Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of December 4, 2012
There’s not a lot of new City business this week, but there are still a few important items left from last week scheduled for decisions this week.
Public Hearing
Resolution 38576 sets Tuesday, December 18 as the date for a public hearing by the City Council on the recommendations of the Human Services Commission for community services funding for local human services programs. The City’s proposed 2013-2014 budget allocates $5,470,000 for human services in the next biennium. The Human Services Commission has reviewed applications for these funds, and will present its recommendations at next week’s City Council study session. The December 18 public hearing will give the public the chance to comment on those recommendations.
Purchase Resolutions
Two items this week:
- $370,712, plus sales tax, budgeted from the Tacoma Rail Mountain Division Fund, for on-call track and bridge maintenance on an as-needed basis; and
- $3,368,820, budgeted from the Wastewater Fund, for construction of the Lincoln and Alexander Pump Station Upgrade.
Item 1 would provide construction assistance for Tacoma Mountain Rail track and rail maintenance projects on a as-needed basis, providing a means for quick response to damages that may be beyond the capabilities of Tacoma Rail. Item 2 would upgrade a pump station built in 1972 that occasionally dumps untreated wastewater into the Sound when peak volumes overwhelm its capacity. The two items come in at 7.1% and 4.6% below pre-bid estimates,respectively.
Final Readings
We’ve got final readings this week of the eight ordinances that got their first readings at last week’s meeting. These include property tax levies, changes to the way Tacoma handles minors and alcohol, and organizational changes to City departments. The 2013-2014 biennial budget is also on the table for Council approval, and we’re expecting that will be the big item for conversation. It’s been a long road, and a lot has changed in the last year since we discovered the size of Tacoma’s budget gap. And after the tooth-pulling an sacrifices made in the process, we’re hoping that when the next biennium rolls around, the picture is a little brighter.
Pho
Resolution 38578 would authorize the execution and conveyance of an easement of City-owned property within Fireman’s Park, located at South 7th and A Streets, to
Comcast Communications for existing telecom infrastructure and the installation
of high-speed internet and cable TV infrastructure to serve an abutting restaurant. This will allow Pho 701 access to new high speed internet and cable. There will be no cost to the City. (Full disclosure: we have been known to frequent said restaurant, and find it quite tasty.)
Filed under: City Council, Legislation, City Government
4 comments
F fred davie December 3, 2012
“It’s been a long road, and a lot has changed in the last year since we discovered the size of Tacoma’s budget gap.”
A lot has changed?
J John December 3, 2012
Yeah, aside from all the budget cuts in the city, and the increase over the past year in the stock market, the GDP, housing sales, new home construction, consumer confidence, retail sales, industrial production and shipping of manufactured goods, and the slow but continued drop in the unemployment rate, nothing’s changed. Seems pretty bleak to me.
F fred davie December 3, 2012
I’d say little has changed in the last year aside from some harmful decisions by the city council:
1. Increased sales tax rate
2. Increased license tabs
3. Authorized increase in cable rates
4. Authorized increase in utility rates
5. Service reductions in garbage collections
6. Numerous unsustainable salary and wage increases
I don’t know what the stock market, the GDP, or consumer confidence has with the city budget process but maybe you see a connection, John.
J John December 3, 2012
Fred, you don’t see the correlation between the economy’s improvement (with the subsequent increase in property value, income, and jobs) and tax dollars in the city’s coffers? The last sentence in the ‘Final Readings’ section mentioned hoping the picture is a little brighter in the next biennium. I wasn’t talking only about the city budget process, but the bigger picture. I see positive changes happening all around us.