By Matthew Nash

Olympic Peninsula News Group

SEQUIM — Following the Sequim City Council’s first public hearing on its 2017 proposed $30 million budget, everything seems on tap for a 2 percent water utility increase next year along with a 1 percent property tax increase.

Five City Council members, with John Miller and Pam Leonard-Ray excused, on Monday extended public comment to 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 28, at the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St.

No citizens were present for the first of two public comment periods Monday, when Sequim city staff briefly discussed elements of the proposed budget.

Sue Hagener, administrative services director, said that the water increase is based on a 2013 study suggesting a 4 percent increase of water and sewer rates over six years.

However, that 4 percent can come from different places such as construction growth, structural changes within the city and/or from promoting conservation and charging more equitably for services.

A 2 percent water increase equates to about a 60-cent increase for users who use up to 650 cubic feet of water per month, Hagener said.

City staff didn’t recommend a sewer increase because they found other avenues, such as the amount of growth in the city’s construction, to help pay for current and future projects relating to the sewer.

The Carlsborg Sewer Project that brings residents’ waste through pipes to the City of Sequim’s Reclamation Facility, isn’t a factor in water/sewer rates right now, Hagener said.

“Even though there is a ton of construction, we don’t expect to experience that growth very quickly,” she said. “It’s going to take time for people to tap into the system.”

Other fees, such as a general facility charge (GFC) for new construction to join onto the city’s utility system, are going up, too, according to a fee rate schedule, Hagener said.

Both the water and sewer will go up $250 each to $6,850 for water and $8,800 for sewer.

“[GFCs] pay for all the facilities they are going to be using,” Hagener said.

Deputy Mayor Ted Miller said he’s in favor of the GFCs increase because it means less cost for rate payers.

City Councilman Bob Lake disagreed, asking hypothetically for solutions on seeking more people who want to be annexed into the city and want to build in the city.

He suggested a low-cost point so as not to become a barrier for people choosing living within the city limits versus Clallam County limits over connection fees.

So far this year, city staff have issued 109 residential building permits and 83 commercial permits for new construction within the Sequim city limits for a total of $15,167,244.

As for the proposed 1 percent tax levy increase, Connie Anderson, deputy director of administrative services, said assessed values within the city limits have been going down in recent years, but for 2017 the city’s assessed value is at about $906 million, similar to 2011.

She said that because of that assessment, property owners’ taxes might go down because of the high amount of new construction in 2016.

The city is legally allowed to increase its property tax total by 1 percent over last year’s levy amount.

Senior citizens 61 and older and disabled residents making $35,000 or less per year are eligible for exemptions.

Other items of the $30 million proposed budget previously reported on include:

• City staffing may include 76.78 employees, an increase of 1.24 full-time employees and a 1.4-percent wage increase from 2016 up to $5.4 million for salaries and $2.4 million for benefits.

• Salary increases are proposed for non-uniformed bargaining unit at a ¾ percent increase, police sergeants at a 2 percent increase, police officers at a 1 percent increase and non-represented staff at a 1.5 percent increase.

• About $6.2 million tentatively is set for capital projects and purchases ranging from installing pickleball courts ($205,000) and relocating Carrie Blake Park’s road entrance ($274,000) to reconstructing West Fir Street by Sequim schools, depending on grants.

For more about the budget, visit www.sequimwa.gov.

________

Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.