[{"_1":2,"_123":-5,"_124":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99,111],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6165538,"mediaKeyId","5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a","parentId",5420371,"title","New city grants office seeks more revenue and partners; ARPA spending largely committed with 14% cash remaining","audioSeconds",42,"startMs",3844135,"endMs",3887000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a&start=3844&end=3887","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a/thumbnail_3844135.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6165538/Spokane/Spokane-County/Washington/New-city-grants-office-seeks-more-revenue-and-partners-ARPA-spending-largely-committed-with-14-cash-remaining","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6165538-7ad8095b5d34342528e90007b20d7f33/orig.mp4?Expires=1773079056&Signature=n2Gm~6aSwY3EVYdH-hL4ww36zc~1g8Ac05liSCeYRTA~eLRbMCthtuvitoaQfGZ1JubvBzMN5dMUWRwXNeMSIzUUDpblG8AZKEyOk9seJ4gAigjNVU84rA6YXJ6JUDZQlQVvLaEgabKXhf1ZGlI-Lq7n5rX7akd-C8DTAgcLgn0moxYVFsWA1mE6Rz6NN8Lj~mWv8rQPtEFYx7MTIBTpkPwjLVwI4M9pcjSCUiHnom8t3IUFK0QcpDRXb2DorBki8asUnylDHrV26V6AUboRCAvM6FLcj5gDzqBfVj2Wmm-MmFN8A~dA5A3wVtOv90ZJ1a68VvgYh8kdhRAdYowZYA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Spokane City, WA","date","2025-07-17T19:38:34Z","article","City officials described the newly centralized grants office's work, ARPA project status and plans to expand support for internal departments and regional partners.
Skyler Brown of the city's grants team said the office has assisted with roughly $15 million in revenue and $21 million in expenditures year‑to‑date across federal and state awards; she noted expenditures can temporarily exceed revenues because of reimbursement timing and multi‑year awards. On ARPA, grants staff member Caleb Stanton reported the city had spent about 86 percent of ARPA funds and held roughly 14 percent cash on hand; of 68 ARPA projects the city identified, 40 were complete, four had been canceled and five had not yet started.
Skyler said the grants office has added a citywide grant writer (Cole Wicker) and is pursuing new opportunities, including a recently submitted application for a CoC HUD Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (UFA build) in collaboration with Catholic Charities for approximately $6 million and a $15,000 equipment grant for the Fire Department. She said the office is exploring software to give city staff visibility into awards and to better coordinate drawdowns and reimbursements.
Staff emphasized the importance of recovering administrative overhead in grant budgets: many federal awards allow direct and indirect cost recovery, and staff encouraged departments to budget administrative and indirect costs where allowable. Skyler said the federal de minimis indirect rate was recently increased from 10 to 15 percent and that for certain city programs (CHHS/homelessness work) internal allocation plans already return substantial indirect support to central functions.
Grants staff also described a new approach to help regional nonprofit partners apply for foundation or state awards that the city cannot directly receive: the city would support application and potentially serve as an accounting manager for subrecipients, with costs reimbursed through award administrative fees where allowed. Staff said this model received preliminary support from the state resource (MRSC) and that city staff had begun outreach to organizations such as the MLK Center.
