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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance October 29 19981 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Finance and Administrative Services Committee PROPOSED 1999 WHATCOM COUNTY BUDGET October 29, 1998 The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Committee Chair Marlene Dawson in the Council Committee, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Also Present: L. Ward Nelson Absent: Connie Hoag DISCUSSION OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE'S 1999 RECOMMENDED BUDGET (AUDITOR, PUBLIC DEFENDER, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, LAW LIBRARY, SUPERIOR COURT /CLERK/DISTRICT COURT /ADUL PROBATION /JUVENILE PROBATION /COURT) AUDITOR Dave Wareing, Deputy Administrator, explained the Auditor's Additional Services requests. The total amount approved for the Auditor's additional services was $25,000. 25 Shirley Forslof, Auditor, reported on goals, mailing out license renewal tabs, and the 26 need for a clerk. Terry Hinz, Chief Deptuy Auditor, handed out information on the Voters 27 Pamphlet. It would cost 27 cents per household to have the pamphlet published with the 28 Washington State Voters Pamphlet, or it would cost 23 cents per household to publish it 29 independently. Another option is using the internet for the pamphlet, which would limit it to 30 those people who have access to the internet. This is restricting the pamphlet to only those who 31 have internet access. 32 33 Nelson questioned whether she has checked with voter's organizations. Forslof stated 34 that they get phone calls requesting more information on candidates. A pamphlet includes 35 information on offices that don't get much publicity, such as the fire districts. Each candidate 36 can have a word limit. Various committees cover the pros and cons of issues. 37 38 Nelson asked about the amount of calls received requesting voter information. Forslof 39 stated they get calls every day and are referred to the library or the partisan headquarters. A lot 40 of the people that call do not have access to the internet. 41 42 Nelson questioned whether the library has information on the number of people that call 43 for information. Forslof stated she does not know that. 44 45 Wareing stated that the administration believes that the newspapers provide adequate Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 1 I coverage of elections. It is a medium that does not cost the County money. 2 3 Nelson requested more information on how many requests for information are received. 4 5 Wareing suggested doing a trial pamphlet in 1999. 6 7 Forslof stated that it is a billable cost. They can bill the jurisdictions with a candidate on 8 the ballot. In all other counties it has been very popular. 9 10 Nelson asked about the election reserve funds and whether they are stable. Forslof stated 11 that they are doing all right at this time. 12 13 Brad Bennett, Administrative Services Finance Manager, stated that the 1999 budget for 14 extra help is $70,000 in election reserves. 15 16 Forslof stated that the local candidates file in 1999, which accounts for the projected 17 increase in revenue. There will be more candidates filing. 18 19 Nelson questioned the increase of the total expenditures in the election reserve fund. 20 21 Terry Hinz stated it is down by $8,000. 22 23 Bennett stated that there was a group that reviewed consolidating funds with current 24 expense. The election reserve was not consolidated because it fluctuates. 25 26 Forslof stated that there will be two elections this year. They are difficult to predict. In 27 even years there are school districts countywide. Any jurisdiction can put an election on any of 28 the election dates. She may come back for additional funding for such unexpected elections. 29 There are now two elections, absentee and poll. Up to 38% of registered voters are absentee 30 voters. 31 32 Nelson asked about the additional $10,000 for extra Election Day help. Forslof stated 33 that it takes more employees when people vote absentee. 34 35 Nelson questioned whether there has been a cost analysis on doing a vote -by -mail 36 exclusively versus poll vote. Forslof stated that voter -by -mail would be cheaper. If there are 37 under 200 voters in per precinct, it can be a vote -by -mail precinct. Currently they can't vote by 38 mail if it is a partisan election unless there are under 200 registered voters per precinct. A vote - 39 by -mail only vote would be cheaper than a poll vote. 40 41 Nelson questioned whether the administration has discussed this. Wareing responded 42 that they favor vote -by -mail. They leave that to the Auditor because it is her statutory duty. 43 They have delayed refurbishing the vote machines because more people are voting by mail. 44 45 Nelson asked for an analysis. Forslof stated that they would need support from the State Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 2 I legislature and the County Council. 