Oak Harbor arts panel presses staff for clearer accounting of Creative Arts Fund spending

The Oak Harbor Arts Commission on June 11 reviewed the Creative Arts Fund’s purpose, revenue sources and project recommendation process and asked staff to provide detailed line-item documentation for prior expenditures.

Finance manager Chaz Webster told the commission the fund “was established under chapter 3.26” and is financed by “a 0.25% utility tax on water, sewer, and solid waste services.” Webster said the commission’s role, per code 2.29, is advisory: it “identifies opportunities and priorities” while city council determines final funding and authorizes expenditures.

Commissioners focused on large expense lines and procurement. Members asked for clarity about a professional-services code showing roughly $85,000 and a $39,000 total for 2025, and why some projects (wearable art, Imagination Cove) appeared to proceed without an explicit council action in the file. Staff said those expenditures may have been either included in a previously approved budget line or executed under department signing authority and pledged to look up the exact invoices and procurement records.

Sabrina and Webster agreed to pull the relevant invoices and to provide the commission with a written breakdown — either by email attachment or as a future agenda item — so commissioners can confirm whether items were covered in the adopted budget or required separate council authorization. Webster said the department would also verify whether particular charges were coded to professional services (account 4100) or to another line item.

The presentation also covered the fund’s five-year historical revenues and expenditures, projected revenues for 2026–2028, the process for submitting a scoping form and the biannual budget timeline that culminates in council adoption in December. Commissioners asked staff to add a clearer description for any transfer-out transactions so the commission can trace funds moved to other departments when projects are expensed elsewhere.

The commission did not adopt any funding decisions at the meeting. Staff agreed to return with the requested documentation and to attach the detail to next month’s packet unless commissioners request an earlier distribution by email.