Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Council hears $2.7M projected gap and options at 2026 budget workshop
Summary
City staff told the council at a Sept. 16 budget workshop that current projections show a roughly $2.7 million 2026 general-fund gap and urged a mixed approach of limited reserve use, line-item rightsizing, and further work on revenue options and service priorities.
Lacey City staff presented a high-level 2026 budget preview at a Sept. 16 work session, telling the council the current projection shows a roughly $2.7 million general-fund gap and recommending a mix of one-time reserve use and structural steps to narrow the deficit.
City Manager Rick (City Manager, staff) opened the workshop with the headline figure: “Right now, the projected budget gap is about $2,700,000.” Staff said that figure reflects preliminary revenue projections and updated expenditure assumptions, and noted the city adopted the 2025 budget with a smaller deficit that staff has been managing through one-time adjustments.
Revenue assumptions and constraints Staff presented the primary revenue drivers and the constraints they see for 2026: sales tax (the city’s largest general-fund source) is forecast with zero nominal growth after a mixed recent pattern in retail and construction categories; property-tax projections depend on county-assessed values and the council’s decision whether to exercise the 1% regular levy increase; utility-tax and other locally controlled revenues show modest increases.
Chelsea Arwood,…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
