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Goldendale council approves 1% property tax levy, accepts 2025 budget for first reading
Summary
The Goldendale City Council approved Resolution 738 to set a 1% property tax levy for the 2025 budget and accepted Ordinance 1542 for its first reading; presenters said the proposed budget totals about $12,000,000 and relies on targeted project matches and limited use of reserves.
The Goldendale City Council on November 18 approved a resolution to establish a 1% increase in the regular property tax levy for the 2025 budget and moved the 2025 budget ordinance forward for its first reading.
City finance presenter Jen Forsberg, participating remotely, told the council the packet reflects previously discussed assumptions including "we went with a 2% overall increase in expenditures across the board" and a 1% property tax levy. She said the preliminary and final budgets have been filed and advertised and that the final 2025 budget included in the packet "is about $12,000,000" and incorporates the projects discussed earlier in the meeting.
Forsberg recommended the council approve the attached resolution to establish the levy; she noted the implicit rate was higher than 1% so the city could take the full 1% and that the resolution needed to be approved by the 30th to avoid a special meeting. The council made a motion to approve Resolution 738 and voted to pass it.
After the resolution vote, the council considered Ordinance 1542, described by Forsberg as the first reading of the 2025 budget. Forsberg said that after accounting for project matches the general current expense fund is essentially balanced with a modest use of reserves to meet project match requirements; streets and tourism funds were described as using fund balance for planned projects but remaining balanced overall.
Council members did not request additional public testimony during the budget hearing and closed the public hearing prior to the ordinance vote. The council voted to accept Ordinance 1542 for its first reading. Under the schedule Forsberg described, the levy needed to be finalized on a firm timeline to meet statutory deadlines.
The council did not provide a detailed roll-call vote tally in the record; votes were recorded by voice and the mayor declared the motions passed. Next procedural steps include any required final adoption of the budget ordinance in subsequent meetings and, if needed, scheduling a special meeting to meet the levy deadline.
