A Public Hearing is coming up for the proposed City of Spokane Valley 2012 Budget. According to a press release from the City, its citizens seem to be most interested in a handful of key areas, including public safety, roads, parks and recreation, and property taxes. As a result, they’re providing a review that I thought you might be interested in.
Total proopsed 2012 budget: $57 million Included in it:
– $22 million for public safety services. Those services have contributed to Spokane Valley’s ranking of 109th safest of cities of across the nation with populations of 75,000 or more according to CQPress Crime Rankings.
– $11.3 million for capital improvement projects such as resurfacing Sprague Avenue from Evergreen to Sullivan; planning, design and environmental work toward replacement of the Sullivan Road Bridge southbound; and others.
– Additional $500,000 for street preservation.
With revenues remaining flat or at levels only slightly higher than in the past year, no new programs or staff positions have been proposed in 2012.
Spokane Valley’s property tax of about $1.52 per thousand dollars of valuation will not increase in 2012. The expected total of $10.8 million in property tax revenue is slightly higher than this year due to new construction coming onto the tax rolls.
Those property taxes combined with sales taxes make up about 77 percent of the City’s annual General Fund revenues. Reflecting the general economy, sales tax revenues for 2012 are anticipated to remain flat at about $16.2 million.
More detailed information on anticipated revenues and expenditures are included in the Preliminary 2012 Budget, which you can view here.