City starts talking budget

The Port Orchard City Council held a public hearing on its 2008 budget in spite of low attendance from Monday’s storm.

State law requires cities to hold hearings before Dec. 7, and the board had a quorum with all but Rick Wyatt present.

Under discussion that evening was a $35,000 item on the budget marked for future parking structures and $475,000 for piece of property at 213 Prospect the city is purchasing.

Kitsap Street resident Jerri Harmon pointed out that the property overlaps with one of the areas the city examined for a future parking structure.

Mayor Kim Abel said Thursday that the city has had its eye on the property for a number of years, thinking ahead for future offices in case of expansion.

“As the city grows, having a city annex right across the street is a much easier thing than having it somewhere else in the community,” she said. “That is one of the possibilities for it.”

Following questions over the $35,000 for parking structures, Maher Abed explained the money was for further study, but the council eventually asked for the item to be removed.

The council will discuss the budget further at a meeting Dec. 10, with a continuation on Dec. 19.

Typically the council would meet Dec. 10 and Dec. 24, but decided to hold a single meeting that continued over two evenings rather than bring city staff into work the evening before Christmas.

For more information on the city’s budget, visit http://www.portorchardindependent.us where an extensive outline of the budget can be found.

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