City Manager Update: August 2024

City Council appoints next City Manager

Pluckhahn has 30 years of local government experience, including extensive experience in city management. Before his current role as one of Vancouver's deputy city managers, a role he has held since 2021, he served as the City Manager of Marion, Iowa, for nearly 15 years. He graduated from Iowa State University, where he earned master's degrees in both Community and Regional Planning and Public Administration. He also has a bachelor's degree in political science with a public administration emphasis. He currently serves as President of the International City/County Management Association. Read his full bio.

As I continue to work on critical projects and prepare to retire from the City on Oct. 11, I will work with Lon and the Council to ensure a smooth transition in the City's day-to-day management as we move through the next steps of finalizing our 2025-26 budget and determine a strategy for recruiting Vancouver's next police chief.

Proposition 4: Police services levy referred to the November ballot

On July 15, the Vancouver City Council unanimously approved a resolution to place Proposition 4, a property tax levy lid lift to fund police services, on the Nov. 5 General Election ballot. The levy lid lift recommendation was developed by a 13-member Police Advisory Committee of residents I convened earlier this year. The committee met six times to help identify community safety needs, service gaps and ways to improve policing and public safety.

This measure refers the first of a series of police services funding measures to meet the growing and changing demand for public safety services in Vancouver. Read their full report.

If approved by the voters, Proposition 4 would fund police and supporting services (staffing, equipment, technology, facilities, and related criminal justice costs), including:

• Add up to 80 full-time equivalent sworn officers in a range of ranks and assignments
• Add up to 36 full-time equivalent non-sworn police positions
• Equipment, technology, and vehicles consistent with current and future standards
• A traffic enforcement camera program
• Expand Homeless Assistance & Resources Team response
• Additional operating and related services, including the impact of the extra staffing on jail, corrections, and public defense
• Maintenance and facility expenses to provide police services
• Administrative and staffing costs related to police staff and services

The City's 2024 general fund property tax levy is approximately $2.0897 per $1,000 of assessed value. The proposed levy lid lift would increase this levy by approximately $0.41/$1,000 of assessed value for 2025. The levy lid lift would be permanent and authorize a 5% annual levy increase for six years. The estimated annual impact on the owner of a $500,000 home would be an additional $205 in property tax in the first year and $585 in 2030. In the first year, the levy lift is estimated to raise approximately $15.5 million; in 2030, it will raise approximately $36 million.

Community growth has contributed to a 30% increase in call volume for police services and an 87% increase in reported crimes since 2018. In addition to higher call volume, the increasing complexity of calls frequently requires multiple officers for extended periods, resulting in the diversion of resources from other parts of the City. Proposition 4 will help maintain and increase the overall capacity to provide police and public safety services in Vancouver.

2025-26 Biennial Budget update

Since sharing the City's $43 million budget gap in the 2025-26 biennial budget, the City has been working to find solutions to close the gap by exploring a combination of service reprioritization, potential revenue and expenditure reductions.

The gap is due to the compounding impacts of significant inflation across all spending categories, particularly labor costs. Also, a softening of revenues due to slowing growth and the incremental costs of added programs in recent years have contributed to a deficit between what it costs to provide services and what is available to provide them. 

During much of August, the Budget Committee, composed of myself, the two deputy City Managers and our Finance Director, will hear presentations from Department Directors about department priorities and how they propose to reach their budget targets. In addition to department proposals, I will build my proposed budget using data. We recently received the results of our Community Survey and our online budget exercise that closed on Aug. 2. Once we finalize the reports, we will share both data sets with the community. This, combined with data found in our Strategic Plan Dashboard and Vancouver's social vulnerability index, will inform budget development. Thank you to those of you in the community who helped inform the continuing development of our next budget.

I plan to present my proposed 2025-26 biennial budget to the City Council on Oct. 1. Learn more at 2025-26 Biennial Budget Process.