Budget forces Soap Lake to tighten up

Drop in revenues, small tax base result in less money

SOAP LAKE — The members of the Soap Lake City Council have adopted their 2005 budget, and matters do not look excessively bright, lava lamp notwithstanding.

"It was not as good as last year," Mayor Wayne Hovde said. "We have to tighten up on things."

The 2004 budget was $2,439,338. The 2005 edition of the budget reached up to $1,993,096.

Despite the shrinking figures, Hovde said that there are no cuts or layoffs in the horizon.

"It's nothing serious like that," he said. " We will have to work with what we have, filling in our forces with part-time forces."

The drop is nothing new for Soap Lake, Hovde said, as the big dip in revenues from the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax has been affecting the community for years. That, plus the stagnating level of property taxes, and the city's small sales tax base, hurt the town's economy.

"Everything cost a bit more money as it goes along," he said. "Money that we are not gaining into our operation."

Whenever there is a reduction from the state revenue, Hovde explained, it has a large effect on Soap Lake because its tax base is not large enough to recuperate from these effects.

Hovde termed the dip a constant decline in the city's budget, leaving capital projects up to whatever grants can be found and won.

Projects such as building ramps in accordance to the Americans with Disabilities Act were financed through these grants. Grants are also what keeps the Soap Lake revitalization program moving. The shrinking budget will in no way affect this program, Hovde said.

"It's progressed very well," he said. "There are many things that have been done and there is a good crew working together.

"The work from the volunteers has been exceptional," he added, pointing out the work at the amphitheater as proof that things are getting done despite the tight belts.

"We all stretch for money" Hovde said. "Whether you are large or small, we are all faced with tough times."