GOLDENDALE — Only two commissioners were present at the April 23 regular meeting of the Klickitat County Commissioners. Due to the absence of Commissioner Dan Christopher, Commissioner Jacob Anderson made all the motions, and Chair Lori Zoller had to momentarily step down as chair in order to second the motions. Not surprisingly in such situations, all motions were unanimous.
Unlike previous recent sessions, far fewer people took advantage of the public comment period. One person did assert the reason the county was in a financial crisis was that they had given tax breaks to wind and solar projects, while raising taxes on citizens.
Anderson pointed out that the county had no authority to grant tax breaks, which were voted in by the state legislature. The cause of the budget shortfall was the loss of several contracts by Republic Services, which operates the landfill, a major source of income for the county.
“The landfill floated this county for many years,” he said. “It was an awesome, awesome endeavor. But the landscape has changed. They are facing competition for contracts, which in turn hits our fees here at the county ... And as those contracts switch or change or dwindle our monies are impacted and this last year they were impacted in a big way, so that causes a budget crunch where everybody has to adjust.”
The loss of those contracts will leave the county with a budget shortfall of more than $1.5 dollars, he added. And with interest rates high, fewer people are building homes, which generates less revenue.
To add to the county’s concern over its potential fiscal future is the $20 million lawsuit filed by the family of the man who committed suicide in the county jail, and the potential for others.
Responding to a comment that the citizens were paying for mistakes made by the commissioners, Anderson said, “The pending and potential litigation did not come from departments underneath the Board of County Commissioners. They came underneath another elected official. Have a conversation with that elected official, sir. Because we, being the executives, just have to find the way to pay for it.”
Under Planning Director Scott Edelman’s agenda item, he noted that, as new to the job, he had been planning to meet with the various community councils, and proposed that rather than trying to schedule a number of meetings, he would organize a summit of all the councils. The idea was favorably received by the commissioners, and he will work on putting that together.
Edelman also said he and Zoller will make in-person visits to the controversial Under Canvas site, an aggregate site and a other areas. “It’s valuable to me to get out in the community and to see some of these projects firsthand,” he said.
Public Works Director Jeff Hunter and County Engineer Seth Scarola said that the county would have to start thinking about a rate increase for Dallesport, to go into effect June 1, due to the dwindling reserves.
“They’re almost to where they’re flatlined and that’s never a good place to be,” Hunter said.
The previous weekend, the county received a call from Dallesport at 3 a.m. due to a major pipe failure, which required an emergency repair that cost $10,000. The department proposed a 5% raise. That would increase the cost for a typical residence from $61.16 to $64.22 a month. No final decision was made, and any rate increase would have to have a public hearing.
In the afternoon session, commissioners dealt with an item pulled from the consent agenda in the morning. The auditor’s office had to make some final adjustments to the new precinct boundaries, due to the cities of White Salmon and Bingen annexing adjacent territory, and by the afternoon session those corrections were made ahead of a state deadline.
Other items in the consent agenda that were adopted include:
• Setting a hearing for a supplemental budget adjusting the current budget for 1 p.m. on May 14 in the commissioner’s meeting room.
• A lease renewal at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport.
• Approving a landfill gas improvement funding agreement to support a Dallesport Water District project for $200,000.
• Scheduling a hearing in the commissioner’s meeting room for 1 p.m. on April 30 to consider a short plat in the Husum area.
• Approving a public works contract with A&E Heating and Air, Inc. to replace the HVAC system at the Pioneer Center for $159,425.44.
• Approving a service contract with Inland Fire Extinguisher and public works for $5,161.29.
Commented