Mayor Delivers Balanced Budget to Council

Brian Coddington, Communications Director, 509.625.6740

Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 5:02 p.m.

Mayor Nadine Woodward delivered her balanced 2024 proposed budget to the City Council today, relying on a combination of organizational efficiencies, updated costs of service delivery models, and bridge funding strategies for one-time expenditures.

The priority-based budget focuses on supporting the health and well-being of customers, front-line City workers, partners, and the community. Months of community engagement beginning with a series of town hall meetings this spring, evaluation of financial resources, conversations about organizational efficiencies, economic modeling, and discussion with the City Council budget committing and full Council beginning this summer informed its development.

“This budget is the result of a lot of hard work and commitment by the organization to continue delivering services at the level the community expects,” Woodward said. “It represents an investment in our people, their commitment to providing services most efficiently and cost-effectively, community engagement, and collaboration with the City Council.”

Woodward delivered a balanced preliminary budget last month that closed a $20 million gap between revenue and expense. She met with the full City Council three times since releasing her preliminary proposal to discuss additional approaches and strategies following several weeks of discussions with the Council’s budget committee. Those conversations are reflected in her proposed budget.

“Each year we improve how we work with the City Council to meet the community’s needs,” Woodward said. “That always begins with a check-in with the community about priorities as the basis for our discussion with the Council.”

Notable changes to the General Fund since Woodward delivered the preliminary budget:

  • Revised 2024 sales tax estimates downward by $2.5 million due to updated current-year data and revised economic forecasts.
  • Added $500,000 to cover the cost of extending a pre-trial municipal court pilot program for the first half of the year while grant funding is sought to sustain it.
  • Increased use of traffic calming funds by $800,000 to $2.8 million to re-establish the Spokane Police Department traffic unit as the most visible traffic calming measure.
  • Added $700,000 in expected increased traffic citation revenue from the emphasis on neighborhood traffic enforcement to invest in public safety services.
  • Added $500,000 to cover initial design costs for a permanent fire station in Latah Valley to make the City-owned property shovel-ready.
  • Consolidated and refinanced internal debt to remove the General Fund subsidy to the Parking Fund.
  • Consolidated and refinanced $4.6 million in internal debt for Public Safety to streamline and lower payments.
  • Increased coordination between long-term planning and the Development Services Center to improve services.
  • Reduced allocation to S3R3, the West Plains public development authority, by $460,000 based on actual economic activity.
  • Temporarily increased the tax on City utilities by 1 percent to fund critical services.
  • Finalizing General Facilities Charges, transportation impact fees, permit fees and similar fees with community stakeholders to help build streets, sewers, water infrastructure and other service capacity to accommodate future growth.
  • Finalizing a plan to use sales tax collected for affordable housing and mental health services to increase investments in housing supply for income-constrained home-seekers.
  • Engaged with regional jurisdictions and stakeholders in work to establish a regional homelessness authority to manage system resources and funds more efficiently and collaboratively.
  • Implemented and continued managed hiring practices to maintain close analysis and evaluation of current staffing and operational needs.

The General Fund represents the most flexible dollars to cover City expenses with revenues derived primarily from sales, property, and utility taxes. Other funding sources, such as state and federal grants, cover many expenses outside of the General Fund.

Other notable funding strategies outside of the General Fund include:

  • Allocated $6.1 million in ARPA funds in 2023 via City Council action last month to ensure services at the Trent Resource and Assistance Center continue in 2024.
  • Securing state right-of-way funding to further sustain operation of the Trent Resource and Assistance Center.
  • Work with City Council to designate $1.8 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds currently designated for projects of citywide significance to improve infrastructure for fiber and broadband for digital equity and economic development.

Managed hiring practices and high scrutiny of travel, educational conferences, and contracts over $100,000 implemented this summer will continue into next year. Spokane, like more than one-third of cities in that state, is working through structural budget gaps, according to the Association of Washington Cities. Factors include inflation, the changing labor market, and a flattening of revenue following a post-pandemic surge.

The City Council has scheduled a series of budget hearings this month. The administration and City Council will continue meeting before the City Council adopts a 2024 budget on November 27.