LFP Council to Vote on $20.7 Million Budget

The Lake Forest Park City Council will vote Nov. 8 to adopt an updated 2012 budget of $20.7 million.

The city has taken “hard cuts,” in recent years, about $1.7 million, according to interim city administrator Bob Jean, but the 2012 budget looks more promising with tax revenues exceeding projections with a slight rebounding of the economy.

The total increase in the fund balance for the city is more than $1.12 million going into the 2012 proposed budget.

Mayor Dave Hutchinson came up with a list of 10 proposed changes or additional items to fund, but the Council at budget workshop altered that list Nov. 28. The Council held a budget hearing for the public at its Dec. 1 meeting.

The additions by the mayor include:

•$75,000 for a study for the second phase of the Southern Gateway project in Lake Forest Park, the subarea between N.E. 145^th St. and N.E. 157^th St. on Bothell Way.

•$24,000 for new laptop computers in police vehicles.

•$17,7000 to set up a video courtroom for defendants in the city’s municipal court.

•$30,000 to set up and broadcast City Council meetings on public access television.

•$17,500 to make the city’s payroll accountant position full-time from three-quarter time to help revamp the city’s budgeting and streamline the accounting process.

•$15,144 to increase the building permit technician’s hours from half time to three-quarter-time. Demand for permits for things like plumbing and construction were up, and revenue increased $55,000 this past year, and there is backlog.

•$10,680 for marine patrol by the King County Sheriff’s Office in the Lake Forest Park part of Lake Washington. It’s unresolved as to whose police jurisdiction the lake is under, so the city will continue to contract with the Sheriff to provide services there.

•Three of those items— $20,000 to hire a search firm to help find a new city administrator, $25,000 in outreach to explain the city’s budget process to the community and $20,000 to assist in negotiations with the Teamsters in Public Works and the Police Guild—were struck from the budget and will be considered by the new Council next year.

“The added expenses are more than covered by the added revenues,” Jean said.