AWC Endorses Funding Plan for the Municipal Research & Services Center
On December 17, 1999, the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution to support the Municipal Research Council (MRC) in its quest to replace the loss of motor vehicle excise tax (MVET). The Municipal Research Council is the state agency that contracts with the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC), a non-profit organization that carries out the council's statutory responsibilities. Currently, the MVET provides 84% of the Municipal Research Council budget - 100% of the city portion of the program. Washington counties fund their share of the program from liquor excise taxes.
AWC unanimously adopted a resolution supporting continued funding of the Municipal Research Council, using a small portion of the cities' distribution of profits of the State Liquor Board.
Cities, counties, and the state of Washington share in liquor profits. Cities receive 40% of excess profits after specified distributions are made. Counties receive 10% and the state general fund receives 50% of the excess. For calendar year 2000, cities will receive an estimated $21,102,000 in profits of the liquor board.
About eight percent (8%) of the cities' distribution of this fund source would be used to fund the city portion of the Municipal Research Council budget for a full year.
Under this funding plan, each city would support MRC at a level of approximately 26 cents per capita in calendar year 2000, and 51 cents per capita in 2001. The difference is because the MRC budget cycle runs from July 1 to July 1, and the MRC is funded until July 1, 2000. Cities operate on a calendar year budget cycle beginning January 1st.
The Washington Finance Officer Association, Washington State Association of Municipal Attorneys, Washington Municipal Clerks Association, American Planning Association (Washington Chapter), American Public Works Association (Washington Chapter), the City Engineers Association of Washington, and the Planning Association of Washington have endorsed the continued funding of the Municipal Research and Services Center. The Washington City/County Management Association has specifically recommended the use of the liquor profits after reviewing several options.
Other funding options were considered, including the liquor excise tax, the sales tax, state general fund, and user fees. The recommendation continues a long-standing policy of city support for a city program.
Many of the cities and towns that most need services can least afford to pay for them. This problem will become more acute in the aftermath of I-695. The MRSC clearinghouse function would be damaged if participation were optional.
MRSC offers dependable advice and information and practical solutions to day-to-day governance problems. There is nothing about this mission that would attract private funding. Nor does MRSC fit the profile of organizations supported by foundations. Foundations prefer universities and charitable organizations. Moreover, foundations typically fund start-up programs that make a transition to a continuous fund source once the basic idea is proven. MRSC is already a proven success.
MRSC services are more crucial to small and medium-sized cities because of their more limited resources. Often, smaller cities must deal with requirements that are written to address large city issues. MRSC is instrumental in helping cities meet this challenge. MRSC also helps to keep cities from getting into trouble with complex issues such as appearance of fairness, conflicts of interest, and bidding.
MRSC is also important to bigger cities. Larger cities use the MRSC Web site to a greater extent than smaller cities and participate more in MRSC-supported professional development services. If MRSC were not here, smaller cities would rely more on larger cities for help, resulting in a cost of time and money for larger cities.
MRSC provides a means for quickly discovering what other jurisdictions around the state are doing. We are able to do this because we are a shared resource for all cities.
Finally, MRSC recognizes that it must share the pain of I-695 even though the demand for our services has increased in the aftermath of the initiative. In 1999, the MVET accounted for 3.7% of municipal government revenue. Accordingly, MRSC is reducing its budget by a commensurate amount and will forego the 3.2% increase that had already been approved for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2000. This results in a 7% reduction to the adopted budget for next fiscal year, which will mean some service reductions.
For further information, please contact Rich Yukubousky at (206) 625-1300.
Thank you all for your support.
Richard Yukubousky, Executive Director
Municipal Research & Services Center