Moses Lake finances better than projected

MOSES LAKE — The city of Moses Lake finished up 2023 in pretty good financial shape, according to a report submitted by City Manager Kevin Fuhr to the Moses Lake City Council at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We were a little bit short on our revenue, which was because we didn't do the construction of a police department (building), so we didn't put that $15 million in the revenue,” Fuhr told the council. “And we also came up about $25,000 less on our expenditures. So we were actually getting pretty good last year.”

The police building, which was to be called the Community Services Center, represented a $15 million budget item for 2023, but the city failed to secure the funding and the project is on hold, according to Fuhr’s report. Another $1.4 million in American Rescue Plan funds was expected to be transferred to the city’s Homeless Services fund but has not been spent while the city is still trying to decide where to put a shelter. Overall, the city finished with revenues at 95.4% of what was projected, but expenses were under budget by 25.5%, partly due to those two funds, as well as other capital projects that had not been completed. The red light camera program, which was expected to raise $978,000, brought in only $170,000 due to the change from paper to electronic citations, the report said.

The General Fund finished the year with revenues 117.1% over budget, at $36,845,377, and with expenditures at 97.2% of what was budgeted, or $34,749,239, according to Fuhr’s report. The Operating/Enterprise and Debt Service funds also came out slightly ahead. The only fund whose expenditures outpaced its revenue was Risk Management/Employee Benefits, which had a shortfall of almost $210,000.

Fuhr also updated the council on the progress of the roundabout at State Route 17 and Yonezawa Boulevard.

That roundabout, which the state Department of Transportation has mandated the city put in, will replace a three-way intersection, but a proposed development on the east side of SR 17 will require a fourth road for access, and Fuhr had expressed hope at the council’s Jan. 9 meeting that the state would pick up the tab for that.

“I went up and met with DOT a few weeks ago and they adamantly said no,” Fuhr said. “What they are going to do is, they're going to give us what's called temporary access to the area, which will allow the city to build the roundabout at the same time the developer can build the roads, so we can do both at the same time. When both are complete, then they'll give us access permanent access to the site.”

The roundabout is in the design phase, Fuhr added, and construction is expected to start next year.

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.

    The intersection of Yonezawa Boulevard and State Route 17/Business 90 in Moses Lake will eventually have a roundabout installed. Figuring out exactly who will pay for the roundabout and timing of construction is still being planned.