News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
While other Central Oregon cities are making deep cuts to services and slashing staff, the City of Sisters' $14.8 million budget for 2009-10 is leaving the city stable and in sound fiscal shape.
There are no layoffs in the cards. The city has left one utility worker position unfilled in the wake of franchising its refuse collection services, and employees will not be getting a cost-of-living increase this year, though merit-based pay increases are possible.
"I told the staff the good news is we get to keep you; the bad news is there will be no COLA (cost-of-living adjustment)," said City Manager Eileen Stein. "They seem to be OK with that."
No new positions are being added over the next fiscal year.
Stein said that "hard decisions in the '90s," when Sisters disbanded its police force and contracted police services with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, have put the City of Sisters in a better financial position than its sister cities.
"We're not in the same position as Bend or Redmond," she said.
Stein said that in other cities, "public safety costs tend to crowd most everything else out in a general fund budget."
The city is carrying healthy reserves of $2.2 million.
The budget reflects a new emphasis on economic development. The city increased its contribution to Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) from $700 to a "platinum" membership at $7,500.
Stein said that that level of contribution assures Sisters "an automatic seat at the table on the EDCO board of directors. All the other communities do have a seat at the table. It's a matter of being tied in regionally to economic development issues."
The membership reflects a change in attitude from city government toward EDCO and economic development, Stein said. In the past, EDCO has regarded Sisters as having unclear and contradictory attitudes toward economic development.
"The current council thought it was important to convey a different message to EDCO," she said.
In addition, the city budget created a pool of $10,500 for use in economic development programs.
City financial policies require all funds to be self-sustaining. In order to make sure the water fund has long-term viability, the city enacted a rate increase that takes effect July 1 (see related story, page 15). However, the rate increase is counterbalanced by a sewer rate decrease that means the average user will continue to pay the same amount for both services at $55.50 per month.
"We were able to structure a water rate increase and a sewer rate decrease that for the average user is revenue neutral," Stein said.
Stein said the city hopes to do something similar to boost the "struggling" street fund, which has been subsidized for years by transfers from the general fund.
She said a new statewide gas tax increase of 6 cents per gallon will help, but it is not going to be implemented immediately.
"The City of Sisters stands to receive - when it is fully implemented in three years - $38,000," she said. "So, that's good, but it's not enough."
The council is contemplating instituting a local gas tax of 3 cents per gallon, with a corresponding property tax decrease to roughly offset the impact for many local people. A local gas tax would also allow the city to capture some revenue from visitors, whose vehicles have an impact on city streets.
Stein praised finance director Lisa Young for her work on the budget and said she plans to submit it for a governor's award.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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