Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
PALOUSE—The City of Palouse will go without levies on the November ballot for arterial streets and the swimming pool, after a city hall oversight resulted in not filing by the Aug. 4 deadline.
Last year, the pool levy went for $34,000, with an arterial streets levy of $44,000. Each would have been reduced for 2021, because of the early closure of the pool this summer and the city council deciding in July not to accept a bid on its Palouse Cove sidewalk project – both of which meant money would not get spent this year.
The pool closed July 6 over coronavirus concerns.
For streets, Palouse’s 2021 levy request was expected to be less since the city had no major projects this year, allowing for much of the current levy money to carry over to next year.
Levies are often passed for a specific project. The Palouse Cove sidewalk, which was to be 2020’s big project, came in at a bid higher than the town expected.
NEXT TIME
April of next year is the next chance to run levies in Whitman County. Palouse could elect to file for that ballot or wait until November 2021, adding the previous year’s levy request with the following year.
Either way, the pool levy is expected to be smaller than it has been.
“It’s gonna be much less than the $34,000,” said Kyle Dixon, city administrator.
The city spent just $14,000 in 2020 of its usual $40,000 for the pool. Aside from levy dollars, the city contributes $5,000-$10,000 of the annual budget.
The decision on filing for next April may be affected by election costs running higher in the spring – less items on the ballot, less entities to share the cost.
Pool pay: The Palouse city council stuck to its original policy from earlier this summer to pay the pool’s lifeguards for the month of July – after the pool’s early closing for the season in the first week of the month – following a request from a resident that the laid-off employees be paid through Aug. 16. Mayor Chris Cook reported at the council meeting Aug. 25 the city wanted to balance honor for the lifeguards as well as taxpayers. The lifeguards knew the pool may be subject to closing at any time during the 2020 season.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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