Every two years the City embarks on the process of developing a budget for the coming biennium. Although fall is the busiest budget season, this is a process we have been working on for most of 2022. Two years ago the City reduced its budget due to impacts of the pandemic and the reality of related lost revenues, which resulted in lower service levels to our community. Despite improved revenues closely matching those of 2019, expenses have risen considerably – something you probably realized in your household as expenses have grown over these past two years. 

During the summer months City staff have been seeking community input on Tukwila’s next biennial budget. We have done this in multiple ways. We presented an online tool called Balancing Act, which allowed users to take a crack at balancing the City’s budget. We also offered an online survey to learn your service priorities, as well as your opinion on whether we should implement additional service reductions or increase revenues. City staff also went out into the community – the Farmer’s Market, boards and commissions meetings, and See You in the Park events – to gather in-person feedback. The top priorities we heard were support for Teen, Youth and Senior Programs, Police, Fire, and Communications & Community Engagement. 

This information has been invaluable. We applied this feedback as we approached developing the 2023/2024 budget. Additionally, over these past several months – following the recommendation from the Future of Fire and EMS Services community advisory committee – the City has been working to contract with the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority (PSRFA) for Fire and EMS services. This is the first step to annexation, which the committee recommended as the best option for providing long-term sustainable Fire and EMS services to Tukwila community members. 

Because of the significant financial adjustments to the City that would come with annexation to the PSRFA in 2025, we are approaching this coming biennial budget as a bridge budget. Simply lining up revenues against expenses doesn’t match up; current expectations are shortfalls of $4M in 2023 and $5.4M in 2024 – on top of additional budget reductions we made for 2023 and 2024. State law mandates cities must produce a balanced budget. My Mayor’s Proposed Budget will be formally transmitted to the Council on October 3. It achieves a balanced budget and preserves as many services as possible, including our Police Department, which will allow us to bring staffing levels back up. To accomplish this proposal, our budget platform rests on a “three-legged stool.” Here are the legs to that stool: 

▶ USE OF ONE-TIME FUNDS: Normally I would not be supportive of using one-time funds for ongoing expenses, but I think it makes sense for this bridge budget. We have some ending fund balances from this current biennium budget that can help us cover approximately half of the overall shortfall. 

▶ NEW REVENUE: I will be proposing a modest Business & Occupation (B&O) tax, keeping the rates competitive with our neighboring cities, the majority of which also have a B&O. Ours would start in January of 2024, giving businesses over a year to budget for the new expense. The B&O will allow us to fully fund and staff our Police Department. 

▶ BUDGET REDUCTIONS: Through attrition and vacancies, we will hold positions open to reduce the budget by more than $1 million in both 2023 and 2024. 

In our form of government, the City Council is the ultimate decision maker on the budget. We are in the midst of a deliberative process. The Council reviews the Mayor’s proposed budget and makes any changes they see fit, before adopting a balanced budget by the end of the year (as mandated by State law). I encourage you to contribute by coming to Council meetings and budget workshops – either in person or virtually over Microsoft Teams – and sharing your thoughts with the Council and me on the upcoming budget. 

I am confident that my proposed budget reflects the priorities that we heard from residents. Contracting with the PSRFA will both save us money and allow for a greater level of Fire and EMS service to our community while staffing our Tukwila Police Department, a priority expressed by many community members. We will also strive to maintain our high level of community engagement and communications effort, invest in our parks system, and continue to support our youth, teens and seniors in the coming biennium.