Proposed 2012 City Budget

Mayor Mary Verner presented her proposed 2012 City Budget to the City Council on Monday, Oct. 31. The budget now is in the hands of the City Council, who will hold public hearings on the budget throughout November. Citizens can provide their opinions at the hearings, which are scheduled during the Council’s regular 6 p.m. legislative sessions on Mondays in City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.

The Mayor’s proposed budget is balanced, preserving critical services without asking voters to approve a tax increase. “The proposal is designed to provide essential services at an affordable price. My approach acknowledges the financial strain faced by citizens, provides predictability for business, and offers balance against other costs citizens will face,” the Mayor said.

The proposed 2012 Budget closes an $8 million shortfall in the General Fund, primarily through cost containment and efficiencies. Limited resources are strategically focused on the services that are most important to citizens.

Public safety is prioritized in the Mayor’s plan, which preserves 13 Police officer positions that were slated for elimination in 2012 and adds 5 officers and 13 Fire employees to serve the West Plains annexation area. The 6,400-acre annexation area becomes part of the City on Jan. 1.

The Mayor also is working on additional savings for 2012 as part of negotiations with labor groups that have open contracts for 2012. “We are working to negotiate contracts that will improve the City’s financial position for the coming year,” Mayor Verner said.

With recessionary pressures on revenues, citizens should know that the City is facing unmet needs and underfunded services in a number of cases. The 2012 anticipated shortfall was smaller than last year’s, but it is increasingly difficult to make cuts year after year. 2012 will be the fourth year in a row that the City will close multi-million gaps. Reductions already are affecting critical service delivery, and further reductions will exacerbate these problems.

To help avoid an ongoing cycle of unsustainable reductions in services, the City needs to maintain its focus on cost reductions, improved efficiency and, importantly, economic prosperity. The City has implemented a number of programs to expand the local economy, and I am committed to re-orient the entire City organization on economic prosperity. Our definition of economic development is simple: We want more jobs, higher wages, and more businesses in our community.

“During the budget process we focus on the small percentage of the budget that we have to cut or change. However, throughout the year, my office, the City Council, and the entire City workforce spend 100 percent of our time ensuring that we are providing quality services with the budget we have,” the Mayor said. “This is the true value of our work on behalf of the citizens of Spokane.”

For 2012, the total of all City budgets under the Mayor’s proposal would be $621.9 million, including the following components:

• General Fund- A 2012 General Fund budget of $164.3 million, 3.5 percent more than the $158.6 million adopted budget for 2011. About one-quarter of that increase will pay for the cost of providing public safety services in the West Plains annexation area.
  The General Fund portion of the budget supports general municipal services, including police and criminal justice, fire and emergency medical response, streets, parks, libraries, planning, community and economic development, and a host of smaller specialized services aimed at neighborhoods, the arts, historic preservation, and human services, among others. The General Fund is supported by general tax dollars, including sales, property, and public and private utility taxes.

• Enterprise Funds - $290.1 million for 2012, a decrease from $312.8 in 2011. This Enterprise Fund budget includes $94 million in capital expenditures.
  These Funds provide clean drinking water, storm water collection, wastewater reclamation, garbage pick-up and disposal, building services, and golf operations. The services are supported by fees charged to consumers of the services. Year-to-year, the Enterprise Funds budget can vary widely depending on the cost of capital projects that are planned.

• Special Dedicated Funds--$167.5 million.
  Includes non-operating funds reserved for capital projects such as major arterial street projects and public works upgrades ($66M), debt service on general government bonds ($20M), pension expenditures ($31M), and special dedicated revenue and other funds, such as local law enforcement block grants.

• Internal Services Funds.
  These internal programs, including Fleet Services, Management Information Services (MIS), and Risk Management, charge fees to other City departments to cover the cost of their services. These funds have been subject to the same cost reductions as other departments, and MIS and Fleet together employ eight fewer people than in 2010.

More information on the proposed 2012 Budget is available here:

• Mayor’s 2012 Proposed Budget Submittal Letter (executive summary of the budget)
• Summary Schedules for the 2012 Proposed Budget.
• Summary Line Item Budget for the 2012 Proposed Budget.
• Complete Line Item Budget for the 2012 Proposed Budget.