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- Toppenish council passes 2010 city budget
Toppenish council passes 2010 city budget
- By Richard Burger
- Published 12/1/2009
- Front Page
- Unrated
Toppenish City Council passed the 2010 city budget at its regular meeting Nov. 23, and, for the second year in a row, lowered the city utility tax.
However, the budget also included an increase in the city garbage collection fee. The net result is a slight increase over last year.
The tax rate on city water and wastewater services was reduced from 26 percent to 23 percent, and residential garbage collection increased by 14 percent for 90-gallon containers.
Residents will pay $14.90 per month, up from the previous rate of $13.07.
The fund that is used to provide garbage pickup is required by law to be self-sufficient, which means general operating funds that provide other city services cannot be used to support the program.
As operational costs increase, the service fee must be increased to keep pace.
City Manager Bill Murphy said the increase in garbage rates is necessitated by an increase in the landfill dumping fees charged by Yakima County, and by an overall increase in the amount of garbage collected in the city.
The civil engineering firm Huibregtse Louman conducted a rate study to determine the amount of increase needed to maintain the fund.
A Huibregtse Louman representative at the meeting, Ted Pooler, said county rates have increased from $28 per ton to $32 per ton.
He said that even with the 14 percent increase, Toppenish garbage collection rates remain “very competitive” when compared to rates paid in other valley communities.
In other action, the council agreed to allow a committee promoting a Toppenish skate park to use the tennis court at Pioneer Park for installation of the equipment.
A spokesman for the committee told council members he had contacted about 20 residents who live in the vicinity of the park and all but one had approved of the location for the skate park.
He said that individual did not oppose the skate park, but expressed a preference to have it built somewhere else.
The tennis court is not currently being used because the cement has cracked and needs repairs.
The surface could be patched and made usable for the skate park, which will be set up with portable equipment, according to Parks and Recreation Director James Cole.
The committee spokesman said there were interested parties who were willing to donate funds for the skate park, and he said the committee’s goal is to raise all the money necessary to buy the equipment and to maintain it.
Cole said the court, which measures 100 X 110 feet, had been repaired once before when it cracked, but soil conditions in that area of the park make it impractical to make the surface usable again for tennis.
Because the equipment to be used in the skate park is portable, it can be installed piecemeal, as the availability of funding allows.
“We can start small and get bigger,” Cole said.
The council voted unanimously to make the court available to the committee.
However, the budget also included an increase in the city garbage collection fee. The net result is a slight increase over last year.
The tax rate on city water and wastewater services was reduced from 26 percent to 23 percent, and residential garbage collection increased by 14 percent for 90-gallon containers.
Residents will pay $14.90 per month, up from the previous rate of $13.07.
The fund that is used to provide garbage pickup is required by law to be self-sufficient, which means general operating funds that provide other city services cannot be used to support the program.
As operational costs increase, the service fee must be increased to keep pace.
City Manager Bill Murphy said the increase in garbage rates is necessitated by an increase in the landfill dumping fees charged by Yakima County, and by an overall increase in the amount of garbage collected in the city.
The civil engineering firm Huibregtse Louman conducted a rate study to determine the amount of increase needed to maintain the fund.
A Huibregtse Louman representative at the meeting, Ted Pooler, said county rates have increased from $28 per ton to $32 per ton.
He said that even with the 14 percent increase, Toppenish garbage collection rates remain “very competitive” when compared to rates paid in other valley communities.
In other action, the council agreed to allow a committee promoting a Toppenish skate park to use the tennis court at Pioneer Park for installation of the equipment.
A spokesman for the committee told council members he had contacted about 20 residents who live in the vicinity of the park and all but one had approved of the location for the skate park.
He said that individual did not oppose the skate park, but expressed a preference to have it built somewhere else.
The tennis court is not currently being used because the cement has cracked and needs repairs.
The surface could be patched and made usable for the skate park, which will be set up with portable equipment, according to Parks and Recreation Director James Cole.
The committee spokesman said there were interested parties who were willing to donate funds for the skate park, and he said the committee’s goal is to raise all the money necessary to buy the equipment and to maintain it.
Cole said the court, which measures 100 X 110 feet, had been repaired once before when it cracked, but soil conditions in that area of the park make it impractical to make the surface usable again for tennis.
Because the equipment to be used in the skate park is portable, it can be installed piecemeal, as the availability of funding allows.
“We can start small and get bigger,” Cole said.
The council voted unanimously to make the court available to the committee.