Kitsap’s municipalities are embarking on their budget-balancing process for 2011, and for most cities, that means looking for ways to close further gaps and cut costs. While revenues in many cases are being projected to stay flat — better news than a year or two ago, when they plunged — those revenues are not enough to keep up with rising costs.

The City of Port Orchard appears in the best financial shape out of the four Kitsap municipalities. The City Council will discuss its preliminary budget at an upcoming retreat, sometime around the end of September. Meanwhile, Mayor Lary Coppola said he anticipates the City will undertake several major capital improvement projects, including a cosmetic facelift and some energy-saving upgrades at City Hall, which was built in 1999, but hasn’t been touched since. The projects would be paid for through the REET (Real Estate Excise Tax) fund, which is expected to reach $2 million by the end of this year. read more »

The typical worker in Washington State must put in more than two-thirds of the year - 241 days — to pay his or her share of the expenses of all levels — local, state and federal — government. Those 241 work days include funding all the various regulatory burdens as well.

According to Americans for Tax Reform, August 29, is the day this year the average Washingtonian stopped working to fund the enormous cost government. Because of Washington’s excessive amount of taxation and regulation, Cost of Government Day (COGD) is actually 10 days later than the national date of August 19. That has also given the state the dubious distinction of dropping one spot from last year — to 46th place — the fifth latest in the country. read more »

With all the focus on eliminating the Bush tax cuts and spurring the economy, President Obama and Congressional Democrats are tripping over themselves touting their small business tax breaks this election season. What they’re not mentioning is an automatic tax increase that will hit family-owned businesses hard, starting on New Year’s Day.

Unless Congress and President Obama act, the inheritance or “death tax” will automatically revert to its pre-2001 level: 55 percent of the value of one’s estate after a $1 million deduction. That tax alone often breaks a small business if its owner suddenly dies. read more »

Finding a job is the best substitute for an unemployment check, but as more and more Americans exhaust their jobless benefits, employment opportunities remain sparse.

In July, the state unemployment rate was 8.6 percent, down from 9.5 percent a year ago; however, in parts of Washington it is in double-digits. The Portland-Vancouver metro area reports 13.3 percent unemployment, about the same as last year. Economists worry that it may take years for our economy to return to its peak of a couple of years ago.

Ironically, the longer we experience high unemployment, the harder it will be for private employers to begin hiring. read more »

The recent decision by U.S. Senate Democrats to pull the plug on climate legislation led to acrimonious finger-pointing. The Obama administration expressed frustration with environmental advocacy groups, complaining that despite $100 million invested in promoting the legislation, they failed to deliver a single Republican vote. In return, Joe Romm, who covers climate for one advocacy group, the Center for American Progress, declared the entire Obama presidency a failure. read more »

The Senate has just cut $1.5 billion more from funding for solar, wind and other renewable energy projects on the heels of a $2-billion cut last year, reducing the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Loan Guarantee Program to $2.5 billion from $6 billion. Odds for restoring the funding aren’t great, jeopardizing some $15 billion to $20 billion in private investment in alt-energy work.

With unemployment stubbornly stalled at 9.6 percent, the Obama administration is desperately looking for ways to get the economy moving again.

Recently, in a meeting with my manufacturing counterparts from around the country, President Obama’s representative read a speech about all the administration is doing to spur manufacturing in America. Specifically, she tried to enlist our help in convincing companies to invest the $1.8 trillion they’re holding in reserve in added production capacity and new products and services. read more »

Columbia Banking System, Inc. announced that it has redeemed all 76,898 shares of Series A preferred stock originally issued to the U.S. Department of Treasury on November 21, 2008 for approximately $76.9 million in capital under its Capital Purchase Program (“CPP”). On August 11, Columbia paid a total of $77.8 million to the Treasury, consisting of $76.9 million in principal and $918,504 in accrued and unpaid dividends.

Melanie Dressel, president and CEO, said, “Our financial strength was originally affirmed when we were selected as one of the first regional banks to participate in the Treasury’s voluntary CPP program, which was designed to stimulate the economy by providing capital to healthy banks. read more »

Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee announced that she will leave her post at the end of September to take a new job.

Lee, who has been with Gov. Chris Gregoire’s administration since March 2005, has accepted a position as the CEO of Pioneer Human Services in Seattle. The non-profit organization has more than 1,000 employees across Washington at more than 50 locations, who deliver an integrated mix of social, health, economic and employment services to people on the margins of society. read more »