Last updated November 8, 2010 5:39 p.m. PT
The City Council will use money from Seattle's history to help pay for its future.
Flush with cash from the sale of its Montlake property to the state for the 520 bridge expansion project, the Museum of History and Industry has agreed to loan the city $8.5 million for two years with no interest. The Council will use those funds to lessen the effect of cuts and scale back fee increases proposed by Mayor Mike McGinn, who is faced with a $67 million operating budget next year.
"There are certain things that needed to be repaired in the mayor's budget. Councilmembers felt very strongly about some of the reductions," said Councilwoman Jean Godden, who heads the budget committee.
But McGinn would rather the Council use the MOHAI money to renovate a building at Magnuson Park, which could be used to host community events and make money for the city by renting out space. The mayor favors this one-time use on a capital project, rather than using the loan money to pay for things that the city would likely have to cut next year when the MOHAI funds run out.
"This type of sustainable investment is a responsible use of these funds," McGinn wrote on the city website.
Godden said Councilmembers will spread the museum money around. Details will be worked out as the Council finalizes the 2011 budget over the next two weeks.
"It's going to be used, I presume, 20 different ways," Godden said. "It will involve negotiations. It will involve a balancing act."
One area the Council has said it'll restore funding to is neighborhoods. McGinn proposed cutting six of 13 district coordinators. That would've saved more than $1.2 million. The Council looks like it wants to keep 12 coordinators, but cut their pay by 20 percent.
The Council will also almost certainly not raise parking meter rates as steeply as McGinn had proposed (by $1.50, to $4.00 per hour downtown) and is unlikely to add paid parking on Sundays, which is now free. And a further 5 percent increase in the commercial parking tax, expected to bring in close to $20 million over two years, is unlikely to fly. The Council will have to find additional revenue or further cuts to offset those decisions.
Godden said the Council is mindful that money from MOHAI won't be available in the future and will try to spend the money wisely on one-time projects, "not something that will open up new programs that will have to be sustained. We're mindful of the bow wave."
McGinn said using such one-time funds is basically kicking the can down the road, delaying painful decisions. He wants to museum funds to be spent on Building 30 at Magnuson Park, which has deteriorated to a point where the fire department has sharply restricted its use. If its refurbished, the city could realize almost $500,000 a year in rentals.
MOHAI agreed to loan the city money after receiving far more for the sale of its Montlake property than anticipated. City officials thought the payoff would be $15 million, but the final deal was for $40 million. The popular museum will move into a new city-owned facility in South Lake Union in 2012.
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