Staff asked departments to use an internal grants SharePoint form to request help with research, applications or compliance; the grants office said it will return with more detailed tracking and reimbursement reporting to show net revenue impacts from grant activity.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","July 17th, 2025 Spokane City Council Joint Budget Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","City grants staff said the newly centralized office has supported millions in federal and state awards, reported ARPA is about 86 percent spent with 14 percent cash remaining, and outlined plans to help internal departments and regional nonprofit partners pursue awards and recover indirect costs.","taxTitle","Spokane, Spokane County, Washington","taxId",2644,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6165543,"City told federal appropriations and HUD changes may cut housing and community grants; CoC and CDBG face uncertainty",175,556545,732000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a&start=556&end=732","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a/thumbnail_556545.jpg","/articles/6165543/Spokane/Spokane-County/Washington/City-told-federal-appropriations-and-HUD-changes-may-cut-housing-and-community-grants-CoC-and-CDBG-face-uncertainty","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6165543-61d2cc45f92cd0a1cffcd4d06997d689/orig.mp4?Expires=1773079056&Signature=CYjLZPvMiJyTWRCCSDXQb1CJw-KslY2OvhT4rjv9bpxhxLe3YzZPpuTZjJ-YAIz0XGlObkBVor7iS7NYrGOry6kZ2k6HbkBFX2qei6-scb~rD-Hv84Gpe3TQRd87zqr~R~Zakl~RoOZU~CvaPla56LRhkgnvFUIFNhbfHlMXA3j~qTnZ9l0ZT23SKkNZ5HiAJi2F3zwso67RJ7LDHu411bz0T7b6ku9hcsy71nm53HYZM60-mX5HN~sQGtBgJqNeOTSCB-W4Vi1V5Y5GtWYyxRGUXQQnOEEwojfGpr3IlrrEQjfHS0YutYH7ZrbCtNpf5AiBrX5NZF~NY8CJ8bV5Vw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City officials and the city's federal lobbyist briefed the council on emerging federal appropriations activity and potential impacts for local housing and community programs.
Brian, a representative of Desmo Consulting Group who described work on federal appropriations, told the meeting that Congress moved to a continuing resolution for FY25 and is beginning FY26 appropriations markup. He said the House bill contains reductions to programs such as CDBG and HOME, while the Senate is likely to be more favorable. He summarized: “we did end up with a continuing resolution for all of FY '25, which carried over the FY '24 funding levels.”
City staff and partners told the council that two grant processes important to local housing and workforce efforts were disrupted: the TechEd hub process appears to be re‑competed (the city intends to reapply), and an EPA Community Change grant was among a number of EPA awards canceled nationwide. Dawn (city staff) said the biggest local impact would be a roughly 50 percent reduction in CoC youth housing grant funding (YHGP) and about a $500,000 reduction in CDBG under the House proposal; staff warned that a CoC restructure under consideration could change the interventions allowed in the CoC portfolio and potentially make previously renewable awards nonrenewable.
Staff emphasized uncertainty: application notices and recompetition schedules were not yet clear and some programs that were anticipated to be consolidated (e.g., Home, ESG, CVG) did not appear to be combined in the initial markup. The city intends to stay engaged with university partners around TechEd hub applications; staff reported recent meetings with Gonzaga, WSU and Eastern and said enrollment and research funding pressures at universities could affect local research campus viability and workforce programs.
Why it matters: reductions to CoC, HOME and CDBG funding can reduce permanent supportive housing capacity, HMIS data system support and other core homeless services the city funds. Staff said CoC funds have been largely renewable for many projects and that making those funds nonrenewable would create a funding cliff with no obvious local backfill.
City staff and the federal lobbyist said they will monitor the appropriations process and return with a longer briefing; departments affected by possible reductions were advised to prepare for competition and to consider contingency plans.","Federal lobbyist and city staff outlined risks in FY26 appropriations and recent cancellations of grant programs, saying programs that fund the Continuum of Care (CoC) and community development face reductions and recompetition that could materially affect local housing programs.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6165546,"Spokane warns two‑month shortfall in Criminal Justice Assistance Fund as county jail charges outpace revenue",265,1976940,2242000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a&start=1976&end=2242","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a/thumbnail_1976940.jpg","/articles/6165546/Spokane/Spokane-County/Washington/Spokane-warns-twomonth-shortfall-in-Criminal-Justice-Assistance-Fund-as-county-jail-charges-outpace-revenue","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6165546-5934c4fb4aed0df2add7cc47dd2de763/orig.mp4?Expires=1773079056&Signature=TYFFcvDh8FnaSU2pq80JWQtCALMpKzUxSWCDvWyeADwQqysnLQbqkMKZT9BToPSP~7LxjcF-Jvf~36bci9~qcobLlYIr1D5SqQaCqluyuB0dMNcJavGWKDKtQC9QhNq3aFsqpT5JNg78yGC-9YY4KsHlVzXjvhNQtKdjO8BmFlKBHohwa~7KiHfg1kEbQTq2MlhlpsdYz9kP8iAqD1s7m7JZRCpzHh5ai2YbM6DG6ujZSjy1RRid-VdD9Z5pkDQsGXPev3L5JaL62FM7o2SdtdugyGBNAkgmDXEqLc0REvvKrMVYI6P1dtvHeXBmE8zT8v3TK44LRIT9GDZ4mAtnrw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City finance staff told the council that charges allocated by Spokane County for detention services are rising faster than the state criminal justice sales tax revenues that fund the city's Criminal Justice Assistance Fund.
