Spokane leaders lay out biennial budget calendar and major finance priorities at study session

Spokane City Council and city executive staff used a study session to outline a calendar and staff workplan for the 2025–26 biennial budget, highlighting steps the administration and council expect to take on technology modernization, property use, retirement funding and collective bargaining costs.

Mayor and administration staff framed the session as a planning discussion for the biennial budget, asking council members to identify topics to explore at upcoming committee and study meetings. Finance staff said they will present a March update on property evaluation and a financial “road map,” followed by discussions through the year on capital planning, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) project, the Spokane Internal Lending Program (SILP), and biennial budget adjustments.

The session covered several areas city leaders said are priorities for 2025: an external real‑estate adviser and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation–funded “Putting Assets to Work” effort to review underused city properties; a 2–4 year ERP implementation planning timeline with a 12–24 month general ledger cleanup; and an evaluation of the Spokane Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) and other city retirement obligations. Staff also discussed capital…