Once considered a popular destination for visitors from the mainland looking to get their important travel documents in order, the city of Langley is planning to sunset its passport services.
Mayor Kennedy Horstman shared the news with the city council this week. The city is continuing to work to address a $150,000 gap required to balance the 2025 general fund expenses, which means cost-cutting measures are in store.
“This is a very clear financial decision, but a very hard, emotional one,” she said. Ending passport services means the loss of the part-time passport agent position, which is occupied by Bob Herzberg, longtime city employee and former police chief.
Horstman said Herzberg’s 46 years of service to the city will be honored and celebrated.
Starting March 1, the city will no longer process passports. The action will save the city an estimated $50,000 annually. Front desk hours for city hall will also be reduced, though by how much is still being determined.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, “passport tourists” flocked to the Village by the Sea because many offices processing travel documents were closed on the mainland. Herzberg was booked out weeks in advance because of the demand.
City officials are also investigating other ways to cut costs, including the sale of the Langley Library building to Sno-Isle Libraries. Currently, the city owns the building but does not receive rent and cannot afford to maintain it. The property would be transferred to the library system and remain a library. The building needs to be appraised to determine its value.
Lastly, the city may renegotiate a land lease. The developer and building owner of the Langley Post Office holds a 30-year land lease that is set to expire in 2027. The city owns the land where the post office is located, but in 1997 the developer who built it leased the building to the U.S. Postal Service. The city received a lump sum of $250,000 in rent to pay off the land lease in 1997. The city has not received any income from the lease since then.
At the end of the lease term the city must buy the building back from the developer/building owner at fair market value, Horstman explained in an email. However, based on the contract, the two parties could opt for a 10-year lease extension and if this occurs, the land rent is subject to renegotiation.