Washougal unveils proposed ‘maintain services’ budget for 2025-26

Every year, Washougal City Manager David Scott writes a letter to the Washougal City Council about the City’s budget for the upcoming year to provide a high-level synopsis of the governing body’s financial status.

Scott enjoyed the writing process more in 2024 than he usually does.

“It was fun to write this one,” he told the Council during its Oct. 28 workshop session, “because there’s a lot of good stuff happening. It was more fun to write the capital (budget). It barely fits on a page. The font had to be played with to make it fit. It’s kind of amazing to me.”

Scott will ask the Council to approve his proposed 2025-26 budget on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The budget is a culmination of the City’s first biennial budget cycle, which it adopted in early 2024.

“I just want to thank (City finance director) Daniel (Layer) for a really Herculean lift this year, because this is our first biennial budget after years of doing an annual budget,” Scott said. “I think it’s a budget we can be proud of.”

He added that the budget is designed to maintain services in 2025 and 2026, despite a need for more employees.

“We’re a growing community, and as the community grows over the years, we have not kept up with staffing, and the team just becomes more efficient or more effective, or we do the best we can with what we have.”

The City has budgeted for 96 employees in 2025 and 2026, up from 92 in 2024.

The 2025 general and street fund budget projects revenues of $22,051,533 and expenditures of $24,072,523. The City plans to use $2,020,990 from its general fund balance and from remaining federal COVID-relief funds to make up for the revenue shortfall. The 2026 general and street fund budget projects a balance of revenues and expenditures totaling $20,629,087.

“While modest, the budget provides for the addition of one new wastewater utility position to support the expanded facilities in our wastewater systems, consistent with the City’s long-term utility funding plans and industry standards,” Scott stated in his letter. “This targeted staffing adjustment helps ensure we are prepared for future operational demands.”

The budget includes “continued progress on significant capital projects, which support the City’s infrastructure and growth trends in support of the strategic priorities in our strategic plan,” according to Scott.

Town Center Revitalization construction; new fire station design and construction; wastewater treatment plant upgrades; and 32nd Street underpass, Kerr Park trail and habitat enhancement, and 27th Street shared-use path project design work are slated to begin or continue in 2025 and 2026.

“We have a great team, a very limited team, and we have a lot of consultants that are helping us out,” Scott said. “But when you look at that list of projects and everything that’s going on, it’s pretty overwhelming. It just makes me pretty proud to know that the team is doing so much work, and we’ve gotten so much support financially.”

The City projects to collect $7.43 million and $7.65 million in property taxes in 2025 and 2026, respectively (a 3% increase from 2024); $4.18 million and $4.29 million in sales tax (a 2.81% increase), and $3.44 million and $3.51 million in utility taxes (a 2% increase) in 2024.

“On top of that, we have some new construction numbers in, so the increase due to new construction for 2025 is 2.86% and the estimate for 2026 is a little over 2%,” Layer said during the Oct. 28 workshop. “Utility tax revenues are pursuant to previously adopted rate study, and all other revenues are trending. Some revenues are going up over the next couple years, and some revenues are actually going down, and we address that in the budget.”

Scott stated in his letter that the budget includes “a modest one-time use of general fund reserves combined with significant grant awards to complete the mandatory update to our comprehensive plan” in support of the City’s Smart Growth” strategic priority and in compliance with Washington state’s Growth Management Act mandates.

City proposes new department

The budget includes funds for a new department, consisting of current employees, to combine three “allied” programs and streamline administrative functions.

The Community Services and Strategy department would consist of six full-time equivalent (FTE) employees from the City’s community asthetics, community engagement and parks/recreation/cemetery programs.

“These programs are currently located in three separate departments,” Scott told The Post-Record. “The programs have shared missions regarding engaging, connecting and serving our community. By bringing these programs together, we are seeking to promote enhanced integration between the programs as we continue to enhance services and pursue the Council’s goals in these areas as articulated in our 2023-2028 strategic plan. This comprises the ‘Community Services’ part of the new department.”

The department’s director — most likely Joe Walsh, the City’s strategic initiatives manager — will “continue (the City’s) efforts around economic development, strategic planning and performance management, and project and program funding strategy,” according to Scott.

“This comprises the ‘strategy’ part,” he added.

Walsh said that the department’s goals will be largely driven by the City’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.

“This department will have the opportunity to impact all five of the city’s strategic priorities, but with an emphasis in the areas of Economic Development and Community Prosperity, and Redefined Community Identity,” he said. “These priority areas include goals such as implementing a Citizen’s Academy, increasing neighborhood involvement, and implementing a Community Aesthetics program to enhance the City’s appearance. Performance measures include increases in the number of volunteer service hours and improvement in the community’s perception of “appearance of property” based on community surveys.”

Scott said that “there will likely be some streamlining of administrative and other functions related to these program areas, which will result in some efficiencies as well as enhanced services moving forward.”

“By streamlining these areas into one department that will function as a cohesive team, we hope to better serve Washougal residents with enhanced services,” Walsh said. “For example, while our Community Engagement staff currently oversees the City’s volunteer program, there may be untapped opportunities to utilize volunteers in our Community Aesthetics program. Our staff and residents will shape how these enhanced services might evolve over time, but in our experience, aligning service areas with related goals generally leads to increased collaboration and creativity.”

In the new department, four City positions would be renamed: strategic initiatives manager to community services and strategy director; public works business administrator to parks and cemetery program manager; public works management analyst to public works senior management analyst; and community aesthetics program coordinator to community aesthetics program manager.

The department’s three other positions — community engagement manager, community engagement program coordinator and code compliance officer — would not be renamed.

“The programs that we are combining fit together well, the timing works, and the director has senior leadership experience in these program areas,” Scott said. “Also, this new department leverages existing FTEs — no new FTEs are being added. These changes are ‘cost neutral’ overall to our budget — no new expenditures are needed.”

Scott said that the upcoming retirement of Michelle Wright, the City’s public works business administrator, played a role in the timing of the proposal.

“This is a concept that I have been contemplating for some time,” he said. “With the pending retirement of our public works business administrator, who oversees parks, recreation and cemetery planning and programming, the opportunity to move forward with this presented itself.”