$900,000 Projected Deficit for 2012

The City of Port Angeles is expecting to be $900,000 in the red next year. City Manager Kent Myers said:

“We're being faced with an increase in costs without the ability to finance that with additional revenue.”

City Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski said $600,000 of the deficit is the result of increased personnel costs. Another factor is the expected loss of sales tax revenue when Price Ford Lincoln moves to a new location outside the city limits.

Downtown Association Passes City Audit

City Hall has decided that the Port Angeles Downtown Association is in compliance with its contract with the City, but that there is room for improvement.

This was the conclusion of City Manager Kent Myers and Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski. The City's audit itself was the result of 81 downtown business owners signing a petition expressing their dissatisfaction with the Port Angeles Downtown Association's leadership and effectiveness.

The City's audit did recommend that the Downtown Association board members communicate better with the membership by meeting at least once a year with each member. And the PADA's regular board meetings should be held in a downtown public location, e.g. a restaurant, instead of the PADA's tiny cramped office, which appears to make non-Board-members unwelcome. And the audit very gently and indirectly suggested that maybe the PADA could make a tiny, uh, effort to obtain some of the tens of thousands of B&O tax dollars that are available to the downtown of all members of the Washington's Main Street program. To date,the Downtown Association has NOT done this.

The PADA executive director said these recommendations will be considered.