The Reflector

2014

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Drop in casino tax creates city deficitSTEVE KADELstaff reporter

La Center City Council mem-bers began the 2015 budget pro-cess last week with one glaring problem – an estimated $524,000 deficit due to lack of tax revenue from the city’s cardrooms.

Finance Director Suzanne Le-vis reported in July that the short-fall, primarily because of the closure of Chips Casino, had hit $480,000 for the first six months of 2014. The decline increased at the end of July, the latest peri-od for which revenue figures are available, and she said the gap will continue to grow through the

rest of the year unless the council takes action.

“Some unpleasant decisions are going to be made,” council member Al Luiz said. “We can’t keep going like we are now.”

The council will meet at least twice in September with the help of a facilitator to be-gin hammering out a budget for next year. New revenue sources and possible areas to cut costs will be discussed, but nothing definite was decided during the Aug. 26 work session.

“You’ve got to look at other revenue streams” as gambling money declines, Levis told coun-cil members.

Mayor Jim Irish agreed, say-ing the city must go beyond gam-bling for tax revenue.

“We are the only community on I-5 that does not have busi-nesses at the junction,” he said. “Maybe we need to be looking at … putting a Toyota dealership or something out there. Now all of our eggs are in one basket.”

“I’m a real advocate for devel-oping that corridor,” Luiz said.

Council member Elizabeth Cerveny said options beyond the junction must be considered, too. She suggested that excise taxes be considered as a revenue source.

“Let’s roll up our sleeves and do what we were elected to do,” she said. “We can’t just look at the junction. We have to look at every angle. There has to be some urgency in solving this issue.”

La Center faces $524,000 shortfall

Woodland council members to consider new ordinanceSTEVE KADELstaff reporter

Officials of the Oak Tree Ca-sino in Woodland want the mem-bers of the City Council to lower its tax on card game revenue from 5 percent to 4 percent.

Woodland City Council mem-bers discussed the issue during a work session Aug. 25, with sev-eral members speaking in favor of granting the request. No ac-tion was taken, but Mayor Grover Laseke directed City Attorney Bill Eling to prepare a proposed ordinance reducing the tax rate for consideration at an upcoming council meeting.

Wally Fitzwater of the Oak Tree met in July with the City’s Finance Committee to describe the need for a lower rate based on

Oak Tree officials want lower gambling tax rate

Three finalists to get public interviewsSTEVE KADELstaff reporter

A list of 15 applicants for the position of Woodland police chief is being whittled to three finalists with in-person interviews set for Mon., Sept. 29.

Members of the City Coun-cil will interview the finalists during a public meeting that day, Woodland Mayor Grover

Laseke said. Other panel in-terviews will be conducted in closed sessions, too.

During a work session Aug. 25, council members indicated sup-port for requiring the new chief to reside within the city limits of Woodland. That stipulation will be voted on during the council’s next regular meeting Tue., Sept. 2.

Also during that meeting, the council must vote on whether to approve a $5,000 contract with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs for

help with the selection process.A timeline released by Laseke

includes an executive session to discuss candidates on Sept. 29, followed by the mayor conducting follow-up interviews and choos-ing a person to recommend to the full council as the new chief.

A background investigation on the final candidate will start Oct. 1 and that candidate will be presented to the council for con-firmation on Oct. 21, according to the timeline. The new chief is

Woodland pares list of police chief applicants

See LA cEnTEr on Page A3

See oAK TrEE on Page A3

See wooDLAnD on Page A3

Getting wet for a good cause

rIDGEFIELD cITY coUncIL member Don Stose gets doused with cold water by Mayor Ron Onslow on Aug. 27 as part of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which raises money for research into a cure for the disease. Watching at Overlook Park are Gary Adkins, left, and Terry Hurd, both of whom also got a drenching for the fundraiser. An estimated $31 million was raised nationwide from July 29 through Aug. 20, according to the ALS Foundation.

Photo by Steve Kadel

It’s time to turn on the Friday night lights

THE HIGH ScHooL football season gets underway on Fri., Sept. 5. Area teams, including Battle Ground shown here, have been practicing since Aug. 20. For information on all of the area football teams, see The Reflector’s Fall Sports Tabloid inserted in this week’s paper. On Friday, Battle Ground will open the season with a home game against Kent Meridian. Prairie will play Heritage at McKenzie Stadium in Vancouver. Hockinson will play host to La Center, Woodland is at Kalama and Ridgefield plays at Castle Rock.

Photo by Mike Schultz