CIVICS | We also have a mayoral veto of the renter ordinance, a mandate to keep a closer eye on the city’s money and money for pretrial services.
A planet must be in retrograde because it looks like it’s going to be a week of bringing up old stuff. (Someone who’s an expert in astrology, please let us know if we’re right.) City council is revisiting the ordinance it passed earlier this month that raised fees developers pay to install water and sewer systems in new developments and considering the mayor’s veto of part of the renter ordinance they passed a month ago.
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Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability (PIES) Committee
Changing developer fees again
After developers absolutely blared alarms over Spokane City Council raising the cost of hooking up public utilities and services to new developments a few weeks ago, city council has decided to revisit the ordinance. City council originally raised the costs of the General Facilities Charges (GFCs) — which pay for things like new sewer and water service being installed — because the original fee structure couldn’t keep up with the rising costs of construction and inflation and current utility customers were bearing that cost. As an “interim measure,” the council wants to modify the charges during 2023 that would raise the original charges by 66%, which is how much the consumer price index has increased since 2002, when it was last updated. The ordinance amendment would require any more changes to be approved by city council before 2024.
Next, the council will be discussing a resolution that outlines the process and timeline the council and city administration will follow to get community input on the changes to the charges before 2024. In addition to town hall meetings, the resolution would require three city council committees — the Housing Action Subcommittee, the Sustainability Action Subcommittee and the Equity Subcommittee — to review the GFCs and recommend changes to the 2024 charges by July. The public works department will then review those proposals and present them to city council by September 13, and city council is supposed to adopt the changes by October 9.
The city council will be voting on the amendment to the ordinance and the process resolution at the council meeting at 6 p.m.
Stay tuned for more reporting on this issue from us today!
How gassy is Spokane?
It’s time for Spokane’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory. The inventory schedule in 2017 was set to every three years, so the latest inventory includes emissions from 2017, 2018 and 2019. The city of Spokane set a goal back in 2010 to reach net zero emissions by the year 2050 and these inventories are meant to help track how that goal is coming along. The inventory takes into account comprehensive energy data from local government operations, like wastewater and solid waste management and community emissions, like transportation and energy use. There’s going to be a full presentation at the PIES committee meeting, but according to the notes in the agenda, emissions were compare to 2017 to 2019 and if we take population growth into account, they decreased by 3%.
Agenda here.Monday, March 27 at 1:15 p.m.Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201The meeting is also live streamed.
Spokane City Council
Cannon shelter contract
The city council is set to approve a $800,000 contract extension with the Salvation Army to operate the Cannon shelter through the end of May. According to the agenda packet, the plan is still to “absorb” the 70+ beds at Cannon into the Trent Resource and Assistance Center at the end of the contract. However, at last week’s Urban Experience Committee, Council President Breean Beggs voiced support for turning Cannon into a shelter for people with more acute medical needs. It’s unclear if this is actually part of the city’s plan.
A closer eye on the city’s money
The city council will have the first reading of an ordinance that would establish requirements for unallocated reserve money in the city’s general fund. The new requirements include adding budget monitoring and regular monthly financial reports to the city council. The council also wants the finance department to give them trend reports and estimates for the city’s budget, quarterly summary of potential financial or operational issues that impact the city’s overall finances, as well as quarterly proposed budget amendments from the budget department.
The council also wants the finance department to give a yearly update to the General Fund Five-Year Forecast, have a focused discussion on any accounts within the general fund that are projected to be significantly off their annual budget allocation — under or over.
Another section would require departments to prepare preliminary estimates of all expected revenues and expenses for not just the next fiscal year, but the year after.
Mayoral veto of part of the landlord-tenant ordinance
The city council will consider Mayor Nadine Woodward’s veto of the second part of the rental ordinance the council passed with a super-majority in February. That ordinance, C-36366, lays the groundwork for “portable” background checks, establishes a residential rental property mitigation program for landlords and a legal services and relocation program for tenants, adds new requirements for walkthroughs, inspections and disclosures from landlords, and provides anti-retaliation protections and the ability for tenants to sue.
