The Yelm City Council unanimously approved amendments to the biennial budget for fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
Yelm’s Finance Director Stephanie Nanavich said in 2023, there was an increase in spending for the stage construction, which was approved for $233,825 by the council as a change order on Sept. 23.
“We just didn’t get it actually put into our financial budget system, so we’re adding it to this ordinance so we can put it in there and make the state auditors happy with that process,” Nanavich said.
Going into 2024, Nanavich discussed new items including a $10,000 increase to general fund expenditures. She said this covers increases in benefits within the general fund.
The Lodging Tax Advisory Committee requested an additional $110,000 in tourism expenditures from the council, bringing its total budget to $150,000. Of the additional funding, $75,000 came from general fund revenue to be used as a grant, and was awarded to the LTAC committee for the centennial celebration.
The fourth item was a $35,000 general expenditure for community development consultant plans and services. Nanavich said these funds are used to pay consultants for their services, and that the city will be reimbursed for it.
“It’s kind of an in-and-out in the general fund, but we have to have that budgeted,” Nanavich said.
The fifth change was $10,000 to the general fund for the AWC loss prevention grant. Nanavich said this money will be used to implement a key card system.
The sixth item is a $30,000 increase in expenditures within the street fund. Nanavich said half of the funding will be used for sidewalk maintenance and repairs, while the other half will be used for street maintenance and repairs.
The seventh item was a $30,000 expenditure from the general fund, which Nanavich said would be used for a real estate consultant and proposed development of the city-owned 640 acres. The eighth change was a $12,000 expenditure in the general fund for officers within the Yelm Police Department to participate in training with the Thurston County SWAT team. It also covers equipment costs.
The City of Yelm also received a $500,000 climate pledge grant, which was listed as both an expenditure and a revenue. Cody Colt, Yelm’s public works director, said all cities are required by state law to plan for climate change.
“That encourages finding green energy, alternative fuel sources, and finding ways to improve your streets if there’s flooding. We’re required by law to incorporate that,” Colt said. “This was a funded mandate, so they gave us a grant to incorporate that into our codes, our [comprehensive] plan, all that stuff we’re working on right now will include those ideas of how we can (be more) climate resilient as a city.”
Councilor Tracey Wood asked how the process of obtaining the climate pledge grant works, and how Yelm got to the point where the state decided it needed to give the city $500,000 to spend on climate improvements.
“I’m not 100% on the intent, but I would imagine it has to do with, and I don’t want to sound too partisan, but it’s a democratically controlled state,” Mayor Joe DePinto said. “There are some priorities the state has, and climate resilience (is one).”
Wood asked if the House or Senate approved that, or if there was a group or a specific individual that presented this idea to the City of Yelm.
“One of [Gov. Jay Inslee’s] mandates is climate protection … I’m not sure about the process or how it ended up on my desk,” DePinto said.
There were numerous carryover projects listed in the 2023-24 biennial budget amendments, which Nanavich said relate to things approved previously in the budget.
“They were not completed in 2023, so we’re having to carry over both revenues and expenditures that were not completed in 2023 over to 2024,” Nanavich said.
The first item was a $13,410 general expenditure used for fuel by Yelm’s law enforcement agencies. The fuel was purchased from the school district, according to Nanavich, and Yelm Community Schools didn’t send the city an invoice for the “last part” of 2023 until the new year had arrived. The expenditure was used to pay YCS for the fuel.
The city saw two general fund expenditures worth $3,894 and $3,003, separately, which were grants received by the Yelm Police Department. The first grant was from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and the second from the Nisqually Tribe.
“They didn’t spend all the grant proceeds in 2023, so they’re carrying it over to spend the rest in 2024,” Nanavich said. “Those are up-front grants, not reimbursement grants. We get the money and spend it on the things that were agreed upon.”
There were eight municipal building revenue items listed, including $195,000 for the Community Development Block Grant grant carryover, $20,340 from the Department of Commerce solar, $15,000 from the Department of Commerce EV, $220,000 for the dog park and water reclamation facility access, $225,000 for the parks and recreation grant for the Prairie Line Trail, $100,000 for the Yelm City Park master plan, $15,000 for EV chargers and $316,800 for Yelm Community Center solar panels.
“Most of these revenues are grant revenues for the projects that we’re going over in that fund,” Nanavich said. “The dog park, the Prairie Line Trail, the Yelm City Park master plan, the solar work at the community center — these are all expenditures and correlating grant revenue that we weren’t able to close out in 2023. We’re carrying it over to 2024.”
Items 12 through 16 related to the water capital improvement fund. These expenditures included $10,000 for water rights at Cochrane Park, $50,000 for water main improvements engineering, $170,000 for the inspection of water main improvements, $1,000,000 for the construction of the southeast reservoir, and $170,000 for the southeast reservoir siting and engineering.
“We started these projects in 2023, the reservoir project and the water main improvements,” Nanavich said. “These are all expenditures that didn’t happen in 2023, or didn’t finish and we’re carrying them over to 2024.”
Items 17-27 all related to the water reclamation facility upgrade project, Nanavich said.
“That’s being funded through a loan and through two grants, and there’s several different areas that those monies can pay for,” Nanavich said. “It’s really been a juggling act, and part of the problem has been delays in supplies and things like that.”
Of the remaining adjustments, one included a $142,000 expenditure for the comprehensive plan and the $125,000 grant for the same plan. The second grant and expenditure were each valued at $500,000, with the grant coming from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the expenditure for the habitat conservation plan.
The council unanimously approved these amendments.
