Lisa Gardner, City Council Communications Director, 509.625.6226
Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at 9:47 a.m.
During Monday’s Legislative Session, Spokane City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Annual Budget for the City of Spokane for 2024.
“Together with the Administration, we have finally agreed on sustainable solutions that we’ve been asking for since 2021,” said Finance Chair Betsy Wilkerson. “While we narrowly avoided a fiscal cliff for 2024, it is important to be more stringent with our reserves and expenditures as we forecast for 2025. When servicing our community, we must always be fiscally responsible and safeguard our constituents from radical financial strains.”
In the spirit of transparency and collaboration, Council agreed to disband the three-person budget committee so that all Council members could have unfiltered access to the Mayor’s Cabinet to allow for difficult decisions about the budget to be addressed.
Council has been increasingly insistent on imposing substantial restrictions where needed and practicing fiscal conservatism to protect reserve balances and promote a sustainable budget. Beginning in 2022, the Council passed a resolution requiring all City departments to make a 10% cut in their departmental budgets. Council led the charge in 2023 with a 10% reduction in the Council budget and has continued this fiscal conservatism with a decrease in 2024.
“This budget is a product of a multitude of obstacles; however, it also shows progress in our joint administration/council budget process,” said Council Member Michael Cathcart. “This is what gives me optimism moving forward. I am committed as ever to enhancing our approach by further implementing reforms that, among other things - force the adoption of a sustainable budget that balances long-term, expands the Council’s process to be more data-driven, and equips the community with effective tools for genuine, real-time public involvement in setting budget priorities. These enhancements are pivotal for safeguarding key priorities, fostering transparency, and guaranteeing effective delivery of service.”
Council worked with the Administration to deliver a reasonable and conservative budget for 2024 that is functional and will keep constituents at the forefront of servicing the community.
About the Spokane City Council
The City Council is the legislative body of the City of Spokane, which is home to more than 220,000 people and is located in the heart of the Inland Northwest. The City’s 2,000 employees strive to deliver efficient and effective services that facilitate economic opportunity and enhance the quality of life for all our citizens. For more information, visit SpokaneCity.org/CityCouncil/ and follow us @SpokaneCityCouncil on Facebook.