In her veto letter, Woodward said that the law will cause people to sell off their rental properties and endanger new development of rental housing in Spokane. The veto would be overridden by the 5-2 majority the ordinance originally passed with, unless one of the council members who originally voted for the ordinance has a change of heart.
Read all the details on the ordinances and what they mean for renters and landlords in Spokane here.
Agenda hereMonday, March 27 at 6 p.m.Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane County Board of County Commissioners
Strategic Planning Meeting on Monday
Last week, we had our ears peeled for a discussion about county board of commissioners meetings. But, they never got around to it. They did however talk more about the regional homelessness authority and posed a question to staff we’re keen to see answered: How much does the county pay each year for homeless services?
They also pledged to take up the conversation about commission meetings this week… but, we’re not seeing it on the agenda. If it does come up, we’ll be sure to report back.
Agenda hereMonday, March 27 at 9 a.m. Board of County Commissioners’ Conference RoomWeb link
Money to keep people out of jail
The county is accepting a nearly $340,000 award from the MacArthur Foundation for pre-trial case management services “with the goal of maintaining public safety and increase court appearances while reducing the costs of pre-trial incarceration for individuals with eligible
criminal cases.” This could be a big deal in Spokane where a majority of people in the county jail are there before they’ve stood trial. (Right now, 72% of people in the county jail are there pre-trial. Here’s a link to a RANGE podcast that covered how pre-trial holds balloon the county jail population and an article on how that disenfranchises incarcerated people who may never be convicted of any crime.
In an interesting twist of timing, the program is set to start in October of this year, just a month before Spokane voters will be asked to decide on whether or not they want more tax dollars going to a new jail.
Dishing it out for Dishman
The county is spending $3.6 million to buy a 102-acre parcel of land to add to the Dishman Hills Conservation Area. Last year, Spokesman-Review editor Eli Frankovich wrote about the property and the longtime local science teacher, Glen MacPhee, whose family trust is selling it to the county. The property could’ve been a 15 lot subdivision but will now be protected as open space in the county’s expanding trail system south of Spokane Valley and east of the South Hill.
Greater Spokane
The county is extending the status of Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI) as the county’s Associate Development Organization, a designation required for Commerce money to flow into the organization for local economic development initiatives. GSI provides local business and economic development resources. It also lobbies for economic policies. In a recent article by Kate Walter for the Spokesman Review, GSI’s director of public policy questioned the impact that changing overtime laws to pay workers more for their overtime labor would have on small business.
Agenda hereTuesday, March 28 at 2 p.m. Public Works Building1116 W Broadway, Spokane, WACommissioner’s Conference Room, First Floor
Mead School District Board of Directors
New Superintendent pick
After Superintendent Shawn Woodward announced in January he would be leaving the district at the end of the school year, the Mead Board of Directors promptly decided to review the top three candidates it had already vetted four years ago when Woodward was first hired. From that pool, they’ve already chosen a new superintendent to offer the job to: Travis Hanson. At this board meeting, they’ll be discussing his contract.
According to the March 13 meeting minutes, most of the board is confident in their pick. Hanson has been the Deer Park School District’s Superintendent for the last 10 years, lives in the Mead School District, he and his wife graduated from Mead High School and their daughters graduated from Mt. Spokane High School. Director BrieAnne Gray is the only one who opposed choosing Hanson without conducting a nationwide search for other candidates, saying that four years isn’t that recent of a pool of candidates to choose from and there have been lots of changes in the district since then. The other directors outvoted her and voted to hire Hanson effective July 1, after contract negotiations.
Budget cuts incoming
The board is also set to vote on declaring a financial emergency, which would direct the superintendent to make a proposal for budget cuts that could include staff reductions and reducing non-staff related costs for the next school year.
hereMonday, March 27 at 6 p.m.Union Event Center12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021Watch via Zoom here.
