Budget

Do residents of Port Townsend want both a better understanding of the financial considerations in providing City services to our community and the ability to weigh in on the City’s budget priorities?  

2024 City Budget
2024 Budget in Brief

Background Information:

The City of Port Townsend strives for long-term financial sustainability to enable essential services to be provided without disruption. The budget sets the level of spending for all City funds for the entire year. Each fund has corresponding revenue sources with restrictions on spending from both state law and City Council policy. The City’s annual budget process allows the public to weigh in on the City’s priorities through a series of public hearings and meetings, including the City Council’s decision to levy property tax increases.

Key Issues:

• City annual revenue increases do not keep pace with the increase in staffing costs, non-personnel inflationary increases, and requests for increased service levels from City residents. To maintain a fiscally balanced and sustainable budget, each year decisions must be made regarding rate increases and/or cost reductions to balance the budget.
   
• In 2018, the residents of Port Townsend voted to annex City fire services into the East Jefferson Fire District.  The annexation created a property tax banked capacity of approximately $900,000 for the City’s general property tax levy.  City Council adopted a framework for deciding whether to levy the banked capacity for specific purposes over a three-year period, beginning with the ability to levy a portion of those funds in 2020 for 2021 property taxes.
   
• The COVID-19 public health crisis has had a significant financial impact on the City’s residents and the City’s revenue sources. This impacted every City budget starting in 2020 and will likely continue to have impacts to our local economy for some time to come. Reduced revenue and a change in workforce creates additional stress on the City’s ability to balance the budget.

Objectives/Desired Outcome(s):

Engaging the community to tell the story of the City’s current financial picture and receiving robust input on the priorities for long-term financial sustainability for all City funds and essential services.

Estimated Annual Budget Schedule:

• June through August: Convening community, Council, Advisory Board, and Staff strategic workplan and budget discussions
• August through October: Staff bring workplan, revenue projections and expense estimates forward
• November: Budget discussions and decisions on spending levels for all funds
• December: Budget adoption at City Council

Additional engagement opportunities and discussion on future budgets and long-term projections occur with the Finance and Budget Committee.  Find agendas and minutes here. 

Fiscal Considerations:
Each engagement activity the City is currently conducting will have financial impacts that will need to be addressed in subsequent budgets. Close coordination across all City departments and services will be required to ensure initiatives can be carried out in a fiscally sound manner. The complexity of governmental fund accounting means that each new initiative needs to be weighed both independently for sources of revenue and from its applicable fund.

Visit the Financial Sustainability page on Engage PT and read the taskforce final report.

View the Financial Sustainability videos on the City's YouTube channel 

View Financial Reports and Documents

Contact Information:
Richard Gould  |  Finance Manager  |  rgould@cityofpt.us