The Bainbridge Island City Council battled over finances at its meeting Oct. 8, just like many families do to balance a budget.

Only instead of having to get a second job, the council is looking at bringing in more money by raising taxes.

The city is making some cuts. Each department took a hit, to a total of $3.35 million. And 3.5 new positions that already had been approved won’t be filled. There are still 141 full-time employees.

Water, sewer and stormwater programs have to pay for themselves, so rate hikes could be coming. Spending and revenue are both around $47.5 million.

In presenting the budget and Capital Improvement Plan earlier, city staff said it is balanced without using reserves. In a presentation it points out that Vancouver, Centralia, Everett, Spokane, Bellingham and Edmonds are cities facing huge budget crises, leading to layoffs.

Without action, BI could have issues, too, as interest earnings have declined and property and sales tax growth is slow. On the spending side, personnel costs are up 6% and operational costs also are up, led by insurance, which will increase 30% over the two years.

Councilmembers were told a few weeks ago that the two-year budget will bring in $146,000 more than it spends. However, there are already three requests since that budget was made that, if approved, would more than deplete that cushion.

One is for $250,000 from Squeaky Wheels, a local bicycle club. The money would be for a Spot Improvement Fund that would pay for ad hoc projects. While not asking for an amount, it also requested more funding for the Sustainable Transportation Plan, especially to finish the nonmotorized route from Lynwood Center to Winslow.

Also, the Suyematsu Farm Legacy Alliance asked for $180,000 for maintenance on those facilities. However, an agreement with Suyematsu with the city would limit the commitment to $60,000 for the alliance to hire a contractor.

The other request is $10,000 a year from Western Washington University to help pay for a small business development center in Kitsap County.

That one was not recommended by staff, and council quickly dismissed that request. The council talked about using the car tab funds for ad hoc transportation projects. But more discussion took place about the Suymatsu alliance request.

During public comments, three alliance members spoke.

Vern Nakata said the farmhouse is not occupied because of an unsafe roof and mold. “We’re not happy about that,” he said, adding it wasn’t like that 10 years ago when the city took control. He said he’d like to see it restored to what it was before the city neglected it for a decade. “It shouldn’t be a burden for us to inherit.”

Carol Reitz said she knows the city has many priorities, but history is also important. Marcia Montgomery said she has received favorable responses from volunteers so she feels the property could be restored.

As for the council, Kirsten Hytopoulos said she favors spending the $60,000, but the alliance needs to fund the rest. Brenda Fantroy-Johnson wants to be sure that before the city spends that money that the alliance can assure the city it will be able to finish upgrading the facilities. Mayor Joe Deets called it a “serious expense. We expect this project to move ahead. Please don’t come back to us for more money. The answer from me will be no.”

As for the Squeaky Wheel request, Hytopoulos said the city is funding many Sustainable Transportation Plan projects in the budget, but she would like to see smaller projects prioritized if money becomes available. Councilmember Leslie Schneider said smaller projects should be tied to larger potential transportation solutions and go beyond traffic calming.

As for major projects, the council has provided a “sound message that yes we’re listening and yes we have been investing funds already.”

While shooting down WWU’s request, there was some discussion about economic development.

Schneider said the Comp Plan requires it. “We need to pay attention to the business community,” she said, adding a strategy needs to be developed. Agriculture also is supposed to be promoted, and it’s not. She said the council should ask city manager Blair King to propose a revenue source for this—such as raising the lodging tax.

Deputy mayor Ashley Mathews said of economic development, “I’d like to delve a little more into that.”

Hytopoulos said, “We’ve really done nothing about it forever.” She said since BI doesn’t have box stores that means small stores are needed badly. “Let’s start the planning.”

There were a number of general comments about the budget.

“It’s very hard to keep the budget down” because of all the mandates, Fantroy Johnson said. She said last budget the city had millions of excess dollars, and they were wondering what to do with it all. “This time we don’t have any money for anybody.”

She added the council really should think about any additional spending. “This isn’t the time. This budget makes me nervous. Anything could happen, and we wouldn’t have the money to take care of it.”

Hytopoulos wonders what will happen without filling those new 3.5 positions. She wonders what work won’t get done or if current staff be burdened with that additional work.

Councilmember Jon Quitslund said if the council adds something it will have to take out something. He said if given a choice between equipment or services, “I would always go with services.”

Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki disagreed, saying capital purchases are a one-and-done, while operations are a continuing cost.

As for areas that could be cut, Quitslund mentioned road maintenance and the $100,000 for website improvements.

Mathews and Schneider quickly vetoed the website idea. “We’d get more kudos from the public” by improving that, Schneider said.

Hytopoulos suggested cutting the council’s $200,000 contingency fund, which is rarely spent. “It’s important the community knows that,” she said, but added it should probably look at using it more often.

Deets mentioned some ways to bring in more money. He mentioned raising the sales tax .1% to be equal to Poulsbo’s and bring in $800,000 a year. He could see cutting the contingency fund $10,000. He said the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance asked for $20,000, and the council agreed to that for one year. But he wants to cut that back to $10,000.

Deets said he wasn’t being flip about a sale tax increase. Hytopoulos agreed. “We’ve been talking about it. It’s not something we do casually.”

King wrapped up the discussion saying he would come back Oct. 22 with updates on economic development, the sales tax base, reduced funding to KEDA and $190,000 in the contingency fund. He said in another city he worked at $1 million was spent on the website, so $100,000 is a good deal.

He also said “equipment is just as important as people” and few vehicles are purchased with general fund money anyway. He said they want to convert to electric vehicles with things like police cruisers.

He said he would talk to the Suyematsu alliance about that project, and find a source for $100,000 for small transportation projects, but not pull it from reserves.

Another public hearing on the budgets will take place Nov. 12.