Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of February 5, 2013

Solid Waste & Utility Rates
This week we’ll hear the first reading of two ordinances to adjust utility rates in Tacoma for 2013 and 2014. The first would increase Wastewater and Surface Water Utilities rates: a 4.8% per year for Wastewater customers and 6% for Surface Water customers. According to supporting documents, the rate increases are driven primarily by increased labor costs and increased investment in infrastructure.

The second of the two ordinances up for a first reading – and the one we’re expecting to hear a little more about – would make adjustments to the solid waste rates in the City of Tacoma. According to the Request for Ordinance, a 0% per year change has been recommended, but there will be “some fluctuation” with the implementation of every-other-week pick-up and the accompanying changes in container size. Those changes will begin to roll out for Tacoma customers in March, and the roll-out will continue through November, depending on the day of the week your trash gets picked up. In the long-run, the City expects to reduce the cost of the residential garbage collection program by between $900,000 and $1.3 million annually, and make as much as a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Read more, and check out some details of the proposed rate changes here.

Open Spaces
A new proposal would make changes to the way open spaces are managed by the City of Tacoma. Open spaces in the city, including parks and urban forest lands, are currently managed by Planning and Development Services. At Tuesday’s study session, Council will hear a presentation on proposed organizational changes that would transfer management of “passive open spaces,” such as undeveloped urban forest land, to Environmental Services to be managed for canopy cover and stormwater management benefits. About 459 acres of property would be transferred, including Julia’s Gulch, Mason Gulch, and the Stadium-Schuster slope. The plan would keep “active open spaces” (such as small parks like the waterfront Chinese Reconciliation Park) under PDS.

Mental Health & Domestic Violence
Two resolutions on this week’s agenda would authorize the allocation of funds from the City’s Mental Health Fund, raised by the mental health sales tax passed by the Council last May.

The first resolution would allocate nearly $3 million ($487,267 from the Mental Health Fund and $2,511,798 from the General Fund) for human services programs through the end of 2014. Programs receiving funding under this agreement include Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, Northwest Leadership Foundation, Peace Community Center, Pierce County AIDS Foundation, The Rescue Mission, Shared Housing Services, Tacoma Community House, Tacoma Urban League, and Washington Women’s Employment and Education, in the amount of $204,660.

The second resolution would authorize an agreement with the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center for $335,000 from the Mental Health Fund for domestic violence services through the end of 2013. The City Manager’s Office wants to expand the impact of funding on the rate of domestic violence in Tacoma, which has one of the highest reported rates of domestic violence incidents in the state. To this end, currently funded programs (Crystal Judson Family Justice Center, Korean Women’s Association and YWCA) have been provided one year non-competitive grants with a requirement to sit on a Domestic Violence System Review Committee. The KWA and YWCA program grants are under $200,000, so can be awarded administratively.

Purchase Resolution
One item on this week’s purchase resolution: $389,714, plus sales tax, budgeted from the Solid Waste Fund, for equipment to enable the City’s asphalt plant to incorporate recycled asphalt pavement and recycled asphalt shingles into the asphalt mix. On November 6, the City accepted a $337,500 grant from the Washington Department of Ecology to pay for a portion of the cost, with matching funds from the City’s Solid Waste fund. This sounds like a good way to reduce our environmental footprint by keeping asphalt from going into the landfill or travelling unnecessary miles for recycling.

Other Items
The Mayor will proclaim the week of February 11-15, 2013 as “Murray Morgan Bridge Week,” and February 2013 as “African American History Month.”