Jessica Stratton, a city finance official, described the Criminal Justice Assistance Fund (established 2007 and funded by the state's 0.1 percent criminal justice sales tax) as the primary source used to pay the city's share of county jail bills. Stratton said the fund built a healthy balance over time but was used for other lawful purposes—police Axon equipment, electronic monitoring, interpreter costs and, under the state's 2021 fiscal flexibility authority, more than $6 million in homeless services in 2022–2023.
Stratton said county detention charges have outpaced the sales tax revenue and that the city is “currently sitting on 2 months of bills because we do not have cash to pay them.” She estimated that two months of unpaid bills are roughly $1,300,000. The staff presentation showed the city's average daily population (ADP) percentage rose from about 10 percent in 2021 to about 14 percent in 2024 (a roughly 35 percent increase), while the city's allocated jail bill rose by about 78 percent in the same period.
City staff explained the county's cost allocation method is driven by participating jurisdictions' share of average daily population and by charge classification: charges classified as county jurisdiction (for example, felony bookings prosecuted by the county) are allocated to the county, while misdemeanor charges prosecuted at the city level are allocated to the city. Staff said that lack of a signed, current contract with the county and disagreement over charge methodology is a key reason there is no clear agreed method for the county to charge the city.
Stratton and budget staff said the Criminal Justice Assistance Fund will require an infusion of funding to remain solvent this year and going forward, and that the city budget assumed estimated jail costs based on the county's preliminary allocations but the year‑end true‑up was substantially higher than anticipated.
Council members asked clarifying questions about whether resident status matters (staff said it does not; allocation depends on arresting agency and charge type) and whether the city could seek retroactive adjustments when a new contract is negotiated (staff said they would explore legal analysis). Staff flagged this as a near‑term budget vulnerability and an item for negotiation with the county.","City finance staff said the Criminal Justice Assistance Fund—fed by the state's 0.1% criminal justice sales tax—has been used for other purposes and now cannot cover escalating county detention charges; the city currently lacks cash to pay approximately two months of jail bills (about $1.3 million).",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6165551,"Spokane Fire Department explains overtime surge: staffing, contracts and recruit shortfalls drive costs",191,1255355,1447000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a&start=1255&end=1447","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a/thumbnail_1255355.jpg","/articles/6165551/Spokane/Spokane-County/Washington/Spokane-Fire-Department-explains-overtime-surge-staffing-contracts-and-recruit-shortfalls-drive-costs","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6165551-d943d975a793e779a01e389f53c6f297/orig.mp4?Expires=1773079056&Signature=X7EcTIVjUzO0hJdAkdja-DgX3cJ8MdomgRxdajl18QhxnIYvVIc4nWZFdELZURr03i5PZqD2U2r5YsklFzQ3jzQetr18t2HmALnt6DiRPa3CVsTQZbPF-yhpg3QxWgltR53SiGwHRyfZkD4fyiRsgfGGJoOu3E~nug9i~J8sSGx67B531NUUH4ZQa7BsLCs86wCX8~7UI0LadSzFXgVqNkVFP0gwFMgl84v8FuqkQeEne1imuWGv4hpda5H7BZ5lF74-zhyZUQWsXxm3LLxUDDqA3O1kfk8cuOuqCJDJqmwGmZ58jvt74POqz2PMam75-S4qz6SvUoBQUSJ75yZMyQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Spokane Fire Department leaders told the City Council study session that overtime costs are being driven by contractual staffing requirements, higher retirements and recruit‑academy attrition.
