Community Government

City nearly ready to adopt budget for next two years

The city of Gig Harbor’s proposed preliminary budget for the 2025-26 biennium is $190.7 million, an increase of $3.5 million over the previous two-year period.

The 1.9% increase is significantly less than inflation, city Finance Director Dave Rodenbach told the city council on Nov. 12.

The $190.7 million budget includes all 28 city funds.

Expenditures up more than revenues

The 2025-26 budget anticipates total revenues to be about $8.1 million more than 2023-24. It would spend $14.5 million more than 2023-24.

“The city has strategically added capacity to areas in order to meet increased resident demand, while holding the line on other costs,” Rodenbach wrote in an email. Internal transfers account for $39.5 million in expenditures.

The budget assumes 2% growth in general fund revenue. That includes property and sales taxes, utility business and operations taxes, and development and franchise fees.

The property tax levy rate for 2025 will be $0.6767 per $1,000 in assessed valuation. The rate in 2024 is $0.6990 per $1,000 in assessed valuation. This shows the continual decline in property tax resources to the city, Rodenbach said.

Capital projects

The total value for all planned 2025-26 capital projects is $53.2 million. None of the money for capital projects comes from the city’s general fund, except for police vehicle purchases and residual expenditures for an HVAC project at the Civic Center.

Phase 1 of the Sports Complex is one of the biggest project the city plans to complete in the next two years. Other projects include repaving Soundview Drive and improvements to the intersections of Wollochet Drive and Highway 16.

The budget also includes $35,000 each year to fund Creative Endeavor grants, $25,000 for the Waterfront Alliance, and monies for development of a Cultural Access program.

The police department will replace eight patrol cars with hybrid options.

Parks and Public Works

The parks department plans $4 million for upgrades and maintenance of parks, public restrooms and trails; to plant grass, native shrubs and other vegetation throughout the city; and to improve Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. Funds from the parks budget also pay for the city’s contributions to the Sports Complex, as do sales taxes collected through the Hospital Benefit Zone.

The public works department budget has two separate objectives related to reducing the city’s vehicle carbon footprint, Public Works Director Jeff Langhelm said. These include leasing most city vehicles so that they have the most fuel-efficient vehicles – either all-electric or hybrid city vehicles.

Public works also wants to build a separate fueling facility at the operations center so the city can use R-99 fuel in the city’s diesel-powered vehicles and equipment. R-99 contains recycled fuels such as cooking oil.

Also on the public works project list is installing rapid flashing beacons at crosswalks throughout the city.

Adoption next week

The city expects to collect nearly $1.6 million in lodging tax funds in the next biennium. Anyone who spends the night at a local hotel, motel or B&B pays into the  lodging tax fund. The city then grants the funds to organizations that bring tourists into town and “put heads in beds.”

In August 2024, the city allocated approximately $480,000 of lodging tax money to the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce to promote the city as a travel destination.

The council will hold another public hearing on the 2025-26 budget at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25, and will vote on adopting the budget. The meeting will be at the Civic Center, 3510 Grandview St., and virtually via Zoom.