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Real Briefings

Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission

BEL-MNA-2024-10-16 October 16, 2024 Committee Meeting City of Bellingham
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The Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission convened for an information-packed session addressing three critical topics facing Bellingham residents. WTA representatives presented proposed service changes for 2025, including new routes serving the King Mountain neighborhood and increased frequency to Bellingham Technical College and the hospital. Emergency Management Coordinator Greg Hope delivered an earthquake and tsunami preparedness briefing, emphasizing the unique geological risks from the Cascadia Subduction Zone and announcing tomorrow's Great Washington Shakeout drill. Mayor Lund provided a detailed budget presentation revealing a structural general fund deficit requiring creative revenue reallocations and targeted reductions to balance the 2025 budget. The meeting concluded with neighborhood roundtable updates, showcasing active community engagement from tree planting projects to emergency preparedness initiatives. The budget discussion dominated the substantive policy conversation, with Mayor Lund explaining how declining sales tax revenues and increased personnel costs have created a significant fiscal challenge. The city is proposing to reallocate sales tax distributions, redirect pension fund surpluses, and implement a $2.46 monthly increase in solid waste utility taxes to fund environmental remediation. The structural deficit has reduced city reserves from $44 million to approximately $20 million in one year, requiring continued strategic reductions in upcoming budget cycles. WTA's proposed service improvements reflect thoughtful route optimization, with the underperforming Route 4 being split into more efficient hospital-focused routes. The addition of Route 45 to King Mountain represents significant expansion into previously underserved areas, contingent on completion of new roadway infrastructure.

No formal votes were taken during this informational session. However, several policy directions emerged: **WTA Service Changes:** Public hearing scheduled for November 7, 2024, with proposed implementation June 2025. Changes include splitting Route 4 into Routes 9 and 18 for improved hospital service, creating new Route 10 from Bellingham station to Bellingham Technical College via Old Town, and establishing Route 45 to serve King Mountain via the future Creston Way. **Budget Revenue Proposals:** Mayor presented f…

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**Budget Crisis Management:** Mayor Lund presented a sobering analysis of the city's fiscal position, explaining how post-COVID federal relief masked underlying structural problems. The combination of inflation-driven wage increases and declining sales tax revenues has created an unsustainable gap between expenses and revenues. Sales tax performance shows five of nine reporting periods this year below 2023 levels, likely resulting in a $2-3 million shortfall. The proposed revenue reallocations provide short-term relief but acknowledge that additional reductions will be necessary. The environmental remediation component of the solid waste tax increase represents a $38 million investment in cleaning up the RG Haley site and former municipal landfill to enable the Salish Landing Park development. This waterfront transformation will create a public space three times the size of Boulevard Park, but state funding commitments remain uncertain given simi…
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**Emergency Management (Greg Hope):** Advocated for comprehensive community preparedness through neighborhood-level training and individual household planning. Emphasized the need for 2-week readiness supplies and highlighted programs like CERT training, Map Your Neighborhood, and amateur radio volunteer opportunities. **WTA (Mary Anderson):** Presented route optimization as both service improvement and efficiency measure. Acknowledged the $110 per service hour cost while emphasizing the value of increased frequency on key corridors serving the hospital, techn…
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**Greg Hope, on earthquake preparedness:** "We have more to fear from the contents of the structures that we inhabit than we do the structures themselves." **Mayor Lund, on the budget crisis:** "We began the year with 44 million dollars in reserves, and we are going to end the year, we believe, very close to 20 million. So that is 24 million that we will have gone through in one year reserves." **Mary Anderson (WTA), on service costs:** "It's about a hundred $10 per service hour cost for us …
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**Immediate Actions:** - October 17, 2024: Great Washington Shakeout drill and tsunami siren test at 10:17 AM - October 21, 2024: City Council public hearing on budget revenue proposals - November 7, 2024: WTA Board public hearing on proposed service changes **Upcoming Deadlines:** - December 9, 2024: Anticipated final budget adoption by City Council - June …