3 Wareing stated that some people like to vote at the polls. They could reduce the balloting 4 locations to just a few. 6 Nelson recommended that Forslof bring forward an analysis on a vote -by -mail vote. 8 Dawson stated that if costs are reduced in this way, then they could publish a voter 9 pamphlet. 10 11 PUBLIC DEFENDER 12 13 Wareing stated that most of the additional services requests were approved because it is 14 an important part of County government to provide adequate public defense. A part of the 15 problem is that administration is running out of on -going funding for all criminal justice system 16 requests. They approved an 11th attorney, and a 12th attorney position is pending. An additional 17 investigator and legal secretary have also been approved. There is the new issue of a 13th 18 attorney. There are adequate means to address that in the coming year. The remaining requests 19 were approved. One concern is that the Public Defender caseload has not dropped off because of 20 the City of Bellingham taking over some of the workload. They are working with the City to cut 21 off their misdemeanor cases as of the year 2000. Whether the other cases increase will depend 22 on the crime rate in the County. The Prosecuting Attorney has the ability to charge more cases 23 with increased resources. It affects the entire system. 24 25 Jon Ostlund, Public Defender, stated that the additional service requests are really not 26 additional services. They have been in place. He is willing to go along with the Executive's 27 position regarding the 13th attorney. He is hoping, but not optimistic, that the state legislature 28 will fund that position. They will deal with it in the spring. He is concerned with the 12th 29 attorney position. It is not a new position. If he does not have the position, then the effects on 30 the County are going to be immediate. He doesn't want it funded for six months. He loses the 31 current 12th attorney tomorrow and is uncomfortable hiring a replacement unless the position is 32 permanent. The County pay is significantly lower than in King County. He only received 18 33 applicants. Also, the caseloads are so high that it takes someone with experience that can walk 34 in and handle the existing caseload immediately. The out -of -state applicants are all experienced. 35 36 37 Nelson questioned the amount of legal secretaries. Joan Bird, Public Defender Office 38 Administrator, stated that there are four Secretary III positions. 39 40 Ostlund stated that there are no paralegals. Non - attorney positions are better served by 41 investigators. Paralegals can do legal research and other out -of -court work. The Public 42 Defender is in court all the time. It is not worthwhile in reducing the number of cases. It is not 43 similar to a private law firm, where there are few cases and a lot of legal work is being done. 44 The attorneys do four things: they are in court, interviewing clients, talking to prosecutors, and 45 talking to witnesses. Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 3 2 Wareing stated they have looked closely at the Public Defender's office and the criminal 3 justice system. He found that the County gets the best return on the dollar spent. It is a very 4 lean office that provides timely defense and is cost effective. The amount spent on public 5 defense is, in his experience, the least per capita, per case. 6 7 Ostlund stated that it is possible that King and Pierce counties may use paralegals. 9 (Clerk's note: End of tape one, side A) 10 11 Ostlund continued to state that the starting salary for an attorney is $34,000. He 12 approximated the average wage at $46,000. Whatcom County is getting money from the State 13 for the Becca Bill, which more than pays for the 12th attorney position. 14 15 Nelson asked if the new Driving Under the Influence (DUI) laws would have an impact on his 16 office. Ostlund stated that they would. It makes more penalties on licenses and, therefore, will 17 increase the number of arrests and litigation cases. 18 19 Wareing stated that the Becca Bill money is revenue. It is apportioned out. 20 21 Bennett stated that the Public Defender budget shows $57,000 coming from the Becca Bill. 22 23 Wareing stated that he recommended they commit to funding the 12th attorney on a one - 24 time basis for 1999. It pushes the decision to permanently hire into next year, beginning in 25 March. Ostlund stated that would not work. 26 27 Wareing suggested auditing the assigned defense to determine if people who can afford 28 their own attorney's should pay for their own. They would ask the internal auditor to do an 29 audit. They determine who is indigent to make sure they are not paying for non - indigent clients. 