Higher Income Saves Cuts to Parks & Rec

• 

Details

Category: News

Created on Thursday, 13 March 2025 15:40

Hits: 177

SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

Increases in anticipated property tax revenues, reduced legal fees, and increased income from the Blatchley pool helped turn a deficit into a surplus in the Assembly's final revisions of the fiscal year 2026 budget at a special meeting Wednesday.

The Assembly spent more than three hours on a final review of budgets for the general fund, the enterprise funds (harbors, water, wastewater, electric), internal service (IT, garage, maintenance), and the city's special revenue funds.

It was the last of several budget work sessions leading up to publication of the budget book March 28, and adoption of the budget ordinances on final readings April 8 and 22.

The city's budget year starts July 1 and runs through June 30 the following year..

At its last budget meeting the Assembly cut projects and programs to close a deficit from $700,000 to about $430,000. At Wednesday’s meeting, revenue increases – mostly from higher assessed valuations of taxable property – allowed the Assembly to adjourn with an FY26 general fund budget surplus of over $200,000.

(Valuation notices go out on Monday, and property tax bills are due at the end of August. The city is in the midst of a five-year process of reassessing all residential properties in Sitka.)

Other changes approved by the Assembly were increasing rental fees at Harrigan Centennial Hall by 20% ($23,000), adding temp wages to maximize pool hours and revenues ($75,000), and reducing the budget for legal fees by $150,000. The Assembly agreed to put $15,000 back into the budget, and accept an invitation to send two city representatives to Nemuro, Japan, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Nemuro-Sitka sister city relationship.

On the capital projects side, the Assembly voted 4-3 to cut the planned purchase of HVAC system controls at the Sitka Animal Shelter. The Assembly majority voting in favor of the cut said they believed cheaper options are available, and asked city staff to come back with alternative options. City staff said the project is in line with a goal of having “a single control system” throughout all city buildings to ultimately improve efficiency.

“I think we’re using a sledgehammer where a regular framing hammer would work,” Thor Christianson said.

“I was reassured when I heard (staff) say if we vote this down, they’re going to reinvestigate and come back,” Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said. He was joined by Christianson, Chris Ystad and Scott Saline in voting for the budget cut. Voting against were JJ Carlson, Kevin Mosher and Tim Pike.

Also added back was $15,000 for the Planning Department to subscribe to the Placer AI internet service to help the city monitor uses of city-owned recreation sites. The department is working on a commercial recreation land use plan, which will guide regulations for guiding and outfitting permits.

The Assembly revisited one final item from the previous meeting, the Parks and Rec budget. Some Assembly members at that meeting suggested a $100,000 to $200,000 cut from the budget.

Parks and Rec is in its third year of operation, with a budget that has grown in line with growth in programming and participation. Two slides showed the reasons for the higher operating costs, and better revenue projections.

One slide showed the city's agreement to take over operation of the pool added $374,000 in Parks and Rec expenses. But fine-tuning of revenue projections showed a $75,000 increase in revenue.

The Parks and Rec budget of $960,000 includes $56,000 increase in temp wages for swim instructors and lifeguards, which will mean 1,200 additional hours in pool programming, Parks and Rec coordinator Kevin Knox said. The pool is open 38 to 60 hours a week, depending on the month.

“What it comes down to is, the pool has very high fixed costs, so the only way to close the gap between high fixed costs and the revenues you need is to increase usage,” Planning Director Amy Ainslie said today.

The Assembly decided against making any changes to the Parks and Rec budget, other than adding the $75,000 in the revision of anticipated revenues.