Members of the Morton City Council convened on Nov. 24 for their regular monthly meeting where they approved the city’s budget for 2026 along with a state-allowed 1% property tax levy cap increase.
Additionally, councilors heard a pair of 2026 city tourism fund requests from Morton Historical Society member Dan Mortensen and Fred Schwindt of the Fire Mountain Arts Council (FMAC). The FMAC’s request was for $3,535, while the Morton Historical Society’s was for $20,000.
As the City of Morton was still waiting to learn how much tourism funding would be coming from Lewis County, no decision was made to approve or deny the requests.
However, councilors did explain that as currently proposed, they would approve the FMAC request but deny the Morton Historical Society’s.
2026 property tax levy and budget
The total property evaluation for all properties within Morton’s city limits in 2025 was $245,065,191, with the city's property tax levy rate at just over $1.11 per $1,000 per assessed property value, putting the total levy collected by the city at $273,566.15.
According to the council’s agenda report, the 1% levy lid increase totals $2,857.72, putting the 2026 property tax levy to be collected by the City of Morton at $276,423.87.
No changes had been made to the 2026 budget since its approval on first reading during the council’s October meeting.
The budget approved was balanced, with current revenues and expenditures both totalling $1,209,064, according to the council’s agenda report.
Per state law, municipalities are required to approve and maintain annual balanced budgets.
As for specific funds, revenues and expenditures totalled $199,530 for the street fund, $20,265 for the cemetery fund, $100 for the drug fund, $31,000 for the tourism fund, $30,000 for the capital projects fund, $798,695 for the water fund, $961,746 for the sewer fund and $4,702,156 for other projects.
In total, both revenues and expenditures were projected to be $7,952,556 for 2026.
Both the resolution for the property tax levy increase and the 2026 budget can be found in the council’s agenda report available on the city’s website at https://tinyurl.com/3fp9yhy9.
Tourism fund requests
When it came to the tourism fund requests, the main reasoning behind favoring FMAC’s request as opposed to the Morton Historical Society’s was a lack of detail in the request from the historical society.
Aside from operating as a historical museum in the East Lewis County community, the historical society also serves as the official visitors center for the City of Morton.
“The historical society spends about $59,000 a year to keep running,” Mortensen said to the council.
He added most of those working and maintaining the museum and visitors center are volunteers who often pay for things out of pocket, and the City of Morton sees on average 2,000 visitors a year at the museum.
Museum staff assist these visitors with finding trails and other recreational opportunities in and around Morton along with providing lodging and dining recommendations.
“This is a good expenditure for taxpayer dollars, because we are intricate with our travelling public and our tourists. They come to us because we’re an information center,” Mortensen said. “They come to us because we have the history of Morton.”
In the request itself included in the council’s agenda report, it was stated the $20,000 would “be used to support facility maintenance, salary, repairs and essential operational needs including cleaning supplies, paper products, utilities (water, sewer, garbage, electricity) — ensuring we can continue serving visitors in the community year-round.”No other specifics were provided.
In the FMAC’s proposal, the $3,535 requested was broken down as follows; $338 for postcards advertising two live shows at the Morton Roxy Theater; $490 for targeted Facebook ads promoting FMAC events and an additional $1,210 for Facebook and Instagram ads cross-promoting other Morton events or events in the area; $360 for monthly Mail Chip fees; $840 for a website rebuild and $297 for shirts for children participating in the Roxy Theater’s OnStage Youth Theatre Education Program.
Morton City Councilor Jason Sawyer explained he wanted to see a much more detailed breakdown of how the historical society planned to spend the $20,000, much like FMAC’s request, and asked Mortensen and the other historical society members in attendance at the meeting to return with more details.
That wasn’t Sawyer’s only comment on their request though, as he addressed Mortensen himself.
“I don’t want anyone to take this personally. I love what the museum is doing for our community. I think it’s great,” Sawyer said. “... I don’t have a problem giving these guys some money. But what I do have a problem with is the fact that — and again, I don’t want this to be an attack — but under your administration, we lost about $1 million.”
Previously, Mortensen was elected and served as Morton’s mayor from 2016 to 2023, when he was defeated by current Mayor Rick Mead.
In 2024, an Office of the Washington State Auditor accountability audit found former Morton clerk-treasurer Tamara “Tammy” Clevenger had embezzled $937,584 between 2012 and 2021, which “was not detected by the city council and the mayor until our audit,” the audit report stated.
“When I think about the leadership and I think about you at the helm, it gives me pause. Because what I’m seeing is this bravado that you seem to have, with just asking to just accept you in a leadership role after Morton lost a lot of money. Therein lies my problem,” Sawyer said. While stating it was his own personal opinion, he asked Morton Historical Society members if they would consider choosing someone besides Mortensen to represent them.
“I think it’s important that there’s way more transparency. Leadership plays a big role in asking for $20,000,” he added.
Morton City Councilor Richard Vanderlip stated he still wanted to support the historical society as the council had selected it to be the city’s official visitors center, and there would be another opportunity to ask for tourism funds in the future.
He added he did not believe any blame lied with Mortensen for Clevenger’s embezzlement.
“I don’t believe that everybody shares the same opinion regarding whether or not any individuals other than the one that actually took the money was responsible for what went down regarding the $900,000 the city lost,” he said.
The next Morton City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m. inside the Bob Lyle Community Center — located at 700 Main Ave. in Morton.