30 The other two issues include making efforts to reduce litigated cases. There may be cases that 31 need to be charged, but not all need to go to court. They want to enhance the efficiency of case - 32 disposition between the Prosecutor and Public Defender's office at the least possible costs. This 33 could be done through plea agreements. Only 3% of the cases go to trial. They spend great 34 resources on cases that could be negotiated. There should be greater effort on behalf of the 35 Prosecutor to work with the Public Defender. The Prosecutor will shortly be on the internal 36 Wide Area Network (WAN) which would include them on the e -mail system. They also could 37 consider contracting with one law firm to handle felony level and misdemeanor cases at a per - 38 case cost, using them for both overflow and conflict cases. Administration is willing to 39 recommend the 12th attorney for one year on a one -time basis. 40 41 Ostlund stated that contracting with one firm is practical and a good idea. They have 42 been astounded by money paid for conflict cases. Regarding the indigent cases, Superior Court 43 has not had the manpower to audit the indigent cases. Assigned Council already turns down a lot 44 of people. Bellingham cases are small, less than 200 misdemeanor cases. Felonies increased 45 20 %. Juvenile cases increased 30 %. Those are time consuming cases. Becca Bill and Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 4 I dependency cases increased 65 %. That attorney has become full time. 3 Nelson questioned line item 7159, administrative cost allocation. Wareing stated that is 4 the allocation of cost of the internal function of the organization. Administration began breaking 5 out the costs for billing purposes. It divides the costs such as insurance costs among all 6 departments. They were in the administrative services budget prior to this year's budget. 8 Bennett stated that the share of the cost was in non - departmental. It was a $1.2 million 9 transfer to administrative services. 10 11 Wareing stated that it enables them to account for indirect costs. 12 13 Dawson asked if there is a way to check income through the Internal Revenue Service 14 (IRS) for indigent cases. Ostlund stated that is Superior Court's duties. They may not have 15 enough staff to do investigations of indigent cases. There will be close to 7,000 referrals. 16 17 Wareing stated that he would work with Superior Court to find ways of verification. 18 There are legality questions. 19 20 Ostlund stated that the problems are finding the time to do it and whether the time spent 21 would justify the savings. It would also tie up the court cost. 22 23 Wareing stated that one issue is the Bellingham cases. 24 25 Ostlund stated that the Bellingham cases are very few, three to five cases per month. 26 27 Nelson questioned the number of cases they take compared to those that are being 28 prosecuted. Ostlund stated that that they historically take 80% of the felony cases, 50% of the 29 District Court cases, and virtually 100% of the juvenile cases. 30 31 PROSECTUING ATTORNEY /LAW LIBRARY 32 33 Wareing stated that the administration only received two additional service requests. 34 Approved is additional funding for the Law Library to keep resources up to date. Pending is a 35 request for an additional legal secretary. The County is moving away from hardbound volumes 36 of legal resources and moving toward more on -line or disk based systems, which are faster and 37 more efficient. :. 39 Kathy Walker, Prosecuting Attorney Office Administrator, stated that the legal secretary 40 is a position they lost several years ago and was assigned to the felony division. Others have 41 been taking over the workload and work has not always been done timely. This was a request to 42 bring them back to the level they were at. They are looking at going online with their legal 43 research. They are terminating most of their legal volumes. Next year is a transition year. They 44 are going online. They will be looking at how they do business. They hopefully will gain 45 efficiencies by working on the network. Legal research can be done at the desk. They don't hire Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 5 I paralegals. Most of the attorneys need to be in court. They have other specialized coordinators 2 such as domestic violence and sexual assault. A legal secretary interacts with witnesses and 3 victims, coordinates interviews and calendars, produces pleadings, and does limited research. 4 The volume of paperwork that is processed, tracked, and prepared is a large part of what they do. 5 6 Nelson questioned the deletion of parking and traffic items under current expense. 7 Walker stated that was just accounting and didn't pertain. They get percentages of the revenues 8 of all fees, fines, and forfeitures. For their purposes, they didn't need to track the sources. 9 10 Nelson questioned whether they are still closed at lunch. Walker stated they are open 11 8:30 — 4:30. Wareing stated that administration asked them to open during lunch. Also, the 12 Prosecuting attorneys work beyond the hours of 8:30 — 4:30. Those are the hours they are open 13 to the public. 