Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bothell staff report 2025 year-end finances show $3.5 million fund-balance use; sales-tax receipts below budget
Summary
Deputy finance director Andrew Huachong told council the city used about $3.5 million of general-fund balance in 2025, below the $5 million expected, and staff flagged a 6% year-over-year drop in January sales-tax receipts compared with an anticipated 8% increase in the budget.
Deputy finance director Andrew Huachong presented the city’s year-end fiscal update for 2025, telling council that the general fund used about $3,500,000 of fund balance and that overall revenues were roughly 2.3% lower than budgeted. “This is only a staff briefing. No council action is requested tonight,” Huachong said.
Huachong said underspending in 2025 stemmed largely from timing delays in capital projects and from salary savings tied to delayed hiring for positions added in the recent budget. On the revenue side, he said sales-tax receipts were the principal driver of undercollection. “Sales tax receipts were down 6% year over year,” he said, while the adopted budget had anticipated an 8% increase.
Drilling into the general fund, staff noted approximately $3.5 million use of fund balance in 2025, below the $5.0 million the council had anticipated. Expenditures were lower by about 4.1% overall, largely reflecting salary savings, and several capital projects slipped in timing, contributing to underspend across funds.
City staff identified specific revenue types that affected totals: retail sales-tax growth was positive in some lines but offset by declines in construction-related receipts, hotel-motel tax and an unexpected large business-license refund. Fines and forfeiture revenue was lower in part because of equipment malfunctions at some city cameras, staff said.
Looking ahead, Huachong said auditors are expected in May and the city will file by May 30 with the state; staff plans a Q1 2026 update to council in July. Council members asked staff to continue conservative forecasting for the upcoming biennium and to consider long-range budget stability planning, an approach staff said it is preparing.
Council reaction was supportive but probing. Councilmember Alcapara urged caution and recommended a conservative stance while preparing next budgets; Councilmember Kirk pressed staff for more detail on which sales-tax categories were lagging. City manager Stannard said staff will return with additional projections and options as the budget process moves forward.
The update was a staff briefing only; no council action was requested or taken at the meeting.
