The Hermiston City Council approved a $97,034,368 budget for fiscal year 2023-24 at Monday night’s meeting.
The new budget is approximately $30.9 million more than last year’s budget due to capital investment projects and the addition of the new IT department. Nearly two-thirds of that increase is paid for entirely by private development upgrades to utility systems. The remaining expenditures will come from funding saved by the city to pay for long-planned water and sewer projects, dedicated state and federal funding, and additional revenue through IT contracts and other increases driven by the growth of the community.
The budget passed 6-1 with Councilor Jackie Linton voting no.
The proposed general fund revenue for 2023-24 is $15.6 million and the proposed expenditures are $16.3 million, a gap of about $673,000. This gap is temporarily covered by a short-term loan from the utility fund. The general fund covers some of the city’s basic operations and quality of life services for Hermiston such as police, finance, planning, library, parks and recreation, public transit, and other smaller departments.
The budget also gives city employees a 3 percent raise.
The budget development process began in January when city council members met with the city manager and department heads to set goals.
In May the 18-member Budget Committee, which includes the mayor, city council members, and nine Hermiston residents, reviewed and discussed the budget in two separate sessions, then made a request for a revised budget that was about $1.3 million less than the original budget presented by city administration.
The city’s annual budget and financial reports can be found at www.hermiston.or.us/budget.
