City to cut planning staff hours

The Community Development Department will trim one clerk's position to half-time, continue using part-time building inspectors and cut back on outside consultants in response to the ongoing construction slump.

An associate planner position that was left unfilled during last spring's budget process will remain empty for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, under the department's proposed budget. Ashland's three building inspectors — who examine everything from plumbing to electrical work — will each continue working 32 hours per week in the next fiscal year.

Payments to outside consultants will drop from $123,300 this year to $90,000 for the next fiscal year.

Still, the overall Community Development Department budget will creep up from $2,109,650 this year to $2,209,110 for the next fiscal year, not counting revenues from federal grants (and a property sale) that pass through the department and cause budget fluctuations from year to year.

The department will lose a code compliance specialist if the Citizens Budget Committee does not authorize a property tax and utility bill increase recommended by City Administrator Martha Bennett.

The recommended increases would cost the owner of a home assessed at $213,000 — the median in Ashland — about $86 more per year.

The downturn in construction means less money from permit fees for the Community Development Department.

The department would face an even more difficult funding situation if voters had not approved a major Ashland School District bond to renovate and rebuild schools. Revenue from school construction permits is beginning to flow into the department.

"What we've really seen a drop in is the large subdivision and large commercial development permits," said Community Development Department Director Bill Molnar.

Two years ago, the department issued 10 permits for major projects. That number fell to five last year. At the halfway mark for the current fiscal year, the department issued just one permit for a major project.

Permits for all sizes of projects totaled 874 two years ago, 762 last year and 384 at the mid-point for this fiscal year. Those numbers are down from 958 permits issued three years ago.

Inspectors bring in revenue

Building Official Mike Broomfield has kept his three building inspectors employed with the city of Ashland by having them work part-time since last year. He said two of the three would rather work fulltime, while the third is approaching retirement.

Broomfield said building inspectors are expensive to replace if they leave their jobs. In addition to cutting back on their hours, the building inspectors are bringing in revenue by taking on tasks for other jurisdictions. For example, they performed all the electrical inspections in Curry County last year.

"I applaud your efforts to reach out to these other communities and offer services that bring in revenue," Ashland City Councilor Alice Hardesty told Broomfield at a recent Citizens Budget Committee meeting.

The committee is made up of councilors, Mayor John Morrison and residents.

Darrel Boldt, who owns D.A. Boldt Construction Co., said development has slowed but there is still a lot of activity. He said builders couldn't function without building inspectors and the planning department as a whole.

"We need a viable department to maintain that activity. It's an important economic asset for Ashland. It's important to recognize that down times in the construction industry are a regular part of a cycle," Boldt said. "It usually comes back, and it usually comes back stronger."

Looking at the future

This year, the Community Development Department is on track to hold a similar number of pre-application conferences with developers as it has for each of the previous three years. Planners share information about development regulations and help identify any early problems with projects when they have pre-application conferences with developers.

"The pre-applications are constant, but we are anticipating for at least the next 12 months that they will be lower value projects," Molnar said.

Silver lining

The slowdown has had its bright side.

Molnar said the construction boom was a time of heightened anxiety for residents as they saw changes in their neighborhoods. The city has seen a big drop in the number of land use appeals, and upper level department staff members can spend more time on long-range planning.

Ongoing long-term planning projects include developing a master plan for the Croman Mill site east of Tolman Creek Road — one of the city's largest blocks of undeveloped land that could be used for light industry, offices and some housing.

"Some developers have told me they are considering larger projects. We might have to pull some people off long-range planning if that happens," Molnar cautioned.

The Citizens Budget Committee gave its unanimous tentative approval for the department's budget. More budget discussions are scheduled from May through June, when the City Council must adopt a final budget.

City staff have proposed increasing this year's $91.86 million budget for the entire city government to $95.17 million for the coming fiscal year.

Bennett has recommended that the budget committee consider not only a 29 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value tax increase to fund that budget amount, but an increase to 34 cents per $1,000 in assessed value.

The city would hit the ceiling on the amount it is allowed to set for property taxes.

Bennett said without a change in financial forecasts, the city will need to raise property taxes to their 34-cent maximum limit for the fiscal year that starts on July 1, 2009. She recommended the budget committee consider raising the property tax rate to its limit for this coming fiscal year and then set the money aside in a reserve fund.

Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 or vlaldous@yahoo.com. To post a comment, visit www.dailytidings.com.