Camas Council passes ‘hold steady’ budget

The Camas City Council has approved Camas Mayor Steve Hogan’s 2025-26 biennial budget, which includes new revenue sources and reserves to fund business as usual in the city of Camas over the next two years.

The Council voted 4-2 during a Dec. 2 meeting — with Council members Leslie Lewallen and Jennifer Senescu casting the two “no” votes — in favor of the $322 million “hold steady” biennial budget funded by $284 million in revenues and $38 million from the City’s reserves.

“This budget is stagnant, holding expenses flat despite City growth, with restrictions to limit spending,” Camas Finance Director Cathy Huber Nickerson explained in her Dec. 2 staff report to the Council. “Mayor Hogan worked with staff to restrict expenses by continuing to hold vacant 16 positions that were added in 2023 but never filled, restructure the City’s general fund to move (information technology) and facilities into internal service funds with more robust cost recovery models, keep budget increases to only the critical needs for public safety that had been tabled during prior budget cycles, and index costs for inflationary pressures but not population or growth demands.”

Huber Nickerson added that the 2025-26 budget will readopt the City’s 2% utility tax, take the state-allowed 1% property tax levy increase, increase City fees and form a Transportation Benefit District funded by $20 annual car-tab fees and a 0.1% sales tax to help fund the City’s streets-related needs.

“Finally, it addresses critical public safety needs by authorizing a ballot proposition to voters seeking an increase of utility taxes by 4 percent — for a combined total of 6 percent — to fund police needs for staff, equipment and training,” Huber Nickerson said.

Camas voters will weigh in on the 4% utility tax in February 2025. If approved the new tax would go directly toward the City’s police department to hire new supervisors and provide “overhires” to cover what could be an onslaught of police department retirements.

Camas Police Chief Tina Jones told Council members in November that her department does not have enough supervisors and that there are times, especially during the middle of the night, when Camas police officers — often including the department’s less experienced officers — are working without a direct supervisor available.

The police chief added that she does not believe her department is prepared for the number of retirements that could come in the next few years.

“There is a huge lead time (to replace a police officer), with background, hiring, training, getting through the academy … all of that adds up,” Jones told the Council in November. “These things start tipping and we’re not able to be proactive or problem-solve. We become more reactive than proactive.”

To remedy the department’s staffing challenges, Jones had asked the mayor to include funding for two lieutenants, two patrol sergeants, one administrative supervisor and two police officers in his proposed 2025-26 budget.

“This is what I think we need, in my professional opinion,” Jones said in November. “I know it’s a tight budget. And I appreciate the mayor’s focus on trying to achieve these positions we need. … We want to provide the best public safety service that we can.”

Camas voters will consider the issue during the Feb. 11, 2025 special election, when they vote on whether or not they will approve an additional 4% utility tax on the City’s water, sewer, stormwater and solid waste (garbage) utilities in order to raise $1 million a year to fund the new police positions as well as the associated vehicles and equipment those officers and police supervisors will require.

To learn more about the city of Camas’ 2025-26 budget, visit the following Post-Record articles:

• camaspostrecord.com/news/2024/oct/10/camas-mayor-warns-of-draconian-budget-cuts-without-new-revenues

• camaspostrecord.com/news/2024/nov/21/camas-police-chief-details-critical-staffing-needs

• camaspostrecord.com/news/2024/nov/21/camas-greenlights-new-revenues-to-close-budget-gap