WHITE SALMON — White Salmon’s City Council gathered for an expedient, yet productive meeting Nov. 6 that largely focused on next year’s budget, along with two other business items. Notably, they passed a resolution increasing property taxes by 1% for the next calendar year.
Councilors began by commemorating Native American Heritage Month, followed by a budget presentation by Clerk Treasurer Stephanie Porter and a very brief public hearing related to the same matter. Three weeks ago, Columbia Gorge News broke down the different parts of White Salmon’s budget and where it stands, including a slight deficit in the general fund. Now, here’s where the dollars residents pay actually go: A single-family home valued at $500,000 currently pays about $3,940 in annual property taxes, not including the recent regional fire authority levy. Over half of that money goes to schools, followed by Klickitat County (13.24%), the city itself (8.6%), the hospital (6.44%) and several other categories. Of the $338 White Salmon receives from those taxes, 80% goes to the city’s general fund, and the remainder helps maintain streets.
As for utility fees, a single-family home will pay an estimated base rate of $688 for water and $766 for wastewater in 2025, both of which may increase or decrease depending on usage. Those respective base fees support White Salmon’s water and wastewater systems, with power sourced separately through Klickitat’s Public Utility District.
The last public hearing for White Salmon’s budget will take place on Nov. 20. After Porter’s presentation, and with no public comments, Mayor Marla Keethler set the tone for what she hoped the final budget would look like.
“I would like us to kind of catch our breath a little bit and assess where we are in terms of the debt we’ve taken on and availability of the rates that we have,” said Keethler. “There’s definitely work that needs to be done, but I think I’d like to see things settle.”
Her seatmates seemed to agree, but Councilors Jim Ransier and Patty Fink stressed the importance of funding the White Salmon’s pending Climate Action Plan, intended to set targets for emissions reductions and improve the city’s resilience to climate-related events.
“The Climate Action Plan is a key priority for me, so I’d like to see it funded,” said Fink, acknowledging they might have to wait until the city assesses its beginning cash balances. “I’m going to bring this up every single city council meeting.”
With Councilor Jason Hartmann absent, city council passed the property tax increase in a 4-0 vote shortly afterward.
Next, councilors addressed the Heritage Tree Ordinance, which has since expanded in scope as it's moved through the planning commission and public comments. Designed to protect mature trees without burdening new development, among other factors, councilors approved an additional $9,219 to help consulting company Facet, Inc. further refine the ordinance.
Lastly, Washington’s Department of Ecology directed White Salmon to update its floodplain map code, required by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency to reflect upcoming code changes at the county level. To make the necessary updates, council approved $7,182 to Facet, Inc.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.