14 15 Nelson asked about night court. Walker stated that it is an interesting concept. They 16 have not explored the possibility. It would facilitate people to come in that can't come in during 17 the day. 18 19 Nelson asked if they are using all courtrooms. Wareing stated that they are. 20 21 Dawson questioned whether traffic tickets could be prosecuted in the evenings. Wareing 22 stated that it would cost more than it was worth. They would have to open facilities and require 23 more staff. 24 25 Nelson asked about handling tickets online. Wareing stated at this time, it would not be 26 considered a legal appearance. The courthouse security is not configured to do that. When 27 bringing people into the courthouse, they can't be left alone in the facility unsupervised. Night 28 court works in larger jurisdictions. 29 30 Walker stated that there is a concern regarding an attorney. Dave McEachran will be 31 going forward to get additional funding from the State High Intensity Drug Traffic Act 32 ( HIDTA). They are hoping to see positive funding from the State to offset HIDTA costs. The 33 HIDTA attorney totals 13 criminal attorneys in the Prosecutor's office. That includes one 34 appellate attorney and McEachran. 35 36 Wareing stated they are beyond the capacity to fund at the current revenue levels. They 37 are going to have to gain revenue from another source, be it a tax increase or departmental cuts. 38 Other jurisdictions have seen a decrease in the crime rate. Whatcom County has an increase due 39 to the proximity of the border and being on the 1 -5 corridor. 40 41 Nelson questioned how far along on the Northwest Regional Council's evaluation of the 42 criminal justice system. Wareing stated that it should be done in about eight months. They 43 specified an end date of July 1999. It is completely funded. 44 45 (Clerk's Note: A five- minute break was taken) Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 6 2 Wareing stated that they recommend the additional services request by the Law Library. 4 SUPERIOR COURT CLERK 6 Wareing stated that there are a number of requests, including several FTE requests. 7 Services are either on going or new services that they are obligated to continue. Paying for the 8 bar - coding software upgrade with current available funds may reduce that amount. There are 9 pending requests for increased FTEs for important duties of the Court, which are un- funded State 10 mandates. There is no on -going revenue to fund those positions. 11 12 N.F. Jackson, Superior Court Clerk, stated that of the two pending FTEs, one is for data 13 entry to provide the input for protection orders in the statewide database. They must begin that 14 activity on January 1. Now, they cannot staff that requirement. As a result protection orders will 15 not be in the statewide database. The legislation was mandated a year ago. The Supreme Court 16 stayed the effectiveness for one year while a compromise was worked out. The compromise is 17 something that they still can't do. With the advent of the database, any judge in the state can see 18 any case involving the people in that case. They are the most understaffed Superior Court in the 19 State. One result is there is no slack to pick up additional duties. They can't pick this up. They 20 are measured positions. They jumped from 29 minutes per case to 89 minutes per case 21 beginning January the first. The other position is a .5 time FTE. The court finished finding a 22 process to deal with families in crisis, entitled Children and Families First. It resulted in a court 23 rule, which overhauls how they handle domestic relation cases. It pushes people into dispute 24 resolution modes. Parties must mediate each issue they are able to. The Executive has 25 supported that by beefing up mediation and providing safe and neutral exchange of children. 26 The half -time position is required to monitor compliance and keep cases from languishing too 27 long without resolution. 28 29 Dawson asked if it is easy to require an accounting of income tax returns for indigents. 30 Jackson stated that his Department has overseen eligibility for indigent defense. They can 31 require income tax returns. They can't follow up on non - compliance. If they think there is 32 insufficient information, then they can ask for documentation. They can decline to appoint a 33 defense attorney until that is done. There are no resources to investigate indigent cases. He 34 supported an audit of protocols. That can be included on the form. 35 36 (Clerk's note: End of tape one, side B.) 37 38 Wareing stated that a part of the problem is that the people needing defense are 39 dysfunctional in their lives. It requires an extraordinary effort for those people to obtain the 40 information. 41 42 Jackson stated that they are recouping the cost of indigents who are convicted. The 43 defendants pay the costs. Restitution is paid first, then court costs. 44 45 Wareing questioned whether there is money to be recovered by tightening up indigent Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 7 I defense. Jackson stated that there is not. The courts are applying State guidelines for poverty 2 levels. 