HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole May 26 2020Whatcom County
Council Committee of the Whole
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360)778-5010
Minutes - Final
VIRTUAL MEETING - BUDGET PRIORITIES FOR 2021-2022
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
1PM
Virtual Meeting
COUNCILMEMBERS
Rud Browne
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Todd Donovan
Ben Glenbaas
Carol Frazey
Kathy Kershner
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C.
Council Committee of the Whole Minutes - Final May 26, 2020
Call To Order
Roll Call
Council Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 1 p.m. in a
virtual meeting.
Present: 7 - Rud Browne, Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Carol Frazey, Ben
Elenbaas and Kathy Kershner
Absent: None
Clerk's note: Kershner was not present at the time of Roll Call but joined
the meeting at 1:18 p.m.
Announcement
County Executive's Report
There was no Executive Report.
Committee Discussion
AB2020-227 Discussion regarding budget prioritites for 2021 and 2022
Satpal Sidhu, County Executive, stated they will continue to get information
regarding the budget and will continue to adjust targets as more information
becomes available and as the second installment of property taxes becomes
due in October.
Tyler Schroeder, Executive's Office, and Sidhu submitted and gave a
presentation outlining recommended budget priorities (on file). Priorities
fall into three focus areas:
• COVID-19 Response: Health, Economic and Social Crisis
• Continuity of County Government
• Long-term Public Priorities
Sidhu spoke about capital projects and being prepared for opportunities to
use stimulus money, the possible adjudication process, coming up with a
local agreement, and the role that the County may play. He proposed that
the County create a position which would only deal with and be in charge of
water issues.
Schroeder referenced and described the budget preparation timeline.
Councilmembers, Schroeder and Sidhu discussed the CARES Act funds and
the amount that the County will receive, the current projected percentage of
County revenue decline, actual sales tax revenue compared to what was
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Council Committee of the Whole Minutes - Final May 26, 2020
projected, doing two parallel projections based on different revenue
reduction percentages, keeping services for children and families as a
priority, looking at creative cost cutting measures such as people working
from home and ways the County is booking people into the jail, the timeline
of a budget supplemental coming before the Council for spending CARES
Act dollars and how much detail they will need to have on what amount
money will go to particular programs, whether they can use the federal
money to backfill revenue shortfalls, a proposed $2 million reserve which
can be reallocated as needs arise by October, and what information the
Administration is basing their economy projections on.
Brad Bennett, Administrative Services Department, answered questions
about sales tax revenues and how they have been affected during the
COVID-19 crisis.
Councilmembers and staff continued discussion about prioritizing children
and families, doing what they can to help people provide for their families
and get businesses going again, prioritizing capital expenditures over
ongoing expenses with the CARES Act funds, focusing on things that will
provide employment in the County, how Whatcom County compares
economically to municipalities that rely on tourism and sales tax, when the
Council will see proposals for spending the CARES Act money, the drop -in
center currently located at Bellingham High School and the driver behind
finding a different facility, prioritizing projects based on their impacts,
getting meeting -related information to consider at least a day before a
meeting as opposed to right before a meeting, how cuts in the budget can be
made while maintaining a certain level of service, rules and restrictions for
how the CARES Act money can be spent, and how the CARES Act money
should be allocated.
Erika Lautenbach, Health Department Director, and Schroeder answered
questions about whether it is appropriate for the County to be hiring a
temporary Volunteer Program Coordinator, whether priority could be given
to people already on staff, and what benefit is derived from intensive
contact tracing going forward.
Councilmembers and staff discussed revenue drop forecasts, that every line
item represents a human being and a family, being creative in finding ways
to cut expenses related to personnel, looking at what resources are being
invested in the response to the current crisis and including an anticipation
of a second peak of COVID-19 in the projections.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
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Council Committee of the Whole Minutes - Final May 26, 2020
Other Business
Adjournment
Councilmembers discussed an upcoming meeting through Washington State
Association of Counties (WSAC) about managing County revenues.
Dana Brown -Davis, Clerk of the Council, spoke about councilmembers
participating in that call.
The meeting adjourned at 2:55 p.m.
The County Council approved these minutes on July 21, 2020.
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Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
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