John Williams

It’s budget season again! The budget is the blueprint for all city activities. It determines how many employees we employ, what equipment we buy, what construction projects we work on and much more. The budget also provides transparency into city finances, so the community knows how public funds are spent. For all these reasons, its just about the most important thing we do.

Each budget season I try to share as much news as possible about the budget process. This year I’ll again write two articles to provide an overview. Some readers may remember my “Budget 101” and “Budget 102” articles from two years ago … if so, you may think this year’s articles are quite similar. First of all, thank you for reading and remembering! Second, yes, our process is pretty much the same each time and this year we find ourselves in a comparable financial situation.

Here in article one, I’ll list the top five things you need to know as budget season kicks off:

1. All revenues are not the same

The city receives a variety of revenues. Some are flexible while others are restricted. For example, property taxes, which make up about 23% of our revenue, can be used on a wide variety of general government services. However, water bills paid by customers can only be used on our water system. Similarly, other utility rates, system development charges, state gas taxes, building permit fees, bond funds and others must be used for specific purposes. Some revenues are adequate to meet our needs, while others are very limited and concerning. I’ll talk more about this in the next article.

2. West Linn has a two-year budget

The budget that will be adopted in June covers July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027. Some cities have annual budgeting, but our two-year cycle provides better predictability for city projects and programs and reduces the amount of time our staff and community spend on developing budgets.

3. West Linn’s budget must be balanced, and it’s binding

Unlike the federal government, which can (and does) print money and go deep into debt, cities in Oregon must have balanced budgets, with expenses matching revenues. If revenues go down, our expenses must go down as well unless we dig into our limited savings. Also important: it’s unlawful to spend above the amounts budgeted unless the City Council votes to change the budget before the funds are spent. Otherwise, our budgets is binding.

4. West Linn’s budget process is public

Right now, staff are working to develop a proposed budget for community and Council consideration. We put together estimates of all known revenues and expenses across every city operation, from the Adult Community Center to the Water Department. We’ll work in how to address City Council priorities, tackle infrastructure needs and more, and put it all into a draft budget that will be released around May 15.

After that, public review starts, guided by Oregon law. The public has access to all budget information and can provide ideas and comments to decision makers. In West Linn, the first step is Budget Committee review. The Budget Committee is the mayor, city councilors and five community members, and will meet three or four times in May and June. All meetings are public and allow public comment, either written, in person or virtual.

The Budget Committee sends a recommendation to City Council, which must hold public hearings and adopt the budget by June 30.

5. How to learn more and get involved

Our Finance Department staff do an amazing job making the city’s budget easy to understand and monitor. The city’s website has copies of the current and previous budgets, an easy-to-use financial dashboard offering insight into all our funds, staff contact information and more. Simply search online for “City of West Linn budget” to learn more.

If you have questions please reach out by email or phone, or just drop by City Hall. All your ideas and questions are appreciated!

We’ll be including information about the budget process in our email newsletter (please sign up for that) and on our social media. We’ll try to make it easy for you to follow along and stay informed.

That’s all for now. My next article, in May, will describe the draft budget and some of the challenges we’re experiencing. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

John Williams is the West Linn city manager.