Fire Chief Julia Burke said the department comes into 2025 with a proposed overtime budget of $6,400,000 and an adopted budget of $4.97 million; the department has been unable to bridge the gap without actions that would reduce service. “We have to have 71 people on duty every day,” Chief Burke said, explaining how minimum daily staffing, required by the collective bargaining agreement, determines operational FTE needs.
Burke outlined the department’s operational staffing: 14 engines (three staff each), five trucks (four staff each), three medics (two staff each), one safety officer and two battalion chiefs; combined, operations require 284 operational FTEs by contract. The department reported 297 FTEs currently filled and said conditional offers have been made for a second, unplanned recruit academy to start in September that could bring the filled FTEs to roughly 312 by January if typical pass rates hold.
Chief Burke and budget staff described multiple overtime categories: operational overtime to staff apparatus on 9‑1‑1 shifts and non‑operational, mission‑important overtime such as investigations, specialty training, special event coverage and certain uniformed staff performing 40‑hour work. Department data presented at the session showed about 11.2 percent (roughly $660,000) of overtime is non‑operational in nature.
The department explained a local scheduling practice called trades, in which firefighters swap shifts; about 7 percent of approved trades end up not worked, creating additional overtime because vacancies still must be filled. Burke described the approval process for trades, which involves chain‑of‑command sign‑off up to the deputy chief for shifts meeting higher thresholds.
Because many of the drivers are contractual or legally protected (vacation, sick leave, PFML, injury), Burke said administrative options to reduce overtime without reducing service are limited. The department and the mayor’s office have pursued additional recruit classes and are discussing a model similar to a prior police recruiting FTE approach to maintain a relief pool and meet expected retirements.
Council members asked whether closing stations had been considered; Burke said operational options were explored but that under current contract terms they would reduce service delivery and had not advanced through the union or to the council as a formal proposal.
Staff said the overtime and relief‑pool issue will be an active area in upcoming budget discussions and collective bargaining, and that the department will continue to pursue recruit schools and other operational mitigations.","Fire officials told the council that contractual staffing minimums, higher-than-expected retirements and recruit‑academy attrition have pushed overtime sharply higher; the department described operational staffing rules and proposed additional recruit classes to rebuild a relief pool.",{"_33":112,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":113,"_41":114,"_43":115,"_45":116,"_47":117,"_49":118,"_51":119,"_53":120,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":121,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":122,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6165556,"Spokane finance staff warn of widening budget gap; 6-year forecast projects roughly $52 million shortfall in 2031",2654,235700,2890360,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a&start=235&end=2890","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5420371-be7b196f840fc7d84d8ba5fd3e2eb06a/thumbnail_235700.jpg","/articles/6165556/Spokane/Spokane-County/Washington/Spokane-finance-staff-warn-of-widening-budget-gap-6-year-forecast-projects-roughly-52-million-shortfall-in-2031","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6165556-ef227c86d1fcd3056bfb96a42be99b0a/orig.mp4?Expires=1773079056&Signature=kLnTF4dJFzn1U3z19thljIzUC2D00o-VpD8tghbVR19QUvZuJ83zj1lIZAf9i68F~dbkybBBdarndXeZilFbHbLDwlRm6Sg8PyfUUm5talefFLsQ8gcxrlt0oiRK47KzMleAbNXxzAnpoVxQdRobYgU~QlGeFaw~kd2Qv56jwsTTngLMdhfxLEpzY5DlyupEORDvO64NKIqtKUhHxDopuJUw5d-IVyo4z7M-UMr55eeHCmaZ1Oo-w3SPt2JY~e-J02wYy2509l-QY2zi7uJ8oeeWTDOEo0IhrPPocT8x35FDOdtGsccjSkdJ7KKZ1P3hmQuFOj4Evm~BrVD6FZ4UxA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Spokane budget analysts told the City Council study session that the city faces a fast‑growing structural deficit driven by slow revenue growth and escalating personnel costs.
