$476M over two years: What will it buy Bend?

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, May 2, 2007

In its first two-year budget plan, the city of Bend has detailed $476.3 million in spending that would bolster police department funding, go toward making city facilities more accessible to people with disabilities and begin the development of Juniper Ridge.

The Bend budget committee has recommended the city spend more than $476 million over the next two years, allowing it to hire 49 new employees. If approved, the budget would represent, on average, a 17 percent increase in each of the next two years.

Bend is shifting to a two-year budget cycle to help guide long-term growth, said Sonia Andrews, the city assistant finance director. The extended budget planning is what it takes to guide one of the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas, Andrews said.

”It forces departments to look out more than one year and to think about what their operations look like,” Andrews said. ”And whether revenue will sustain growth. And whether their personnel needs are growing.”

Spending during the next two years wouldn’t mean more taxes, but water and sewer rates are slated to go up 16 percent, Councilor Chris Telfer said.

”We don’t increase taxes, but we seem to add awful lot of fees here and there,” Telfer said.

Bolstering public safety

Over the two-year budget cycle, police spending could increase by 26 percent. Most of the $37.2 million funding would go to buying more equipment and hiring more officers. For instance, in the 2007-08 fiscal year, the department would get money to pay for nine new staff members, including six more patrol officers. In 2008-09, funds are dedicated to hiring five more patrol officers, a crime analyst and a detective.

Bend Police Chief Andy Jordan said the proposed budget would allow his department to keep pace with the city’s explosive growth.

”We’ve been going for years without being able to keep up with growth,” Jordan said. ”With this additional staffing, I’m feeling really good we’re making headway.”

But Jordan added that the department still needs to improve in order to meet the community’s needs.

”I don’t think there’s a city in this world that’s ever completely caught up,” Jordan said. ”But we’re not falling behind any further.”

In two years, another $713,000 is earmarked for 23 new patrol cars, $43,000 for two motorcycles and $125,000 is slated to buy five detective vehicles.

The city also would pledge $29.4 million in the two years to the Bend Fire Department. That amount is about the same the department received in past years, and tax rates would remain set at the same level residents paid during the last two years.

ADA compliance

Last month, councilors created a special fund for construction projects related to making city facilities compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The city could put $1.8 million in that fund over two years, more than tripling the $270,000 spent last year.

The proposed budget sets aside $1,067,000 in its first year and $818,700 in the second year for ADA projects.

Even so, the city would still only spend less than 1 percent of its budget to comply with a settlement it reached with the U.S. Department of Justice three years ago, said Jenni Peskin, executive director of Human Dignity Coalition, a group that advocates for accessibility and rights for the disabled. The city may have tripled its ADA spending, Peskin said, but it seems that accessibility has never been a big priority.

”If you’re paying someone minimum wage, and then pay them a 10 percent higher wage, it’s still not getting them a big raise,” Peskin said.

”Three years ago, accessibility wasn’t even a blip on the radar.”

Last year, ADA money went directly into a fund for the Public Works Department, which is responsible for completing projects. Projects are identified by the accessibility division, under manager Linda Crossman, who also sets a timetable for their completion.

Over the next two years, $1 million would be set aside to rebuild seven ramps cut into downtown-area sidewalks, which allow wheelchair access. Improvements would include marking these ramps for easy identification and adding raised knobs for traction. The fund also covers $400,000 to improve sidewalks, $250,000 to build new handicapped parking spaces and $200,000 to bring bus stops into compliance.

Affordable housing

The city of Bend has yet to identify a target for the proposed $4.5 million it expects to net through a fee tacked onto building permits over the next two years. The fee is dedicated to offering low-interest or interest-free loans to developers of affordable housing projects. The affordable housing division will accept loan applications for projects to offset skyrocketing housing costs in Bend.

Jim Long, city affordable housing manager, said he expected nonprofit agencies such as Habitat for Humanity or NeighborImpact to apply for loans. But for-profit builders also are eligible, if their projects produced affordable housing, Long added.

”I think we’ll see some of the usual suspects lining up,” he said. ”I’ve had contact with some for-profit developers.”

In June, councilors passed an ordinance creating the affordable housing fee and attaching it to building permits issued to developers. This fee – one-third of 1 percent – is expected to produce over $4.5 million the city will loan for affordable housing projects over two years. The estimated money to be collected in each of the upcoming fiscal years would more than double the $835,700 collected last year.

Juniper Ridge

The proposed budget earmarks $12.6 million over the next two years for the development of the first 700 acres of Juniper Ridge, which sprawls across 1,500 city-owned acres. More than half the money would go to fund infrastructure improvements, such as water and sewer lines, at the development, which will house businesses, a research park, homes and possibly a university.

This $7.6 million would pay for projects including a new roundabout at Cooley Road and 18th Street, and water and roadway connections to the future headquarters of Les Schwab Tire Centers. The budget also dedicates over $1.2 million to pay for staff, consulting fees and overhead costs over two years. A proposed, short-term loan would account for another $2.1 million, while over $1.6 million has been allotted for emergency expenses.

City Finance Director Margaret Echeveste said Juniper Ridge likely would draw a lot of scrutiny from the public. But spending could easily change, if new costs arose as the project developed, she said. And spending in coming years on Juniper Ridge would probably be far greater, she added.

”People always want to focus on the big issues,” Echeveste said. ”But the big dollars have yet to shape up.”