By its very nature, a biennial budget is produced by the City of Tukwila every two years. The City is again committed to developing a fiscally-sound, balanced budget for 2019 and 2020. As is true of many jurisdictions, Tukwila is projected to experience a misalignment of revenues and expenditures in the coming biennium. Sales tax - which makes up more than 1/3 of our revenue - has flattened, and revenue growth is not keeping pace with the cost of ongoing expenditures. Additionally, the State funding of sales tax mitigation, established to compensate cities like Tukwila that were hard-hit by the change to destination-based sales tax, will end by 2020.

 

Tukwila's Police and Fire Departments were directed to identify 1.5% in budget reductions, and the remaining departments produced 3% reductions in their budgets. Also, implementation of Priority-Based Budgeting has begun, which enables the City to examine programs and provide transparency to the process. Along with these reductions, the Administration is currently exploring new revenue options in order to maintain a high level of services for the City's residents, businesses and guests. The Mayor will formally present his 2019-2020 budget on Monday, October 1, 2018. The Council will deliberate on the Mayor's proposal and ultimately pass a balanced final budget by the end of the year. As with other City business, all budget deliberations will occur in public meetings. The Council meets every Monday (except for fifth Mondays) at 7:00pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The Council Finance Committee meets on first and third Tuesdays at 5:30 in the City's Hazelnut Conference Room at City Hall (next to the east entrance).