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The meeting established several significant policy directions that represent departures from current practice: **Revenue Structure:** For the first time, the city will redirect sales tax allocation percentages between general fund and street fund, sweep interest earnings from eligible funds, and utilize fully-funded pension resources for general operations. **Service Delivery Model:** WTA will implement its most significant route restructuring in recent years, moving from lower-frequency coverage routes to higher-frequency corridor service focused on major destinations. **Emergency Management…
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## Meeting Overview On October 16, 2024, Mayor Kim Lund convened the monthly Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission (MNAC) meeting at 6:30 PM, drawing a balanced mix of in-person and online participants. The meeting featured three substantial presentations that would shape community understanding of critical services and fiscal realities facing Bellingham. With representatives from Whatcom Transportation Authority sharing major route changes, emergency management coordinator Greg Hope delivering his annual preparedness briefing, and Mayor Lund providing a detailed budget overview amid financial challenges, the evening offered neighborhood leaders essential information to carry back to their constituents. The gathering underscored the collaborative relationship between city leadership and neighborhood associations, with representatives from twelve neighborhoods providing rapid-fire updates on everything from international festivals to emergency preparedness initiatives. Despite running until 8:30 PM, the packed agenda reflected the vital role these monthly meetings play in maintaining civic engagement across Bellingham's diverse communities. ## Major Transit Service Overhaul Coming to Bellingham Mary Anderson, senior transit planner for Whatcom Transportation Authority, unveiled significant service changes proposed to begin in June 2025, fundamentally restructuring how buses serve key destinations throughout the city. The most dramatic transformation involves Route 4, currently one of WTA's underperforming routes that serves the hospital before continuing through Birchwood to Baker View and Granada station. "What we're proposing is to basically chop that route in half and have one new route line that goes from the Bellingham station to the hospital and back two times an hour," Anderson explained, noting this would double service frequency from downtown to the hospital. The restructuring creates a new Route 18 connecting Cordata station on Maplewood Avenue directly to the hospital, giving the medical center three buses per hour total. The changes extend well beyond hospital service. A new Route 10 would provide crucial connections from Bellingham station through the Old Town urban village—which recently reduced parking minimums—past the new Lighthouse Mission, and continuing to Bellingham Technical College. This route would upgrade service along that corridor from hourly to every 30 minutes on weekdays, directly supporting areas undergoing significan…
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### Meeting Overview Mayor Kim Lund convened the October 16, 2024 Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission meeting at 6:30 PM. The meeting featured three main presentations: WTA service changes, emergency preparedness by Red Hope, and the City's 2025 budget challenges, followed by neighborhood updates. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission (MNAC):** Monthly meeting where neighborhood association representatives share updates and receive information from city departments about services affecting their communities. **WTA Service Changes:** Proposed transit route modifications beginning June 2025, including new routes serving hospitals, technical college, and King Mountain neighborhood to improve ridership and coverage. **Cascadia Subduction Zone:** Major earthquake fault off the Pacific Northwest coast that poses the greatest seismic threat to Bellingham, capable of generating magnitude 9+ earthquakes and tsunamis. **Drop, Cover, Hold On:** Emergency earthquake response protocol that teaches people to drop to hands and knees, take cover under sturdy furniture, and hold on until shaking stops. **Structural Budget Deficit:** When ongoing expenses exceed ongoing revenues, requiring use of reserves or budget cuts. Bellingham faces this due to declining sales tax revenue and rising personnel costs. **General Fund:** The city's only unrestricted fund that can be used for any municipal purpose, unlike the 50+ other city funds restricted by law or policy for specific uses. **Sales Tax Allocation:** Currently 63% goes to general fund, 37% to street fund. City proposes shifting to 68% general fund, 32% street fund to address budget shortfall. **Environmental Remediation:** $38 million cleanup of toxic contamination at RG Haley site and former municipal landfill to enable Salish Landing Park development. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Kim Lund | Mayor, meeting chair | | Mary And…
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Budget & Finance Transportation & Infrastructure Public Safety Government Operations Bellingham Emergency Management City Of Bellingham Lighthouse Mission Lummi Nation Mayors Office Western Washington University Whatcom Transportation Authority Wta April Markiewicz Chris Roselli Greg Hope Jake Charlton Jan Dietzgen Justin Nelson Kerri Burnside Kim Lund Mary Anderson Sheryl Russell Budget Finance Cert Training Earthquake Preparedness Emergency Management Emergency Preparedness Environmental Remediation Hospital Service King Mountain Neighborhood Engagement Sales Tax Solid Waste Utility Transportation Policy Tsunami Preparedness Waterfront Development Wta Service Changes