Highlights of a rocky year

(Photo of Mayor Dean Bunkers by Jonathan Olson)

Many of us are happy to see the end of 2008, a year in which a global recession was felt, acutely, on a local level.

Ocean Shores and the North Beach struggled through what might be euphemistically called a “challenging” (in place of many more colorful adjectives) year.

The local recession really started with the windstorm in early December, 2007. After a bone-chilling winter, in early spring it looked like things were starting to get back to normal . . . but it proved to be false hopes for a strong year.

The sharp increases in tourism over the last few years were not seen, and as each “big event” came and went, it was clear fewer people were visiting the North Beach.

For an area that relies on visitors, that was a serious blow.

preview of this week’s lead story, on the City Hall buy/sell deal:

City Hall Buy/Sell:

Good wash, or bad “bath”?

By Tom Scanlon

Editor, North Coast News

It was going to be a great “flip.”

The plan was for Ocean Shores to sell its old City Hall for about what the new one would cost.

“It’s going to be a wash,” then-Mayor Mike Patrick put it.

Turns out to be a $308,000 bath.

That $308,000 is the total deficit of the transaction, when you factor in moving costs, rent paid on the new building of $4,000 per month, modifications on the new building . . . and the old city hall building selling for $115,000 less than hoped.

The $308,000 deficit was paid off, partially through real estate excise tax money, partially as part of a $5 million bond  established primarily to build the new Fire Department station.

Though this may sound like another mini-disaster, for a city that suddenly found itself facing a gigantic debt, some feel this might be a pretty good deal, in the long run.

They argue that the old City Hall was an “eyesore,” and had to be replaced, sooner than later. Fixing it up, this argument goes, would have just been pouring good money into a bad building. 

If so, the moving costs were a necessary evil. Ditto, some would say, for the rent money; anyone who has bought a house while selling an existing residence knows it is very rare that the two happen simultaneously. That was what was hoped would happen with the City Hall transactions, but potential buyers for the old building fell through. 

And the fact that the old City Hall had to be discounted by about 20 percent to sell it?

from Rich McEachin, who prefaced it with “this is my final letter to the editor”:

Letter to Editor:

It’s ironic that anyone can possibly think one person, me, could cause the financial problems Ocean Shores is having today.  The reality is the blame lies with the taxpayers of the State of Washington. They are the ones that voted for a maximum property tax increase of not more than 1% per year, while the cost of doing business rose between 4 to 6% each year.

But in Ocean Shores specifically, the City Councils didn’t even take advantage of that 1% increase. I’m not sure why that occurred but you can ask Mr. Creighton why, he was sitting on those Councils. It worked for 10 years but has now caught up with us. If property taxes were raised by the 1% each year for the last 10 years, the general fund would be more than balanced today. Keep in mind; it is not the entire budget that has a shortfall. It’s only the general fund portion of the budget. The only revenue the general fund receives is sales tax, property tax, and cost allocation reimbursement. Today’s decline in  those revenues causes problems in the general fund.