Soap Lake City Hall closed on Fridays

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake City Council decided unanimously to close city hall on Fridays as part of its 2010 budget.

The changes are in effect.

The decision came after a decline in revenue in 2009 and a 2.5 percent pay increase for city police officers and public works personnel.

The city approved its $3 million 2010 budget during a recent meeting. 

“In the winter, it’s a lot quieter here,” said Debbie Amundson, the city’s finance officer. “I was always off on Fridays and the other person only worked 20 hours a week. We are in the process of getting a clerk and we’re going to hire a clerk for 32 hours a week instead of 40 … We’re going to see how it goes with doing it this way. Things may change in the summer if it gets really busy and we can’t handle it.”

The drop in revenue is in the city’s current expense fund, which is used to pay wages for the police, public works and administrative staff. The city expects $724,810 in revenue for 2010, compared to the $776,659 it budgeted for 2009. Amundson said sales tax, property tax and state assistance in 2009 declined by about $50,000 compared to 2008.

“We just know it’s not going to be as high,” she said. It’s just the way things are everywhere. Sales tax is down. We get a share of the property taxes … The (state-funded) city assistance has gone down $20,000. Previously, when I look back we got a lot more money from them.”

The change in hours allows the city to give a pay raise to police and public works personnel, Amundson said. Mayor Wayne Hovde recommended the change in hours as a way to increase pay.

“The mayor wants to keep the people we have happy and they deserve it,” she said. “Also the health insurance (cost) went up and that was increasing for them too, so that was more out of their pocket.”