Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas spoke during the Monroe Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week, providing chamber members with a 2015 general fund budget update, along with a glimpse of the upcoming municipal agenda.
The presentation, which took place on Tuesday, April 14, at the Rock Church (16891 146th St. S.E.) in Monroe, featured several topics, including community development, parks and recreation, upcoming events, construction projects, administrative news and a municipal court update. Thomas provided some general statistical data related to the City of Monroe, which employs more than 100 employees who serve a population of roughly 17,700.
Thomas, who has lived in Monroe since 2000, has professional experience as a project manager, senior planner and a firefighter. He served as a Monroe City Council member from 2003 to 2009, and was elected as mayor in 2013.
General fund
When Thomas initially took office in January 2014, he examined the city's five-year financial trajectory in relation to the general fund. Largely supported by sales tax revenues, the city's general fund covers all governmental operations other than street maintenance and utilities. It funds public safety, parks and recreation, city staff and other administrative costs.
Using a five-year forecasting tool, Thomas noticed that, in future years, the city's expenditures exceeded its revenues. He then began working with department directors, the city administrator and the Monroe City Council to reduce expenditures across the board. He directed staff to delay hiring two positions and opted not to fund some one-time programs.
In doing this, the city ended up with a positive roll-over balance from 2014 in the amount of $435,020. These funds will influence the 2015 budget.
"We were able to do that because our staff worked very hard to keep costs down,GÇ¥ Thomas said.
Additionally, the 2015 sales tax revenues are coming in at approximately 4 percent higher than what was estimated. If the trend continues, this could result in $157,000 of revenue on top of what was budgeted for the year. The city credits the increase to both the new Walmart store and general improvements in the economy.
"About half the increase that we saw in the first two months of the year came from Walmart, and the other half did not come from Walmart,GÇ¥ Thomas said. "That shows that the economy is beginning to rebound.GÇ¥
The mayor and council are considering a mid-year budget amendment that would take place in May. Some of the potential enhancements could include funding a deputy city clerk position, funding an additional accountant in the finance department, funding improvements in Monroe's downtown core including the Main Street Plaza project, hiring a lobbying firm to represent the city's interests in Olympia, a $90,000 addition to the city's contingency fund and improving permitting procedures by streamlining Monroe Municipal Code to facilitate better ease-of-use.
"That is a priority to us,GÇ¥ Thomas said, "to improve permitting at city hall.GÇ¥
Community development
The development activity in 2015 is reflecting economic improvement in much the same manner as the increase in sales tax revenues ' so far, things are looking more favorable than they were last year.
"We have 23 new home permits that have been issued,GÇ¥ Thomas said. "Not even halfway through the year; we've already exceed the 19 issued for all of 2014.GÇ¥
Additionally, there are 63 attached homes that have either been permitted or are currently in the application process. Attached homes include residential structures such as duplexes, apartments, condominiums and townhomes. There are also 11 tenant improvement permits that have been issued, meaning that business owners and residential tenants are making improvements, thus reinvesting in their properties.
A total of 25,000 square feet of other applications are in review, including a Carl's Jr. fast-food restaurant, and there are approximately 400 single-family lots in the pipeline.
The city's new community development director, Dave Osaki, has been reviewing the city's Comprehensive Plan update. Osaki, who started work on April 1, has already developed a list of special initiatives relevant to his department, including problem-solving solutions, enhanced internal coordination, streamlining code and procedures and working to increase collaboration with city customers.
"The permitting service function is a key to the city's economic development strategy,GÇ¥ Thomas said. "The collaboration with our customers to hear concerns and ideas is essential.GÇ¥
Parks and recreation
Park enhancements for 2015 include improvements at the Lake Tye Skate Park (14964 Fryelands Blvd.), which are scheduled to begin this fall with a tentative completion date of January 2016.
In conjunction with the overall Comprehensive Plan process, the city is currently working to update its long-range parks and recreation plan.
Discussions have been held regarding the addition of synthetic turf fields near Lake Tye and a new public park at the Cadman site, located adjacent to Sky River Park (413 Sky River Pkwy.).
Parks crews have been busy at several local parks where new playground surfacing chips have been added. Additionally, improvements including dugout covers, extra backstop netting and new infield surface mix have been underway at the local ball fields.
The parks department has a busy summer of recreational events, including triathlons, wakeboard competitions, dog agility shows, outdoor youth sports, tournaments, fun runs and model boat races. The season is kicking off with a 5-kilometer fun-run on Saturday, April 25 at Lake Tye. The Trout Unlimited and Lions Club fishing derby will take place on Sunday, April 26, also at Lake Tye.
Free movie nights will be offered at Lake Tye during the Movies Under the Moon series this summer, along with a free concert series that include blues, rock and country.
Public works -á
There are numerous public works projects scheduled to occur in 2015. The Main Street Plaza project started construction on Monday, April 20, on the south side of East Main Street near South Ferry Street. Designed to separate storm water from the city's sanitary sewer system, the first phase of the project is largely being funded via a Washington State Department of Ecology grant.
And the long-awaited Tjerne Place extension project will begin sometime this year.
"We expect to be in construction on that later this year and have that completed in 2016,GÇ¥ Thomas said. "That's the extension from roughly Lowe's over to Woods Creek.GÇ¥
The project, which is being funded through a Washington State Transportation Improvement Board grant, will construct a new segment of roadway that extends Tjerne Place from Chain Lake Road to Woods Creek Road. The new thoroughfare will begin southeast of the Emerald Athletic Club (14925 Chain Lake Rd.), travel behind Ben Franklin Crafts and Frame Shop (19505 U.S. 2) and Safeway (19651 U.S. 2), and connect with Woods Creek Road. The project is meant to improve the east-west traffic flow on U.S. 2 and ease some of the congestion.
Other public works projects in the pipeline include a new sidewalk from the Farm neighborhood to Tjerne Place, along Woods Creek Road and a sidewalk along the south side of West Main Street, from the roundabout to just west of Park Place Middle School, for which the city was awarded a $368,638 grant.
Law enforcement, municipal court
Last year, the Monroe Police Department implemented a new motorcycle program, to help mitigate speeding through school zones and other areas of the city, including the 25 mph areas of Main and Lewis streets.
The city's new municipal court is in session every Wednesday, with jury trials taking place on the fourth Friday of every month. Since January 1, the Monroe Municipal Court has filed 1,283 cases from the Monroe Police Department, including 1,012 traffic infractions, 240 criminal and noncriminal infractions and 31 parking infractions.
Judge Mara Rozzano presides over the court, which was implemented as a way to provide more expedient court services to the citizens and reduce the costs associated with outsourcing court services.
For more information on the city of Monroe, visit www.monroewa.gov. For more information on the chamber, visit choosemonroe.com.-á
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