Published October 19 2023
Plus, Tourism Promotion Area plan and two technology awards
At Monday’s meeting, the City Council was introduced to proposed adjustments for the second year of the city’s biennial budget and briefed on implications of the current economic forecast. Holding a mid-biennium process is required by state law to provide any necessary technical adjustments or modifications to the two-year budget.
The report highlighted that the mid-biennium budget continues execution of the major council priorities in the 2023-2024 budget, adopted last November. The budget included investments in critical areas of need including public safety, growth and urbanization, affordable housing, homelessness, equity, inclusion and access, and environmental stewardship.
The economic forecast identified high interest rates and inflation impacting forecasts in several ways, including near-term cooling of construction activity, though inflation is expected to decrease gradually after 2024. Meanwhile, revenue growth from sales tax and business and occupation taxes is returning to historical averages at about 5%.
The proposed mid-biennium adjustments reflect the updated revenue projections to adjust expenditures for changes in economic outlook and operational elements including personnel and certain contracts and programs. A 1% annual property tax adjustment for 2024 – which was foundational to the 2023-2024 Budget – is also part of the proposed mid-biennium budget, and equates to $9 for a $1 million property in Bellevue.
Ongoing mid-biennium budget discussions in the coming weeks will include a presentation of the city’s development forecast and fee alignment, further council discussion on the proposed technical adjustments, and a public hearing prior to expected adoption of the mid-biennium budget on Nov. 20.
The full presentation is available on Bellevue Television replay of the meeting.
Tourism Promotion Area work plan presented
The Bellevue-Redmond Tourism Promotion Area Advisory Board presented a budget and strategic work plan to the council for how the TPA would spend revenues collected from local lodging establishments to increase tourism and convention business through marketing, public relations and promotion efforts.
The lodging charges are collected from businesses with 40 or more lodging units; revenue collection began in July after the council approved the formation of the TPA. Revenues from each city of the TPA (Bellevue and Redmond) will be used within their respective jurisdictions. Initial work within the Bellevue zone emphasizes marketing, destination sales and tourism development in alignment with the city's Economic Development Plan.
The council unanimously approved that legislation be drafted for adoption of the TPA budget and work plan as part of the mid-biennium budget process. The council discussion is available on video replay.
City wins technology awards
In other business, the city was the recipient of two national awards for excellence in technology and service delivery to the community.
T-Mobile recognized the city with a first-place finish in the company's Unconventional Awards for Innovation in Community. This category recognizes disrupters in government and public safety who bring innovations to their organizations. Specifically, the award recognized Bellevue’s cellular vehicle-to-everything application, a safe-driving solution in development that enables vehicles and traffic infrastructure at key intersections to exchange information and provide alerts to drivers about pedestrians and cyclists before they can even be seen by a driver.
The city placed third in the Center for Digital Government's annual Government Experience Awards. These awards recognize states, cities and counties that have raised the bar on the experience of government services to create a better engaged constituency and a more responsive government. The projects highlighted in the win included work towards better digital accessibility for residents, training materials in universal design principles, a guidebook for conducting inclusive interactions, a chatbot using artificial intelligence and increased data transparency with digital dashboards.
More information is available in the meeting materials.