other than pure age or if the ground is moving more because of the moisture and the warmth," he said.''

To everyone who wants the city to lay new pipe, Ross has a message: "I don't have anyone to do that, they're all out fixing stuff and trying to make roads get plowed and patched; the parks are mowed and all those things that we have to do to make this city function on a daily basis."

Seven employees take care of everything, outside of the treatment plant that is.

Their duties include City Hall, the library building, sprinklers and a long list of many other things. "From the biggest to the smallest thing, those guys take care of it," Ross said.

In the offices at City Hall, the staff talks to everyone who walks in the door, hoping to answer any question they might have or problem that may follow them. They don't have the bodies to sit around and dream up new projects, Ross said.

Since Ross has been in City Hall his mantra has been, "I'm sorry we can't add a lot of new services, but you know what, we're going to try to perform the services we do to the very best of our ability."

2018 Medical Lake Budget Summary

General Fund

Beginning Cash Balance $838,817

Revenue $2.36 M

Total Resources $3.199 M

Expenditures $2.509 M

Ending Cash Balance $689,804

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.