SPOKANE, Wash. — Facing a $50 million shortfall, the City of Spokane decided to revise its budgeting calendar.
At Monday night's Spokane City Council meeting, the council approved an emergency ordinance that will now switch the city to a biennial budget.
Council voted 6-1 in favor of the biennial budget, with the opposing vote coming from Councilmember Jonathan Bingle.
"We need to start thinking long-term, we have to start thinking sustainably, and making sure our program costs and departmental costs are sustainable over a longer horizon than a single year," Councilmember Michael Cathcart, who voted in favor of the budget, said.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown has advised the city should switch to a biennial, or two-year, budget.
"It's no surprise by now the city of Spokane is facing a major budget deficit," Brown said in a video announcing the proposal in May.
The city has historically created a budget every year. Brown said the switch to planning out two years can increase efficiency, financial security, and transparency.
"By moving to a biennial budget we can strategically allocate resources over a two-year period and project the impact even longer," she said in the video.
Brown said budgeting every two years will reduce strain on the finance team.
The budget needed to be approved at least six months before the fiscal biennium starts, which means a decision had to be made before July 1.
"If we had it in in time, it could have gone through the proper channels, it could have gone through the proper process and be passed in time," Bingle said. "Unfortunately, we didn't have it in time and have to pass it as an emergency, otherwise it wouldn't be passed in time."
Spokane will begin budgeting biennially starting January 1, 2025.
You can watch our previous coverage leading up to Monday's city council meeting at the link below.
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