HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council Workshop - Minutes - 09/17/2002 i
COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES
. SEPTEMBER 17, 2002
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Council President Judy Woods, Connie Epperly, Leona Orr,
Julie Peterson, Bruce White, Rico Yingling
STAFF PRESENT: Mayor White, Mike Martin, May Miller, Jana King, Robert Goehring,Marty
Mulholland, Sue Viseth, John Hodgson, Lori Hogan,Nathan Torgelson, Charlene Anderson, Jackie
Bicknell
The workshop was called to order at 5:00 P.M.by Council President Judy Woods.
Revenue and Tax Analysis
Finance Director May Miller gave an overhead presentation and handout titled City of Kent Tax
Revenue Analysis. (Please refer to materials in packet for more detailed information) Five
neighboring cities were picked to use for tax revenue comparisons: Auburn, Bellevue, Federal Way,
Renton, and Tukwila. Bellevue and Renton have instituted all the taxes that were used in the
comparison. Kent is more diverse in where it gets taxable sales. The year 1998 started out with
$6.64 million in retail sales and that has grown to $7.35 million in 2002. The hope is that that
number will go up with the new Kent Station project. Other service sales started 1998 at$2.10
million and have grown a little to $2.52 million in 2002. Wholesale, manufacturing, and contracting
sales tax revenues have gone down since 1998. Sometimes businesses manufacture as well as sell
and the state chooses one category for reporting. Other sales tax revenue has gone from$1.36
million in 1998 to $2.28 million in 2002. Bellevue is the only comparison city that has a Business
• and Occupation Tax. (Please refer to handout for Utility, Cable, Admissions, Gambling, and Hotel
Tax and Franchise fees comparisons.)
Vine County Pools
Parks Director John Hodgson gave an overhead presentation. (Please refer to handout in council
workshop packet for more detailed information.) He said that King County predicts a$50 million
deficit in their 2003 CX(General Fund) which funds criminal justice,human services, parks, county
council, executive, and other services, and additional multi-million dollar deficits are projected over
the next few years. The County Parks budget is $25 million and their target cut is $15 million. The
county formed the Metropolitan Parks Task Force in March 2002 to seek input and direction on how
to implement the changes in the county's parks system as a result of the budget cuts. One of the
major issues that the Task Force has recommended is the transfer of the Forward Thrust Pools to the
cities where they are located. The Task Force is recommending that the pools in unincorporated King
County and the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way continue to be operated and subsidized
by King County. Currently King County is working with the individual cities to provide information
on financial operations and capital improvements on the individual pools.
King County has provided financial information on pools in each city and is proposing with the pool
transfer that they will contribute one year of the cost of mothballing the pool, which would be
$77,000 for Kent, and contributing five years of identified capital cost. (The 2003 estimated
operational costs are listed in detail in the handout.) The county has also developed a plan for
reduced operating hours to allow for pool operations at a reduced cost. The City of Tukwila is going
• to trade a bridge for a pool. Enumclaw is taking the pool and the Enumclaw Golf Course. They
would take the profit from the golf course and transfer that to pay for the subsidy. Unfortunately,
their golf course needs a lot of work. Auburn School District is very interested in trying to keep their
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Council workshop,9/17/02 2
pool open. The Federal Way city council is somewhat determined to make it go. They are asking
their staff to do a study and come back during the budget process with options. Mercer Island is
taking a look into the future. Mt. Rainier pool in Des Moines is trying to put a coalition of cities and
user groups together. The people on the West Hill of Kent is the second highest user group and if the
coalition was to come to fruition, they would be asking Kent to contribute to the operational cost of
that facility as well. North Shore/Redmond is asking neighboring cities to contribute money based on
their usage. The Kent School District is prepared not to have swim season after December.
Staff will try and identify the current and future community needs of aquatics and recommend
programming, facilities, and revenue options to meet those needs, and to look regionally and
subregionally to see if there is a better way to address aquatic issues. (Mr. Hodgson showed slides of
municipal pools from other cities in the United States.) He recommended bringing someone in that
could give a thorough examination of the structure of the pool building and to determine what the
costs would be if the City were to operate the pool. The school district is unwilling to take over the
pool and the only other potential group is the King Aquatic Club. If that group came in tomorrow
and said they had an amount of money, the City would be willing to talk. At this point, the Council
seems to be saying that the City is not prepared to pay the subsidy for the pool.
Council Tour
Mike Martin said that Tuesday, September 24`" had been scheduled for a tour which leaves from Fire
headquarters at 3:00 PM and returns at 7:30 PM. Five council members will be going.
• The workshop adjourned.
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2°d Floor, City Hall
220 401 Ave. South, Kent, 98032
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