Jacob Miller, a budget analyst, presented the 6‑year general fund forecast and said, “the 2031 annual deficit is forecasted to be over 50,000,000. Around 52 exactly.” The forecast also shows a cumulative shortfall of more than $200 million over the projection window. City staff warned reserves and unappropriated fund balance could be exhausted by the end of 2027 if current trends continue.
The forecast frames the problem as a combination of weak sales tax growth, limited property tax capacity and rising compensation and benefits. Jake (Jacob) Miller told the council the forecast assumes no property tax levy lift beyond state limits and no new city sales taxes; it also assumes the city will revert utility tax rates back down in 2027 as previously planned. Sales tax projections used by staff are conservative – they show near‑zero growth for 2025 and modest gains thereafter.
Why it matters: sales tax is Spokane’s most volatile major revenue. Staff said national economic conditions—high interest rates, moderating but not‑target inflation and falling consumer confidence—are already putting downward pressure on local sales tax receipts and therefore on the general fund.
Supporting details presented at the session included: the city’s sales tax year‑to‑date retail growth at roughly 1.98 percent and health care growth at 38.63 percent; an overall year‑to‑date sales tax change that budget staff said is slightly negative (about 0.41 percent below 2024 year‑to‑date at the time of the presentation); and an explicit scenario analysis showing that constraining total cost of compensation increases to about 3 percent annually would still leave a multi‑million dollar deficit by 2031.
Staff outlined options the council will need to consider: negotiating lower total compensation growth in future labor contracts; identifying new revenue sources (grants, voter‑approved taxes or fees); selling or repurposing city assets; and programmatic reductions or changes in service levels. Jacob Miller said the forecast is meant to inform “realistic service levels with and without additional funding” and to help set bargaining expectations.
City leaders framed the presentation as a warning and a call to action. Mayor Brown told the council at the outset that this was “the not good news session” and that the city still has time to act. Budget staff stressed that many cost drivers are contractual (signed union agreements reached during the pandemic) and that those agreements will require alignment with sustainable revenue growth going forward.
The forecast also flagged specific pressure points that will be the subject of follow‑up work: rising jail/detention charges allocated from the county, increasing overtime and staffing cost pressures in public safety departments, and uncertainty in federal and state grant funding levels.
Council next steps and staff direction: staff said they are building a granular programmatic expenditure chart to support department‑level conversations and planned further analysis of revenue and expense options; the presentation invited council direction on priorities for revenue measures, potential service reductions and timing for policy responses.
Less urgent background: staff noted assumptions used in the model (0.4 percent annual population growth from planning; a national inflation midpoint of 2 percent in the long run) and listed risks: sales tax volatility, slow new construction (which limits property tax growth), uncertain intergovernmental revenues and sensitivity of interest earnings to federal rates.
The council did not take formal action at the session. Staff left the council with a set of analytical tools and requested direction on policy and timing for possible revenue proposals, contract negotiations and program reductions.","City budget analysts presented a six-year general fund forecast showing escalating personnel costs, stalled revenues and a projected 2031 annual deficit of about $52 million, with reserves likely depleted by 2027 unless the city cuts costs or secures new revenue.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

New city grants office seeks more revenue and partners; ARPA spending largely committed with 14% cash remaining

City told federal appropriations and HUD changes may cut housing and community grants; CoC and CDBG face uncertainty

Spokane warns two‑month shortfall in Criminal Justice Assistance Fund as county jail charges outpace revenue

Spokane Fire Department explains overtime surge: staffing, contracts and recruit shortfalls drive costs

Spokane finance staff warn of widening budget gap; 6-year forecast projects roughly $52 million shortfall in 2031