Lisa Gardner, City Council Communications Director, 509.625.6226
Tuesday, December 14, 2021 at 8:07 a.m.
During Monday night’s Legislative Session City Council voted 6-1 to adopt the Annual Budget of the City of Spokane for 2022.
“No one got everything they wanted out of the 2022 budget,” says Finance and Administration Chair and Councilmember Betsy Wilkerson. “This has been a more open process for the Administration, Council, and community input than in previous years. The priority for me was to pass a balanced budget, maintain core services, and support our employees. My commitment as Finance Chair next year is continued education for both the community and for Council as to the many funding sources, taxes, and other resources available to fund the needs of our city.”
Council’s Budget Committee, made up of Wilkerson, Council President Breean Beggs and Councilmember Lori Kinnear, was tasked with gathering all written budget requests from Councilmembers and having in depth discussions with the Mayor and her staff regarding potential changes. The Committee and Mayor have been meeting and corresponding regularly until wrapping up their work just a couple of days ago. One important funding increase was seen in public safety departments.
“Council approved a 2022 Budget that increases SPD’s year-over-year funding by approximately 6%,” says Public Safety and Community Health Chair and Councilmember Lori Kinnear. “The 2022 Budget also increases overall police positions. This Council supports our police department and is demonstrating that in this budget.”
In addition to the Spokane Police Department’s budget increase, Council recently approved a special budget ordinance to increase 2021 expenditure appropriation levels for the Fire/EMS Fund by $3.5 million to cover unexpected uniform overtime and management needs just days before approving the City’s 2022 budget.
Overall, Council made modest modifications to the proposed budget that included doubling the reserve budget for salary adjustments, eliminating long-term vacancies that were inflating budgets, and redirecting proposed funding projects away from 1590 and 1406 dollars designated specifically for housing projects.
