Brown administration proposes voluntary retirements to help trim budget deficit
If approved by Spokane’s city council, the city would offer some employees retirement payments to trim payroll and help whittle down a major budget deficit.
The proposal, announced by Mayor Lisa Brown’s office Wednesday, followed conversations Brown had with the labor group that represents about 340 city employees.
It would provide a lump sum incentive contribution into reimbursement and benefits account called HRA/VEBA, which is open to government employees in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The contributions would range from $10,000 for qualifying city workers with at least ten years of service, to a maximum of $20,000 for employees who have served 20 years or more.
Recipients could use the money to pay for medical and dental coverage.
Brown also announced a freeze on cost-of-living for members of the mayoral cabinet.
If the city council approves the voluntary retirement plan, eligible city workers would need to apply no later than October 11 and depart no later than December 3.
Brown’s office said other measures, such as voluntary retirement for police department employees, re-negotiated IT contracts, elimination of vacant jobs, mandatory furloughs for cabinet members and updated revenue figures have reduced the city’s structural deficit from an estimated $25 million to $14 million.
Chewelah to launch long-awaited water system overhaul
Eighteen years after planning began, Chewelah’s major water upgrade is set to begin this fall.
Public Works Director Mike Frizzell said the project will include drilling a new well that will reduce the high level of manganese in the water.
Frizzell told SPR News the city has to flush the system twice a year to keep the water clean and reduce the manganese levels.
“You can't get sick from it. It's just an aesthetic issue,” Frizzell said. “Basically, it settles out. It causes, if there is a high concentration of it, that a buildup in the main or a water service, it'll put a slug of, you know, dark reddish water through. But it's not a harmful material.”
The city is awaiting a final funding timeline from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Until the system overhaul is complete, Chewelah is sticking with its old process. Its next water flushing is set to run continuously from Oct. 7 to 10.
WA program aims to help communities affected by ‘war on drugs’
A Washington state program partly intended to address some of the unfair effects of the war on drugs is giving out $29 million to nonprofits.
The money will help Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities who have been found to be the most negatively affected by the war on drugs, by funding programs meant to help them access loans at low interest rates.
“The impacts are big. I'm not prepared to sort of say, you know, is it enough to sort of fix the harm that was done," said Daryl Smith, Executive Director of Homesight, a group that will receive about $2.8 million.
“Overall, we certainly need to let the community know that there are opportunities out there for them in a variety of different ways,” Smith said.
Homesight runs statewide loan programs that address the effects of racist housing covenants. It also teaches applicants how to pay for a house, and stay on top of the payments.
Twelve other programs received funding as well as a tribal program, and other nonprofits.
Idaho’s prescribed burn season to begin this month
Temperatures are expected to begin cooling enough by early next week to allow for prescribed burns in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests.
U.S. Forest Service fire management specialist Sarah Brackebusch said crews will concentrate on higher elevation areas, where the temperatures are cooler and humidity is higher, especially overnight.
“We have to kind of catch the end of the burning season so we can actually get our fuels to [catch fire],” Brackebusch told SPR News. “So it is a real balancing act to make sure we’re done with the fire season in those high elevation areas before we start the prescribed burning.”
The first location to be burned will be the Lone Cabin area, roughly 15 miles east of Coeur d’Alene. Other projects will begin farther up the Coeur d’Alene River at Buckskin Saddle.
Brackebusch said visitors can expect road closures in the vicinity of the fires for a few days, and signs will be posted along roadways and trails during operations. Additional hazards may include fire-weakened trees, stump holes and unstable soil.
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Reporting was contributed by Brandon Hollingsworth, Monica Carrillo-Casas, Gustavo Sagrero and Steve Jackson.