Bellevue City Site

HCCA Weather

E-MAIL HCCA

ABOUT HCCA

Articles, News and Photo LIBRARY >> Bellevue Budget Considerations

Bellevue Budget Considerations

On Saturday, November 25, HCCA members Jane Titland and Eric Dawes met with Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger, and three other people representing Lake Hills, Somerset, and Bridle Trails neighborhoods. This was an informal discussion about the council's efforts to formulate the next city budget.



Facts that we learned at the meeting include:

Bellevue has two budgets: An OPERATING budget, which addresses city operations, maintenance, salaries, and so forth; and a CAPITAL budget, which addresses new investments -- but it also has to support the maintenance of any capital investment that was approved in prior years.

There is interest (which those attending this meeting also support) in moving ALL ongoing maintenance to the "OPERATING" budget, so each capital budget is simply focused on new investments for the city. That differentiation might make it easier to prioritize new projects, and would also make it more clear to residents what is to be funded by a CAPITAL budget should there be a need to vote on other revenue alternatives.

At this point the city is doing fairly well with regard to meeting revenue needs for the OPERATING and most CAPITAL budget issues. There is pressure, of course, to do more new projects, and this introduces the need to either prioritize projects or look at ways of raising revenue to support all the investments that are on the table. Most of the capital projects are transportation investments -- such as the 150th corridor enhancements which we saw this summer and fall in our area. Issues such as extending sidewalks all the way up 150th/151st would also likely be in the capital program (should we get adequate support for this), as a project of that scope could not be funded within the "Neighborhood Enhancement Program" mini-budget we get to review every three years.

Revenue Source: CAPITAL BUDGET is fed by Real Estate Excise taxes, and a portion of Business & Occupation tax, and a small percentage from the sales tax. The OPERATING BUDGET is fed by the sales tax, utility taxes, property taxes, and a percentage of the business & occupation tax. Sales Tax makes up the largest revenue source for the city (which, of course, is also shared with state, county, and Sound Transit); followed by Property Taxes, then B & O.

Scope of projects considered in the Capital Budget are obviously varied in their cost. Redeveloping the West Lake Sammamish Parkway corridor, for example, is likely between 30 and 40 million dollars. Creating the one block of sidewalk along S.E. 150th this fall was about $75,000.

The city has a comprehensive plan that looks forward about twenty years at a time. Generally, all growth expectations are being met, and city is compliant with relevant growth legislation, such as the Growth Management Act. Most of the facilitation of growth is currently planned in the downtown area, as it is most efficient at this point to concentrate growth in the high-rise condominiums rather than developing new neighborhoods (keeping in mind that we're obviously VERY limited on any neighborhood opportunities since many outlying areas are already developed).

WATER SOURCE/QUALITY has been a concern for some, and one issue being explored is the redevelopment of the Lake Tapps system and having Bellevue use that as a water source instead of sharing the water supply with Seattle (Bellevue is currently a customer of Seattle). This is a very long-term change, but is being considered at this time due to lead time of issues such as improving water quality (and septic control) in the Lake Tapps area, distribution systems, and so on.