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Yakima budget committee reports progress; survey shows public safety top priority and split on new taxes
Summary
A citizen budget advisory committee reported ongoing work to close an estimated $9 million shortfall, presenting community survey results that prioritize police and show majority support for a tax increase if it would fully fund public safety.
The Yakima City Council on May 6 received a progress report from the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee as members continued work to address an estimated $9,000,000 budget shortfall.
The committee, which met 12 times in 12 weeks, has been using the city’s priority-based budgeting framework and plans to return to the council with more concrete recommendations in about a month. “The committee was created by a resolution last December,” Mike Bailey, who served as the committee’s director and interim finance director, told the council as he summarized the group’s work and next steps.
The city also released results from an extensive public outreach effort and an online budget survey. Of 2,065 completed survey responses, respondents ranked police as the top budget priority (40%), followed by street maintenance (26%) and parks/pools/community centers (25%). When asked whether they would back a property-tax increase specifically for police, fire and court…
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