Cashmere City Council Meeting October 9

Two significant business items dominated the Cashmere City Council’s Oct. 9^th meeting. First, up for discussion was a proposed relaxation of the City’s commercial parking requirements; Second, was a budget workshop discussion tax and levy options to address the gap between city revenues and city expenses.

Cashmere Planning Commission (CPC) member, Zak Steigmeyer, and Director of Operations, Steve Croci, explained that city staff and the CPC was developing significant proposed changes to the commercial parking code. If implemented the changes would loosen commercial parking requirements, significantly decreasing the number of on-site parking spots a business would need. Parking requirements for residential properties would not be affected by the proposed changes. Croci told the Council that this is just a “check-in” and no action was required, but the CPC members wanted to get some initial feedback from the Council before proceeding further. Steigmeyer added that the CPC wanted to make sure that the changes are in-line with Council’s views and would not be something that will just get shot down.

Steigmeyer told Council members that the current code is not compatible with the look and feel of the walkable downtown Cashmere.

The four changes to the code include;

1) allowing city-owned parking lots to be included as 75% of a businesses’ parking requirement. Currently this is set at 25%. Three additional city parking lots would also be allowed to be included as part of a businesses’ off-site parking allotment.

 2) shared parking spaces for businesses may be allowed if the parking needs and times do not overlap.

3) changes to the types of business categories and the amount of parking required for each type of business.

4) allow a business to request an Exception to the Parking Requirement. This would allow a business to provide a written justification to demonstrate a reduction in the amount of required parking.

A lengthy discussion followed, with Council members asking “what-if” questions apparently seeking to determine potential impacts or unintended consequences of the proposed code changes. Some of the scenarios discussed included; what if a business is in someone’s home, what if a building is sold and a different type of business is established, would the same type of business be grandfathered-in, and the option of the city completely elimination commercial parking requirements. The discussions ended with the Council telling Steigmeyer and Croci that they were supportive of the direction the Commission is headed.

The budget workshop portion of the meeting was led by Council member Chris Carlson. As a workshop, the meeting was specifically for discussion purposes preparing for a public hearing, so no action was taken by the Council. The first hearing will be held on Oct. 23rd to receive public input regarding a possible increase in property taxes. On Nov 13th a hearing will be held to hear public comments regarding the preliminary 2024 budget. A hearing will then be held on Nov 27th to obtain public comments on the final 2024 budget. All of the hearings will be held at 6:00 p.m. at the Cashmere City Hall. Written comments can be sent to Kay Jones, City Clerk-Treasurer at kay@cityofcashmere.org.

Although absent, Mayor Jim Fletcher, tasked the Council with reviewing options to help address the gap between city revenues and expenditures. Relaying information from Fletcher, Kay Jones, presented to the Council, 4 options for increasing city revenue through a Levy Lid lift, or the possibility of establishing a Transportation Benefit District (TBD), to increase the sales tax up to 0.3%. According to documents provided by the city, state law allows a city to establish a TBD as “… an independent taxing district that can raise revenue for specific transportation projects…”.

Carlson explained that all of the city’s costs have increased due to inflation, with wastewater cost up about 12% and charges from the county are up at least by 15%, but the city’s revenue is relatively stagnate. Most of the increase from the county is a $70,000+ increase for operating the jail. A 180% change, from $40,000 in 2023 to $112, 400 for 2024.

Carlson said that the Council and the City are faced with either raising taxes or figuring out what services and projects can be cut to reduce expenses. City Clerk-Treasurer, Kay Jones, said that increases to property tax revenues by the allowable 1% will only raise about $7000 in revenue. Carlson presented four options for lifting the levy limit but explained that they require a public vote which would take up a lot of the revenue just to get it on the ballot and they would provide a minimal increase in revenue for the city and would take a year begin bringing in and revenue.

Jones said that she and Fletcher are advocating for a Transportation Benefit District to increase city revenue by a proposed 0.1%. Responding to a question from Council member Shela Pistoresi, Jones said that the current sales tax rate in the city is 8.3% and the potential increase would raise the rate to 8.4%.  She added that the cost would be shared by anyone who comes to town and purchases something in Cashmere, not just city residents. Jones further explained that to establish a District only requires a public hearing, not a public vote. During the 1^st year, Jones estimated that the 0.1% sales tax would raise about $80,000 - $90,000, which would be dedicated to transportation projects, allowing property taxes to be used to cover the increased cost of the jail.

Council member Derrick Pratt said it was necessary to ask the question of where the city could cut cost that would be significant enough to make a difference. Jones replied that the city has been making cuts and that the majority of the budget includes services that the city is required to provide, as an example 70% of the General Government budget is for contracts with the county for Public Safety (i.e. Sheriff, Jail and Fire). Croci responded that the city could make cuts by reducing maintenance of streets, parks and equipment and by not implementing capital projects. Jayne Stephenson added that numerous fire hydrants are no longer operational due to the city’s lack of maintenance.