Spokane Valley holds first public hearing on 2026 draft budget; finance director projects narrow recurring surplus

Chelsea Walls, Spokane Valley finance director, presented the city’s first public hearing on the 2026 draft budget, outlining a proposed $134 million in total expenditures across 31 funds and describing updated revenue and expenditure estimates that narrow a previously projected operating deficit.

Walls told the council the city’s 2026 budget proposal totals $134 million in expenditures across all funds, including about $70.3 million in the general fund and $63.4 million in other funds. She said estimated capital expenditures total about $35.4 million, approximately 69% of which would be financed through state and local grants (about $24.5 million).

For the general fund, Walls projected recurring revenues of about $68.6 million and recurring expenditures of about $68.5 million—producing a small recurring surplus of roughly $122,000 compared with a prior gap of about $1.1 million. The…