Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
St. Helens leaders explain budget squeeze and send $24 general-services fee to May ballot
Summary
City officials laid out a strained general fund — $12.3 million of a roughly $92 million total budget — and said a $24 general-services fee will go to voters in May; officials tied potential service cuts, furloughs and long-term capital projects to whether the fee passes.
City officials in St. Helens told residents at a municipal forum that the city faces widening gaps between revenues and costs and will ask voters in May whether to approve a $24 general-services fee to help preserve essential services.
John Walsh, the city administrator, said the city’s total budget is about $92,000,000 and that the general fund — which pays for police, municipal court, libraries, parks and community development — is roughly $12,300,000, or about 13% of the overall budget. “We have 5 main departments… and that’s, you know, the services there,” Walsh said in an overview of how services are funded.
The mayo…
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
