Cashmere City Council debates impact fees, reviews budget trends

CASHMERE — The Cashmere City Council began initial steps in its annual budgeting process during its Oct. 14 meeting, reviewing revenue sources and discussing potential impact fees for new developments.

Mayor Jim Fletcher presented council members with itemized lists of the city's revenue sources, showing trends from 2023 through estimated 2025 revenues. Fletcher explained that property, sales, and utility taxes are the primary revenue sources for city operations, noting that the sales tax trend has flattened out and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has decreased to less than 2.5%.

The council engaged in a lengthy discussion about implementing impact fees for new developments, a topic added to the agenda at the request of Council member Jeff Johnson. Johnson expressed safety concerns about Rank Road due to increased housing development and suggested that developers should be charged fees to improve roadways impacted by new construction.

Mayor Fletcher cautioned against the proposal, citing advice from the city's attorney and land use consultant. Fletcher stated, "Impact fees are based on the percentage a new development impacts the total cost of necessary improvements. Impact fees for roads must be justified with traffic counts showing new traffic exceeds the capacity of a street."

Steve Croci, Director of Operations, added that "roads in Cashmere are not near their capacity, even if properties within the city were fully developed," making it difficult to justify impact fees for road improvements.

Johnson argued that other cities like Wenatchee have impact fees and questioned why it wouldn't make sense for Cashmere. He suggested that "developers are winning and residents are losing."

In other business, the council tabled a resolution to purchase a used orbital screener from Standard Pallet for $45,000, requesting additional cost-benefit information before proceeding.

The council also approved, in a 4-1 vote, an additional $43,854 for engineering services related to ongoing waterline and roadway improvements on S. Douglas Street. Councilman John Perry, who voted against the amendment, questioned why the amendment was just now coming to the Council and expressed his view that he would have liked to have seen clearer language in the contract.

Additionally, the council unanimously approved an agreement with the Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney for prosecution services, though some members raised questions about the lack of detailed case information provided to the city.

The meeting concluded with a public hearing regarding a petition to annex a 5-acre parcel of land at 5633 Evergreen Dr., which received no public comments.