Dec 14, 2015 3 min read

Washington City Council approved a balanced budget of $12,421,419 for 2016, with outgoing Mayor Brenda Davis casting the sole dissenting vote Thursday.

“There are certain times you wish you could vote ‘yes.’ When it comes to the budget, first and most important, there is no tax increase,” Davis said. “This administration has worked hard to make sure there’s no tax increase.”

However, Davis was disappointed with the garbage collection fee and that an additional $2,500 she requested for police training was not granted.

“I’m voting ‘no.’ I wish I could vote ‘yes,'” she said.

In November, council voted to award a bid to the current service provider, Waste Management, for the collection of solid waste, at a yearly cost of $2,136,087, or $155.16 per household. On Thursday, they awarded a biweekly recycling pickup contract to BFI Waste Systems of Pittsburgh, at a yearly cost of $396,489, or $28.80 per household.

Davis praised the city’s efforts in paying down its aggregate pension fund with State Act 205. The act allowed the city to levy an additional 0.635 percent wage tax on every person working in Washington to fund its pension program for police officers, firefighters and administrative workers. City Council added a 0.15 percent earned income tax in 2008, before increasing it to the current rate of 0.635 percent in 2010. Davis said pensions should be fully funded within two years.

“City officials do understand that this is a tax that people don’t like,” Davis said in a news release. “We do understand and are working toward a positive ending to a tax that many thought would never go away.”

In other business, outgoing Councilman Terry Faust, head of the parks and recreation department, made a motion to earmark a portion of the park development fund mostly for construction of a second access road to Washington Park. After the motion unanimously passed, Faust thanked his colleagues.

“I have full confidence in the next administration,” he said. “We’re a great city going in the right direction.”

Council also approved the hiring of a police officer, Jordan M. Faust, with a hire date of Jan. 4.

“We’ve worked hard to update the civil service list … and have a very diverse list,” said Davis. “It gives me great pleasure to bring a female in the police department.”

Although the 2016 schedule of meetings has not been finalized, incoming Mayor Scott Putnam said the city will stick to the regular schedule of agenda meetings occurring the first Monday of every month and council meetings occurring the first Thursday of every month. Putnam said he intends to add one daytime meeting every quarter.