Gig Harbor council gets 2020 budget of $84.6 million, tweaks it to aid sports complex
The Gig Harbor City Council got its first look at the city’s 2020 budget week, and promptly started tinkering with it, moving money around to help finance the planned city sports complex.
The proposed budget, which will come up for second reading Nov. 24, weighs in at $84.6 million. Big-ticket items include capital sewer construction at $11.4 million, street projects at $4.42 million, and the police department at $4.1 million.
The council added amendments on Tuesday, Nov. 14, to shift money to the second phase of the Gig Harbor Sports Complex, at the expense of park trails and some other projects. The council was meeting on a Tuesday because of the Veterans’ Day holiday.
The sports complex, long sought by Gig Harbor youth and sports groups, is to be built north of the YMCA at 10550 Harbor Hill Dr. The YMCA is footing most of the cost of the first phase of the project, which will include two lighted turf fields, 100 parking spaces, a restroom, and a concession structure.
The second phase — called Phase 1B in council jargon — is unfunded. It will cost $1.9 million, and will include a playground, event lawn, bocce ball court, pickle ball court, paved and unpaved trails, picnic shelters, and additional parking.
Initially the budget set aside only $75,000 for phase 1B, but Council Member Michael Perrow introduced an amendment in which $120,000 allocated toward Phase 3 — largely trails and landscaping — was pushed forward to phase 1B, resulting in an allocation of $195,000.
Council Member Spencer Hutchins echoed Perrow’s desire to provide as much money toward the sports complex project as could be found.
“If a car costs $10,000 and I only have $5,000 now, I don’t think ‘I’ll go buy something else with the $5,000,’” Hutchins said. “It is good for us to put the money toward the goal we have.”
Hutchins added the funding mechanism for the rest of 1B will be worked out. He said park impact fees will contribute.
The council also voted to redirect to the sports complex $40,000 initially allocated to build trails on the Old Burnham Property. The Burnham property is a city-owned nature conservancy in the north end of the city, west of Burnham Drive NW.
Himes said walking trails are important but these projects will need to wait until the 2021 budget.
The council tabled an amendment concerning kayak storage at Ancich Park until Council Member Ken Malich, who has had an interest in the topic, can be present.
In other budget amendments, the council:
▪ Added $25,000 for a design and feasibility study for “daylighting” Donkey Creek at Harborview Drive. The project would remove a culvert that is restricting salmon flow.
▪ Deleted a full-time laborer position at the city water treatment plant, but left one new full-time street-sweeper and another full-time laborer for the Parks Department.
▪ Add a “whereas” statement to establish a fund for capital projects within the Senior Services Fund. The city’s senior center is currently without a permanent home.
▪ Increased the grant-funded proportion for design and permitting of a bicycle “pump track” to $250,000. City costs would be $50,000.
In other business, the city council:
▪ Discussed repealing a section of a city ordinance governing development agreements. A development agreement is a voluntary contract between the city and a property owner or developer, often used to win “trade-offs,” such as increased landscaping or parking, in exchange for greater density.
▪ Held a public hearing for the revenue sources for next year’s general-fund budget.
▪ Moved to adopt two resolutions routinely certifying the city’s property tax levy and excess property tax levy. The regular levy for collection in 2020 is $3,007,441 which calculates to a rate of about 94 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. The excess levy, which will be used to pay the debt service on the restoration of the Eddon Boat yard, is $300,000. This calculates to a preliminary rate of $.0943 per thousand dollars.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 4:49 PM.