Moses Lake residents to weigh in on city fiscal plans

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake residents are being invited to discuss city finances and programs and how to make them work together at a public workshop from 6:30 to 8 p.m. March 16 at the Moses Lake Civic Center.  It’s part of the city’s plan to get the opinion of residents on how they want the city to spend its general fund money – and where there might need to be some cuts. 

Moses Lake City Council member David Skaug said the more information available to city officials and city residents, the better.  

City administrators evaluated services provided through the general fund, from police and fire protection to the Surf ‘n Slide water park and prioritized them into three categories. Core services are things cities must provide to function, like police and fire; basic services are things cities usually do provide, like parks. Enhanced services are things that some cities do provide, and some don’t, but that can be done by others.  

“I think if we can do a good job of addressing each of the functions that we fund into those categories, it becomes a lot easier to make some hard decisions,” Skaug said. “(Council members can say), ‘No, these are things we have to have, and these are things we’d like to have, and these are things that we don’t necessarily have to have.’ And I think we need to not be afraid to say, ‘We’re going to have to cut some spending.’ I don’t see any other way around that.” 

Getting as much information as possible will help make that process easier, Skaug said. 

“We need to make that possible without it becoming an emotional thing,” he said. 

Along with the public workshop, city officials will conduct a community survey to get more public opinion on spending priorities. 

City officials have added a tab for the “financial sustainability plan” to the city’s website, which includes information on the city’s property tax rates and compares them to other cities in Grant and Adams counties, as well as Walla Walla and Ellensburg.  

Another chart shows rates and fees for a lot of different cities around the state, from Wenatchee to Mountlake Terrace to Warden. All cities listed have fees for essential city services like water, sewer and garbage, but after that each city is different.  

Most cities levy a fee to cell phone service providers, but Walla Walla and East Wenatchee don’t. Most cities charge a fee for pull tabs and punchboards, but some don’t. Most cities don’t charge a separate fee for ambulance services, but some do.  

Do fees charged for city services pay for those services? What should city officials do about property taxes? Council members rejected a municipal business and occupation tax when looking at options at their Feb. 24 meeting. Deputy Mayor Don Myers said he thought a B&O tax would be a net negative. 

“Essentially a tax is a fine on whatever you’re taxing,” Myers said. “Taxing things, like a B&O tax, stunts growth of development and creation.” 

Moses Lake residents can try working out their own city budget with the “Balancing Act” program, which is linked on the financial stability page. It starts with an anticipated revenue shortfall and asks participants to figure out how to get the budget back in balance. It uses the city’s current fiscal information.