Bellevue’s budget is produced every two years and includes a six-year capital budget that the City Council reviews and adopts. Community members have a say in shaping the city’s budget.
The budget serves as a major policy document and describes how the city intends to finance its services and infrastructure. The city government is responsible for building and repairing roads, providing police and fire protection, as well as maintaining parks, open space and recreational centers, which help contribute to the high quality of life Bellevue residents enjoy.
The city follows state laws regarding municipal budgets and is guided by its own financial policies, approved by the council. The budget serves as the plan that guides how the city spends public money. There are numerous accountability requirements and checks and balances that are implemented to ensure transparency.
Budget Process
Budget development follows a similar process for each cycle. While the community can weigh in at any time, council discussions on revenue forecasts occur during the summer and public hearings dedicated to the budget usually occur in the fall.
Staff Review
- Baseline budget: This step involves understanding current expenditures and revenues.
- Update review: Staff gather information on organizational changes and changes to tax codes, economic conditions, and policies.
- Priority setting: Staff seek guidance from both the city manager and council regarding their priorities. Do they want to keep the budget the same, do some minor fine-tuning, or are more significant updates desired?
- Budget development: The leadership team, department staff, and budget staff work with city leadership to collaborate on a preliminary budget.
City Manager Review
The city manager works with finance staff and departments to finalize and approve a preliminary budget before it is presented to the council.
Legislative Review
- Council review: The council reviews the budget and holds public meetings. There are council meetings devoted to discussing the budget before it gets approved, taking place from September through November.
- Budget approval: State law requires the council approve the budget by the end of the year.
Tax Revenues
The city pays for services and programs through various revenues including property tax, sales taxes, utility taxes, and fees and service charges. Grants from federal, state, and county governments also make up a portion of the city’s total revenues.
Property tax is one of the city’s major revenue sources. Property taxes are distributed to the state, county, city and several other taxing authorities including public schools, Sound Transit, and the library. The city receives a relatively small portion of a property owner’s total bill.
State law limits the amount of property tax that can be assessed to $10 per $1,000 assessed value. Local districts are not allowed to collect more than $5.90 per $1,000 assessed value on properties. King County receives a portion of property tax for roads, police, criminal justice, public health, elections, and parks, among other services.
Funds
The city budget is divided into several funds that help the city track revenues and expenses. The General Fund is the largest fund and is where most revenues and expenses are tracked. Other funds serve specific purposes related to infrastructure, public art, and other specific and restricted uses.
- General Fund: Supports the general operations of the city government. These include administration, legislative function, legal services, public safety, human services, planning and community development, enforcement of local codes, parks, recreation, and cultural activities. Taxes are the principal source of revenue for the General Fund: property tax, sales tax, utility tax, gambling tax, and business and occupation tax. Other important sources are shared revenue from other governments, licenses and permits, charges for service, and fines and forfeitures. The General Fund accounts for all city resources except those for which a specific fund has been created.
- Other operating funds: Used solely for the general operations of the city.
- Reserve Funds: These funds are used to accumulate monies for the specific purposes identified in each fund’s definition.
- Debt Service Fund: This fund accounts for resources necessary to pay the principal and interest on general long-term debt.
- Capital Project Funds: These funds are used to account for financial resources to be used for major construction, infrastructure improvements, and land acquisitions, including those financed by special assessment. Capital projects are adopted on a multi-year basis.
Keeping Track of the Budget
City staff record daily expenditures and revenue intake. They also produce quarterly and annual reports tracking budget progress. These annual and quarterly reports are shared with the council and published on the city website.