3 4 Wareing stated that the administration would work with Superior Court to look into 5 requiring those documents. 6 7 Jackson stated that they could pursue going after parents of juveniles. The cost of 8 detention and the indigent defense is all they can collect. 9 10 Wareing stated that he would be willing to work with Superior Court regarding recouping 11 those funds. Juveniles are becoming more of an expense. 12 13 Jackson stated that the law is that they can't count the parent's finances to determine 14 eligibility of a juvenile as indigent. It is case law. They can go to the parents after conviction 15 for costs of detention and indigent defense. 16 17 Nelson questioned the increase in line item 6650 regarding court evaluations and 18 investigations. Jackson responded that includes arbitrators and the increased cost of conflict 19 contract. They will need $70,000 more in 1999 than in 1998. They enjoy a 96% success rate on 20 arbitration. 21 22 Jackson encouraged consideration of the domestic violence protection order positions. 23 24 DISTRICT COURT /ADULT PROBATION 25 26 Wareing stated that District Court made no additional request that has been approved. 27 28 There is one request to increase to 1 FTE for adult probation to address the caseload. 29 That was not approved. The County pays a small price from the general fund to support adult 30 probation. It is mostly paid by external funds. It would result in the loss to judges to recover 31 fines and costs that are assessed against defendants found guilty. It insures those sentences are 32 complied with. To reduce or eliminate adult probation would not result in substantial savings. 33 34 Fred Thompson, District Court Director, stated that there are a lot of cost savings. The 35 majority of crimes are DUI and domestic violence crimes. Options for sentencing includes 36 treatment. They used to only pay for 40% of their service. He was concerned regarding the 37 impact the staff has in holding people accountable. Caseloads have gone up without additional 38 staff. Caseloads include municipalities that pay for those costs, but don't get an increase in the 39 resources. They will also be impacted by the change of the DUI laws. The problem with large 40 caseloads and limited staff is that they get people back before the court if they are not doing what 41 they are supposed to be doing. 42 43 Wareing stated that the administration is working with the union to increase two 44 positions from 35 -hour work weeks to full 40 -hour work weeks. There was a lot of after hour 45 activity that required the availability of those officers. That is not the case in Juvenile. After the Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 8 I first of the year, they will pay Juvenile overtime. They also are proposing to do that with adult 2 probation. They propose after hours contacts be limited to one on -call person. 4 Thompson stated that staff is looking forward to the change. There will not be a lot more 5 work for that policy change. 6 7 Wareing stated that they would work to ensure that after hours contact is kept to a 8 minimum. They would keep the workload down to its maximum capacity. They have reached 9 the breakpoint to not fund the additional services. 10 11 Nelson questioned whether they currently work 40 hours. Thompson stated that they do. 12 13 Nelson questioned whether that is legal. Thompson stated that they have to schedule the 14 35 hours. If they get after hours calls, they have to document 35 hours plus 5 hours and also 15 document they get the call. They currently don't take the time to document the calls, but they do 16 put in the work. 17 18 Brenner questioned whether the DUI funding is going to be received. Thompson stated 19 that there is potential funding. The County would have to document the additional work. They 20 can't now document the current workload. The law provides that if there is a documented 21 impact to a jurisdiction, then the jurisdiction can bill back the State. 22 23 Nelson asked about the alcohol and drug treatment programs. Treatment should be 24 provided through insurance or indigent funds. He questioned who pays for evaluations. 25 Thompson stated that the individual pays for the evaluation. An advantage of using one agency 26 instead of having the option of multiple agencies that provide treatment is that they will take all 27 cases, whether or not the person is indigent. 28 29 Brenner asked for a schedule for working people that don't have to lose time from work 30 to do assessments. Thompson stated that they are fit into the agency schedule. The agency, 31 Combined Treatment, does not provide any after hours services. 32 33 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 34 35 Wareing stated that the net approved was more than the net additional request. The 36 expenditures are less than the revenue provided. 