Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Everett interim finance director: City slightly ahead of budget as sales tax rebounds
Loading...
Summary
Interim Finance Director Mike Bailey told the Everett Budget Committee the city is about 2% ahead of budget so far in 2026, driven by a rebound in sales tax and investment earnings, while many departments remain underspent compared with authorized appropriations.
Mike Bailey, Everett’s interim finance director, told the Budget Committee on April 15 that the city’s general government revenues are running roughly 2% ahead of budget so far in 2026 and slightly ahead of last year. He said sales tax — which is reported with a two‑month lag and reflected a strong December for the February reporting month — is showing a modest rebound.
Bailey said the finance team is still closing the March books and expects to publish the full monthly report next week with a cover letter calling out notable items. “You can expect to see that next week,” he said. He added that the city is finalizing the 2025 annual financial report and accommodating new Governmental Accounting Standards Board requirements ahead of the Washington State Auditor’s Office audit.
On revenue composition, Bailey said business‑and‑occupation (B&O) tax receipts tend to report quarterly and have appeared lagging through March; April will include the first quarter of many B&O filers. He reported utility taxes (electric, natural gas and telecommunications collected by non‑city utilities) are also tracking a bit ahead, noting the city’s tax on those utilities is capped at 6% by state law.
Bailey described miscellaneous revenue as primarily interest earnings generated by an active treasury program that invests idle cash; other miscellaneous items include lease proceeds and property receipts. He said the city tends to forecast interest conservatively, which can lead to modest outperformance when rates or idle balances are higher than expected.
On the expenditure side, Bailey said departments were underspending on a per‑basis through March by about 7%, consistent with prior years. He noted that careful spending led city departments to underspend the 2025 authorized budget by roughly $10,000,000, contributing to an ending general‑government fund balance near $50,000,000.
The committee asked several technical questions about categories and timing of receipts; Bailey and staff indicated they would supply additional detail and that the forthcoming monthly report will include more complete numbers. The presentation closed with no formal action.
