The Clark County council on Wednesday approved its $321 million two-year budget, which includes a 1 percent property tax increase that will generate about $8 million in expected revenue for the county.
The 2017-2018 budget passed after more than three acrimonious hours that featured Republican Councilor David Madore exchanging barbs with his colleagues and county staff and unleashing heated diatribes that seemed to rehash years of past conflicts.
Although Washington counties and cities are allowed to raise property taxes by 1 percent annually under state law, Clark County hasn’t taken the increase since 2011. But faced with a chronic budget shortfall caused primarily from rising labor costs, Chair Marc Boldt, no party preference, was joined by Republican Councilors Jeanne Stewart and Julie Olson in approving the increase. Madore was joined by Republican Councilor Tom Mielke in opposing it.
The property tax increase helps address a $22.6 million shortfall that also will be closed with spending reductions, efficiencies and the use of different sources of funds.
This is the first budget crafted under the county’s new home rule charter, which charges the county manager, Mark McCauley, with crafting the document. Madore, previously a county commissioner before the new charter was enacted in 2014, has been uncomfortable with the new arrangement and attempted to present what he called a “minority report” alternative budget at the meeting.
“This is not supposed to be the staff’s budget,” Madore said. “This is the people’s budget.”
Madore was blocked by Boldt, Stewart and Olson from presenting his budget and appealed to The Columbian, which he has refused to speak with for over a year, to publish it.
Instead, Madore and Mielke offered over 20 amendments to the proposed budget, all of which were defeated on a 3-2 vote.
The amendments included restoring more funding for the sheriff’s office, revising the sales tax forecast, cutting the budgets of Community Planning and Human Resources (which Madore has clashed with), and bringing the county-owned Tri-Mountain Golf Course into the urban growth boundary in hopes of selling it.
Nearly every amendment was accompanied by a speech from Madore, prompting Boldt to suggest the councilor had “diarrhea of the mouth.”
Stewart said it had taken a great deal of work by county staff and councilors to craft the budget and she didn’t appreciate an alternative budget being suddenly proposed, calling it “disrespectful” and “disgusting.”
The council did approve four amendments proposed by other councilors. Two made technical corrections to the budget. Another restored $64,845 in funding for the Washington State University Extension, which provides educational services.
Another amendment increased one-time funding by $236,000 for the Veterans Assistance Program.
Parks
The budget raises taxes and fees to support parks. The new budget reinstates the $3-per-car parking fees at its four regional parks and reservation fees that had been done away with in 2013 with the support of Madore and Mielke. During the hearing, Madore said that reinstating the fees was unfair to residents and created an antagonistic relationship between visitors and parks staff.
The council also missed an opportunity to revise its park impact fees, which are assessed to developers to support and maintain parks. Under the county’s comprehensive plan, approved earlier this year, the fees were set to rise by 80 percent beginning next year, followed by a 90 percent increase the following year and a 100 percent increase the year after. Although councilors had expressed concerns about the sharp increase, there was no consensus on how to incorporate a revision into the budget.
The council, acting as the Greater Clark Parks District Board, voted 3-2 on Tuesday to approve a 10 percent property tax levy for the creation and maintenance of parks. In 2005, voters approved an ongoing annual levy of up to 27 cents per $1,000 assessed property value. Olson said that the levy needed to be raised to build six planned new parks. She said that because of increased property values countywide the levy wouldn’t rise from its current 21 cents per $1,000 in assessed value.
“We’re making promises to our community that they agreed they’re going to pay taxes for and we’re not meeting those promises,” she said.
But Madore said the hike was too steep and other taxes and fees would contribute to making housing less affordable.
“I just can’t imagine the inappropriateness of this,” he said.
Madore’s goodbye
Madore lost his re-election bid and Mielke is retiring, meaning that the allied councilors will step down from the council later this month.
“This is probably the last time we have to address you on any major issue,” said Madore after making one more attempt to present his budget. “And I’m so disappointed to see that we have been prevented from doing so. This isn’t about personalities; this isn’t about us as individuals.”
However, he might have one more shot. On Tuesday, the council will consider a resolution terminating a fee-waiver program championed by Madore.
Wednesday’s meeting reminded Boldt of his days of crafting budgets as a state legislator, he said.
“If you’re in the majority, you do the budget,” Boldt said. “If you’re in the minority, you make the majority look bad.”
