By Richard Uhlhorn
At its last current meeting, city council unanimously agreed to raise its property tax level by one percent as allowed by State law.
The increase represents an increase to $1,926,707 for the 2025 collection year. Resident Linda Sydowski asked if the city had ever considered freezing property tax increases for tow years like Chelan County. Finance director replied that the city is only allowed to raise its property tax rate by one percent per year.
MG Consulting – Records Management:
City Clerk Peri Gallucci introduced Megen Gregor who provided the city council with an update on the city’s efforts to digitize its public records and get rid of non-essential paper records. “We are up to speed on retention,” said Gregor.
The staff and Gregor have gone through 400 boxes of records so far, retained 22 boxes as historical keepers. The work has been accomplished with a $40,000 grant from the Washington State Archives organization. The city is going after another grant to continue the work.
“This city is amazing,” said Gregor. “Everyone Is so supportive to help make this happen.”
The city will continue to retain Gregor to assist each department with the organization’s digitization, transfer and disposition of paper and electronic records along with record management training.
Lakeside Park Grant:
“We are ready to accept this grant,” said Paul Horne, parks director. The Lakeside Park improvement grant has been in abeyance since 2020 when the rules for these grants changed at the federal level.
Jason Henry, principal with the Berger Partnership presented the major components of the grant which include a New Dock – Park Signage/Kiosks – New Playground – ADA trail enhancements – and Beach enhancements. The grant will also help with a new restroom.
“We are looking at getting into the permitting,” said Henry. The timeframe for this project is to wrap up permitting and Construction Drawings, bid and let the project this winter, with a spring of 2025 construction window of approximately six months.
The city’s match was $600,000 of the $1.4 million project. The RCO added another $100,000 to bring the match to $700,000.
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth asked about the construction timeline. Horne replied that construction will take place starting this spring and running through the summer months, but added, “We have a plan for operating the park during construction.”
Prosecution Services:
The council unanimously approved the 2025 Chelan County Prosecution Services Agreement.
This agreement will increase from $275 per case to $300 per case or an estimated cost of $41,400 for the 2025 year. City Attorney Quentin Batjer reported that the new contract amount is roughly equivalent to what the City was paying 10 years ago.
Administrative Reports:
City Administrator Wade Farris brought the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society request to the council saying, “How much would it cost us. I don’t think we can afford it.” The Humane Society proposal for the next three years are for contracted costs through 2025 to 2027 as follows:
- 2025 – S64,600, 2026 – $66,538, and 2027 – $68534.
The interim director explained that the increase were due to inflation and additional safety measures for their animal control officers.
The Feral Cat Project had requested $10,000 from the city, but the staff recommended that the city treat the project as a service contract for the next three years at $5,000 per year. “Because their work covers the entire valley, the $5,000 can cover the work they do in the City.” The funding would come from the City’s General Fund.
The Lake Chelan Chamber Contract was discussed. Farris stated that the contract had been pushed out and requested that another three months were needed to bring the contract issue to a close.
The Chamber has been operating without a new contract for the past two years. The council has extended the old contract until the end of 2024 with the chamber having access to $700,000 each year for marketing purposes. In the past the city has given the chamber five year contracts. However, the chamber has not lived up to the contract criteria of giving specific accountability of how these dollars have been spent and where.
The city has created a Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce committee to review the upcoming Lodging Tax Fund agreement.
In addition to the contract negotiations, the Chamber has requested an additional $150,000 from the City for special events like Winterfest. Farris said the city needs to be more transparent with how these funds are used. Finance Director Jackie Tupling said the $150,000 would be a line item to be paid back in full by December 31. “They also have to provide to council how they are spending that money,” said Tupling.
Questions from the council continued the discussion. Terry Sanders asked how the $150,000 request compared to last year’s expenditure. “It’s hard to maintain.” McCardle replied that Leavenworth spent $1 million on their October Fest event. “It’s not a cheap venture. Tim Hollingsworth asked, “Is that what it costs? I’m curious to why the city will fund it as an event.” He added that it all seemed convoluted.
Hollingsworth went on to say, “What kind of advertising are they actually doing?” He wants to see a detailed report every quarter from the Chamber.
The City Council will be making decisions on the Chamber Lodging Tax Funding Agreement Extension and the Lodging Tax Fun Festival Support Memorandum of Understanding at its Tuesday, November 26 City Council meeting.
TIF (Tax Increment Financing) update:
Community Development Director John Ajax stated that the TIF district has gone up in value but that no significant construction has taken place. He also mentioned that the city continues to look for alternative funding sources for the East Chelan Water System project that includes a one million gallon reservoir that would provide secure water to the east Chelan area.
Ajax said the City has one more year after which the Planning Department will bring the issue back
The City continues negotiations with Emergency Service Providers to allow additional time to evaluate the potential impacts on service levels within the Tax Increment Area.
Facility conditions and needs assessment:
Chad Coltman, communications director, reported to the council that the City’s Facilities Assessment Project will evaluate and plan improvements to city owned buildings. A Request for Qualifications has been extended so the City can identify a firm to perform the assessments.
Rate and Fee Schedule updates:
Wade Farris notified the council that the City updates its rate and fee schedules to conform with inflation.
Both Public Works Director Jake Youngren and Parks Director Paul Horne went over their proposed increases. These increases can be reviewed at the following city web location:
All Things Lake Chelan 