City Council Zooms through April meetings

As a result of COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings, the Leavenworth City Council met in regularly scheduled sessions through Zoom. An online video conferencing program.

There were several substantive issues raised and discussed during those sessions. The following is a summary of the most significant issues confronted by council in April.

Garbage Truck Replacement

In a split decision, Council members voted 4 to 3 in favor of purchasing a new garbage truck for $316,302. The city currently has two garbage trucks and has planned to replace one this year. Public Works would like to retain the truck to be replaced as a backup in case one of the trucks were to breakdown.

The debate among council members came over how to finance the purchase of the new truck.  Ultimately, Council approved the purchase with 50 percent of the cost to come from the Equipment Rental & Revolving Fund (ER&R) and 50 percent to come from Lodging Tax Funds. Council Members Waters, Strand, Bretz and Reister approved and Wilson, Lundgren and Hessburg opposed the motion.

The motion also approved the retention of the replaced vehicle in city inventory precluding the ability to offset the cost of the purchase with proceeds from its sale. Public Works Director Herb Amick explained that if one of the two city trucks broke down the city would not be able to be able to recycle cardboard.

There was no discussion of the timing of the purchase given the current economic shutdown. The city receives it share of Sales and Lodging tax two months after the tax is collected through local businesses. As a result, city revenues through March have not been impacted by the Covid19 quarantine.

But with businesses in shutdown mode for most of March all of April and now May because of the governor’s latest decree. The impact on city revenues are likely to be monumental. For last year, the months of March, April and May provided $459,000 in lodging tax and $356,000 in sales tax. While that revenue will not shrink to zero. It will undoubtedly be heavily impacted by the drop in tourism activity.

Local hoteliers say that for April and May they expect Lodging tax to be at or near zero. Retail Sales Tax collections will not be impacted nearly as severely, but with restaurants and local gift shots closed the revenue losses will be substantial.

Water Treatment Plant Budget Shortfall

The Water Treatment Plant upgrades are one of the largest projects ever undertaken by the city. Planning for the project began back in 2017 and costs have risen substantially since the original budgets were developed. As a result, the project is facing a funding shortfall of $5,565,000.

The city is working on filing an amended funding application with USDA Rural Development for additional funding.

Financial Status

Council initiated discussion of steps the city might consider to help individuals and businesses during the current financial crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through March the city revenue was still slightly positive. The problem is they are likely to take a rapid decline over the next few months. Garbage Fund revenues are a good indication as they declined by approximately 55% in March.

The city will be considering options for assisting the local economy through programs like paying rent for closed local businesses and individuals.

So far the city has agreed to waive late fees on business license renewals; put a freeze on late fees and shut-offs on utility bills; re-established utility service for non-payment and put a freeze on parking violation late fees.

City is considering restoring regular Council sessions at City Hall beginning in May.