Inflation, rising costs, and increased taxes impact all of us. In the same way, the City experiences inflation, and increased wages and costs just like any other business or individual. The City isn’t exempt. The revenue source for the general fund is taxes. These taxes provide the community with public safety through 24/7 police coverage, code enforcement, library services, clean & safe streets and parks, mandated court/criminal expenses, city facility maintenance, economic development (including building permits and land use), and the financial operations that keep the City running. Many of these items are mandated for the City to provide. While you may not use all these services, or even need any of them daily, having them in place is part of what makes Kalama a desirable, livable, and well-loved community.
Tax revenues, apart from the 1% to property taxes, have not been increased to cover the general city services in many years. Additional personnel have been added to meet the needs of community growth in both the Finance and Police Departments, along with increases in wages to attract and retain good employees. Inflation has been between 3% and 8% over the past 5 years. The City has experienced several years where economic development and construction have provided additional sales taxes and development revenues, that have been used to cover some of these increases and build some reserves. These are one-time revenues and are not continuous to cover operating expenses which are perpetual. These revenues are no longer keeping pace with the cost of inflation. The City relies on sustainable revenue streams, specifically ones with inflationary increase to keep pace, to cover the day-to-day operations.
If the Council enacts the 2% utility tax increase along with the new 0.1% public safety sales tax and the 1% property tax levy, the cost to a standard household would be approximately $5.21 per month. If the projected utility rates increase are added as well (of $8.19), the overall total increase is $13.40 per household per month. The City staff work under a strict budget with little discretionary spending and understand that increasing costs can be difficult for everyone. Cuts and postponing capital expenditure projects have been proposed. The cost of operations must be funded to operate the city and provide 24/7 police coverage, maintained park facilities, operate a library that provides the community with more than books, monitor codes and development so the City grows in a responsible manner, and maintain the city’s streets.