--- ### Meeting Overview The Bellingham City Council's Budget and Finance Committee met on the afternoon of May 18, 2026, chaired by Council Member Lisa Anderson. The committee took up three items: a state law enforcement grant award to the Bellingham Police Department, a companion budget ordinance to implement that grant, and an introductory discussion of a potential update to the city's land use application fee schedule — which has not been significantly revised since 2007. --- ### Key Terms and Concepts **Local Law Enforcement Grant Program:** A grant program created by Washington State Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2015, administered through the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC). Funds are available to local law enforcement agencies that meet high certification and qualification standards. The program was championed by Governor Bob Ferguson as a campaign promise to increase police hiring across Washington State. **Interlocal Agreement:** A formal legal contract between two or more government entities — in this case, between the City of Bellingham and the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission — authorizing the city to receive and spend the grant funds. The mayor must be authorized by the Council to sign such agreements. **FTE (Full-Time Equivalent):** A unit measuring employee workload. One FTE equals one full-time position. When the committee discussed "unfreezing" positions, it meant restoring budgetary funding to positions that had been authorized on paper but whose funding had been suspended. **Frozen Position:** A budgeted employee position that exists in the city's authorized headcount but for which no salary funding has been appropriated — meaning the position cannot be filled. Unfreezing a position means adding the money back so it can be recruited and filled. **25% City Match:** The grant requires the City of Bellingham to pay 25% of personnel costs for newly hired officers, while the grant covers the remaining 75%. This is a standard cost-sharing arrangement in grant programs. **Regional Fire Authority (RFA):** A proposal under discussion to consolidate fire and potentially other public safety services under a regional authority funded by a dedicated levy. If approved by voters, an RFA could provide a long-term funding source to sustain positions created under this grant after grant funds run out. **Land Use Application Fee:** A fee charged to developers, businesses, or property owners when they submit an application asking the city to review and approve a land use action — such as a rezone, subdivision, variance, or conditional use permit. Bellingham's current fee schedule dates to 2007. **System Development Charges (SDCs):** One-time charges assessed on new development to fund the cost of expanding utility infrastructure (water, sewer, stormwater) to serve that development. Distinguished from impact fees, which fund parks and transportation. **Impact Fee:** A one-time charge on new development to offset the cost of expanding public facilities — parks, transportation, or schools — necessitated by growth. Impact fees are legally required to have a documented "nexus" between the fee charged and the impact created by the specific project. **Cost Recovery:** The principle that the fees charged for a city service should cover the actual cost of providing that service, rather than being subsidized by the general fund or by taxpayers who are not directly using the service…