37 38 Chuck Benjamin, Health and Human Services Director, stated that the front desk 39 reception increases a. 8 FTE to 1 FTE. This is in response to the request by the County Council 40 that all offices be open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Girard Street office needs the extra .2 41 FTE. Also, they hope the additional .2 FTE could help with inventory and responding to the 42 State Auditor's request. The budget request is much less than the 1998 budget. They are trying 43 to be conservative. Reductions reflect a loss of grant funds, in the areas of loans to people in 44 Drayton Harbor and Chuckanut Harbor, to the Coordinated Water System, and to the mental 45 health division. Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 9 1 2 Nelson questioned whether the administration approved amount for the additional 3 services request. Wareing stated that it is in the amount of $106,399 and is offset by revenue in 4 the amount of $93,000. 5 6 Benjamin stated that the operations and maintenance (O &M) revenue is from a tipping 7 fee for the people pumping septic tanks. Also, the Shellfish Protection District coordination is a 8 $30,000 grant. 9 10 Nelson stated that there are issues in the community that include bloodborne pathogens, 11 on -site septics, and medical waste. He questioned whether the revenues are capable of funding 12 those community projects. Benjamin stated that there are flexible funds that he would use for the 13 Medical Waste Task Force. It would be listed under the State Shared Revenues, line item 4335. 14 If new regulation were to come of the Task Force, then that amount would not be included. 15 16 Regina Delahunt, Health and Human Services Manager, stated that they should be aware 17 that they are proposing to restructure the solid waste permit fees. They are proposing to set a 18 base fee for each facility, which covers a certain established number of hours of the Health 19 Department's time, then exceeded hours are charged per hour. They would generate more 20 revenue if more staff time were needed. 21 22 Nelson asked about Combined Treatment assessments. Benjamin responded that they 23 have a flexible FTE that conducts DUI assessment. That person only works when there are 24 assessments to be done. It is not a full -time person with a .8 workload. The County is covering 25 full cost and there is no service outside of hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 26 27 Benjamin stated that Developmental Disabilities, Substance Abuse, and Combined 28 Treatment divisions are now all folded into the Health and Human Services Department. 29 30 (Clerk's Note: End of tape two, side A) 31 32 JUVENILE PROBATION /COURT PROBATION 33 34 Wareing stated that the Juvenile Court Administration request was a total of $471,361, of 35 which there was an approval of $328,375. He summarized the requests that were not approved. 36 He suggested that the juvenile work crew be worthy of a one -year trial. Approved items include 37 increased costs of operation, including computer equipment and capital improvements. 38 39 Gary Wood, Juvenile Court Administrator, summarized the grants that would be 40 allocated to the County, including the Chemical Disposition Alternative (CDA) grant, the CJAA 41 grant, the Community Commitment Program, and others. All these grants have already received 42 Council approval. 43 44 Dawson questioned whether there could be an expanded park crew that the juveniles 45 could work on. Wood stated that the current crew proposal for five full days to do additional Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 10 things other than pick up litter. The Opportunity Council would like a process to assist the elderly, teach kids to provide different services, salmon enhancement and steam restoration. The proposed work crew is a day for day trade off. The community likes this. The detention is beyond capacity. They average 35 kids per day, and it holds 30. Day for day sentences are for kids who are there for Becca Bill and at -risk contempt. Kids don't like the work crew because it is work. Kids prefer to sit in the detention. He would prefer the kids give back to the community. Nelson suggested a process in the budget to measure the objectives, then compare objectives to previous years. Wood stated that they are able to utilize the variety of outsource funding that came from the legislature to bring up staffing levels to reduce caseloads. In addition, the sex offender (SODA) program is a highly successful program. There is a low recidivism rate. Dawson asked about the core drilling. Wood stated that item has been removed because it is already being done for much less than they anticipated. It was for computer upgrades. Wareing added that Juvenile is one of the most complex criminal operations. It is difficult to provide services. Funding comes and goes. Dawson stated that she wanted to see the work crew expanded. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m. Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription These minutes were approved by Council on 11999. ATTEST: WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk Marlene Dawson, Committee Chair Finance Committee — Budget, 10/23/98, Page 11