West Linn City Hall. (Staff File photo)

West Linn’s revenues remain steady, but costs continue to rise and city leaders are trying to determine the best course of action. 

Although West Linn avoided budget cuts earlier this year, unlike the West Linn-Wilsonville School District and the city of Portland, revenues “are flat, or limited in growth,” according to a memo shared with the City Council by City Manager John Williams on Monday. This leaves the city short on funding to address a number of staffing needs. 

“We put our heads together. We looked at the departments and where we’re struggling to keep up, and what our priorities as a staff would be,” said Williams. “These staffing additions and projects that come next are really meant to be a starting point for a conversation.” 

Following direction given at the end of budgeting season, staff joined the City Council for a work session discussion of prospective roles and projects on Monday, July 7. 

The city has several options for raising revenues to expand city services, including asking voters to approve a $0.50 per $1,000 assessed value local option levy. According to the memo, this would generate $2.3 million a year, costing each West Linn household $387 a year on average. 

Local option levies are currently utilized to raise revenues for the school district and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. 

“We have a shortfall forecasted four years out and, if we don’t find ways to stabilize the general fund, then not only do we not get the added services that are in this memo, but we may be looking at cutting services, which is certainly a situation where none of us want to be,” said Williams. 

The city manager’s memo also referenced revenue generation suggestions from a similar discussion back in 2023. These included a transient lodging tax, right of way fees, franchise fees, tax increment financing and visioning development of certain areas, such as the Willamette waterfront  and Vision43 projects. 

Additionally, that 2023 memo suggested funding sources that would require voter approval such as changes to the city’s prohibition on marijuana dispensaries. The memo estimated marijuana taxes could raise $40,000 a year, plus an additional $50,000 per individual operator. The memo also highlighted the value of a local option levy. 

What positions could be funded?

The general fund police department positions suggested in the July memo are: one additional community services officer, an additional school resource officer, an additional traffic officer, three additional police officers and one police captain. 

The parks and recreation and facilities department positions suggested are: one additional building maintenance worker, one new natural area parks program manager, one additional recreation coordinator for the adult community center and one new parks ranger. 

“I really appreciate staff, especially John, for having these conversations with me and being really open about what these situations look like. But I want to make sure that I start off by reminding everyone that this city is already a really great place to live,” said Councilor Kevin Bonnington. “So to that point, that’s where the term I came up with, community enhancement, comes from. Enhancing the community more than anything else through this. So I would hope we can kind of frame this conversation using that term.” 

Police Chief Peter Mahuna spoke specifically about  staffing needs, especially as the department has adjusted to community needs after the pandemic. He noted that in 2020 the average response time to priority one and two calls was 6:32, compared to 8:48 last year. 

“That’s not the kind of response times I’d really like to see,” said Mahuna. 

After Mahuna, Parks & Recreation Director Megan Big John talked about the benefits that a new natural areas parks program manager would have for the city’s 600 acres of parks and trails. 

Additional positions suggested were a communications staff member, a new assistant planner, new code enforcement staff and an additional outreach librarian. 

In the coming City Council meetings, staff will  prioritize the positions based on need, add any additional positions or projects and start looking at community engagement strategies. They’ll also provide further information about a local option levy or other revenue sources.