(The Center Square) – Spokane is slated to adopt its 2025-2026 budget on Monday, closing a roughly $25 million deficit while attempting to prioritize public safety and urban planning.
Mayor Lisa Brown proposed the biennial framework last month after a protracted effort to gather up funds, identify efficiencies and balance a sizeable operating hole. Closing the deficit took center stage over her first year in office, and with the council’s approval, she will do so on Monday night.
Council President Betsy Wilkerson issued a statement on Friday reflecting on the process after sending amendments to the administration. Under that version, Spokane would finish 2025 with a roughly $2.7 million general fund surplus, trimming it to about $58,000 the following year.
“Spokane has experienced many transitions, turmoil, and trepidation yet has persevered through all the city’s bureaucratic challenges,” Wilkerson wrote in her address. “We must adopt a budget that prioritizes efficiency and sustainability during these challenging economic times.”
The Brown administration continually blamed prior city bureaucrats for the deficit. They pushed that a habit of committing one-time funds toward recurring expenditures snowballed the city into its hole, which they intend to curtail.
Wilkerson wrote that the proposed budget and amendments would streamline the city while reducing discretionary spending “without imposing additional burdens on our taxpayers.” However, the budget also assumed that the city would increase its property and sales tax rates, which the council and voters approved alongside hikes to residential utility rates and other fees.
According to the proposed budget, the general fund, typically an indicator of the city’s financial health, should generate around $264.5 million in 2025 while spending $261.8 million. Doing so would close the $25 million deficit with the $2.7 million surplus left over.
The proposed budget anticipates the general fund generating around $270 million in 2026, about 2% more than in 2025, while spending $272 million, a 4% increase. Relying on that projection would mean eating up some of the surplus from the previous year, leaving about $58,000.
“As with many municipalities, the City of Spokane continues to face structural budgeting challenges due to a confluence of factors,” Wilkerson wrote in a memo, “including labor contracts that inexorably drive costs to increase substantially more rapidly than revenues; deferred maintenance and capital expenses for essential resources; and rising costs related to homelessness, mental health, crime, and addiction.”
The council’s proposal across all accounts includes $1.16 billion in revenue for 2025, spending $1.24 billion, or about $83.2 million more than the city anticipates generating. The 2026 budget includes $1.18 billion in revenue for 2026, spending about $2 million less than the previous year.
While the budget would see the city spending less in 2026 compared to 2025, it’s still far more than projected revenues. Total spending across the biennium would take the city’s overall fund balance from about $639.4 million to just under $500 million, depleting it around 20%.
The difference between the beginning and ending fund balance is considerable, but it’s also expected to a degree. Unlike reserves, the city uses its fund balance for infrastructure projects and other long-term investments that it saves up for before spending and rebuilding the balance over time.
The council’s amendments included several line items, increasing and decreasing spending to varying levels. They include funding for increased staffing within the Code Enforcement Department, removing abandoned vehicles, infrastructure projects and, to a degree, a volunteer community police nonprofit.
“Although there were budget items that some of us did not support and certain proposals that were not included this time,” Wilkerson wrote before closing, “ultimately, we have put together a proposed budget that I believe reflects our unwavering commitment to transparency, collaboration, accountability, and good governance.”
