Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
West Richland officials told to study three council-level taxes as budget gap widens
Summary
At a May council retreat workshop finance staff said the city faces a growing structural shortfall and presented three councilmatic revenue tools — a transportation benefit district, a criminal-justice sales tax under House Bill 2015, and an admissions tax — and council asked staff to prepare detailed analyses and workshops.
West Richland officials opened a daylong budget workshop with a stark message from finance staff: the city’s general fund relies on three primary revenue streams and the gap between projected revenues and rising costs has widened substantially.
“'The city's general fund rests on three legs,'” Finance Director Aaron Gwyn told the council, explaining that property tax, sales tax and local utility/B&O tax together funded roughly 75% of the city's approximately $10 million general fund in 2025. Gwyn said property tax growth on existing parcels is capped at 1%, sales tax is volatile and linked to local construction activity, and utility taxes are steady but regressive.
Gwyn reviewed recent budget history, saying the 2023–24 biennium required roughly $7 million in cuts and deferrals and the 2025–26 biennium required roughly $13 million — a trajectory…
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
