EVERETT — The city of Everett has released its proposed 2015 budget, and on Wednesday the City Council will hold the first of three public hearings.
The city’s $356.7 million* budget proposal is higher than last year’s $346 million adopted budget, although most of the added expenses are in special funds not supported by general taxes and fees.
The city’s 2015 general government fund, which pays for city operations and programs, is $122.9 million, up from $113.2 million in 2014.
Much of that increase is the result of an effort in the past year to come to terms with long-term structural deficits.
The city originally projected that it would face a $13 million deficit in 2015, which would climb to $21 million by 2018.
The city eliminated that deficit by raising taxes and fees, cutting expenses and rolling forward unspent money from previous years.
The city still has a structural problem, with expenses growing faster than revenue. While the 2015 budget is balanced, the city expects the deficit to rise to $10.9 million by 2018.
Changes to the operating budget this year include a $646,750 increase in jail fees, a restoration of $674,734 cut last year from the city’s motor vehicle reserve, a $2.6 million increase in police and fire pension contributions and a $2.4 million increase in contingency funds for the city’s union contracts, all of which are currently being negotiated.
Other changes taking effect in 2015 include the elimination of 16.15 full-time-equivalent positions. Two employees were laid off this year, city Treasurer Susy Haugen said, and their positions were eliminated in the next budget along with the other vacant positions, which still had be funded.
Utility taxes are rising to 6 percent from 4.5 percent on Jan. 1, with new 2 percent taxes for cable television and garbage services coming into effect in 2015, among other fees and taxes.
A new $20 car tab fee also will go into effect in the early part of the year. That money will be reserved for transportation projects.
Outside the general fund, the rest of the $356.7 million budget is money generally earmarked for specific purposes and are off-limits for city operations.
Those other funds include the city’s line items for Emergency Medical Services ($8 million), the Capital Reserve ($3.5 million), water and sewer utilities ($137.4 million) and pension obligations for police ($2.3 million) and fire ($3 million).
Public hearings will be held at the next three City Council meetings before the council adopts the budget.
Public hearings on budget
Three public hearings on the city’s budget proposal are scheduled for the next three City Council meetings on Wednesday, Nov. 5 and Nov. 12. The meetings are held in the Historic City Hall building, 3002 Wetmore Ave. The meetings start at 6:30 p.m.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
Correction, Oct. 30, 2014: Everett’s proposed budget for 2015 is $356.7 million. The total amount and other figures were incorrect in an earlier version of this article.
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