Soap Lake council schedules special budget meeting

SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake City Council members will review and discuss the municipal 2024 budget at a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Soap Lake Community and Senior Center, 121 Second Ave. SE. 

The decision for a special meeting followed a presentation on the state of the city’s finances as of mid-October during the regular council meeting Nov. 1. City officials hired FCS Group, Redmond, to provide what Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Taylor called a “high-level” report on the city’s finances in 2022 and through the first nine and a half months of 2023. 

Martin Chow of FCS Group reviewed the city’s general fund along with its water, sewer and sanitation (solid waste) fund. 

Chow told council members some city operating funds had, and have, positive balances. However, the sanitation fund was running a deficit as of mid-October, and while other city funds had a positive balance, some of them were very low. Chow said part of that might be due to the way revenues are collected and deposited into those accounts. 

Taylor said there might be another contributing factor. 

“Are you familiar with the fact we take money out of those funds, or at least two of them, and put it into the general fund each month?” she asked.

Taylor said the city levies a utility tax on those funds each month, which she estimated was about 30 to 35%. Chow suggested city officials review that practice. 

“That probably would be a good thing to take a look at,” Chow said. “If there isn’t a compelling need to continue with that transfer, it’s actually something the city could consider, or reconsider, for the remaining period within 2023.”

The city’s general fund, as of mid-October, had more money in it than the budget projection, Chow said. While some specific categories of expenses were higher than the budget projections, overall expenses were below projections by about $195,000. The general fund had a balance of about $608,000 in mid-October, which was above the 2023 budget projection.

“I feel your general fund is in good shape,” Chow said.

Revenues to the city’s water fund were higher than expenses as of mid-October, but while the fund had a positive balance, it was lower than the budget projection. 

“That might be something to watch,” Chow said.

Most of the expenses projected for the sanitation fund had been spent by mid-October, while revenue collection was behind the timeline projected in the budget. Chow said that timing might have contributed to the deficit in that fund.

The sewer fund also could be affected by the timing of revenue collection, he said. As of mid-October, expenses had exceeded revenue and reduced the amount of money in that fund.

Taylor asked council members to come back to Wednesday’s meeting with their questions on the 2024 budget. The council will have to make some decisions, she said, about setting up a possible debt service fund, and looking at a 2019 study of water and sewer rates in light of some of the city’s infrastructure needs.

“It’s a bit old, but it gave us a really nice presentation of what we’re going to wind up with the debt we’re taking on and how we’re going to pay for it,” she said.

Taylor said that some city practices may have to change.

“We really are looting our utility funds for our general fund,” she said. “And we’ve got a lot of needs — we’ve got a wastewater treatment plant that needs some help, we’ve got water lines (to repair).”

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.