The Centralia City Council approved an operating budget for the 2022 fiscal year at its meeting on Monday night. The budget includes a two percent increase in Centralia’s cumulative property tax levy, estimated to generate an additional $47,000 over the 2021 tax levy.
City Manager Scott Randall spoke after the meeting about the significance of this increase.
“Two years ago, the city was in a deficit position. It owed money and didn’t have any fund balance, so we’re starting to replenish that… This is the city’s first increase of property tax dollars in eleven years. It’s a minimal one, but it helps us balance the budget for next year.”
The increased revenue from this levy will help cover personnel expenses as the city anticipates full staffing, filling five currently vacant police positions as well as a vacant accounting clerk position, as well as adding a new full-time position community development department, a part-time secretary in the fire department, and an additional part-time firefighter.
Randall talked about the importance of filling the vacancies and adding these personnel.
“We’ve been operating with a skeletal staff, particularly in the police department, for a number of years. That’s not necessarily a financial problem—a lot of it had to do with testing, getting people into the academy and keeping the people we had hired. Making that commitment… that’s a significant (part of this budget).”
The budget includes roughly two million dollars to be spent toward capital investment projects, including money for road improvements, repair of water Treatment facilities, and replacement of old equipment in the police and fire departments.
During the meeting, Randall was positive about the city committing a large portion of its budget to needed improvements.
“When you consider that we have a roughly twelve-million-dollar budget and more than two million dollars of that is going toward capital investment, that says a lot about the city. You’re making investments in the proper places. I’m really proud of that.”
There are several other revenue increases in this budget. Sales tax receipts in 2022 are estimated to increase by 3.5 percent over the 2021 fiscal year. Water and sewer rates will increase by five percent to bring additional revenue to the water and sewer funds. A three percent increase in sanitation fees is set to occur as it does in each year of the current solid waste contract, which will provide the city with another $33,000. Additionally, as permitted by recent changes in state law, Centralia will increase the licensing fees for video gaming machines from $20 per machine to $250 per machine in for-profit establishments and $125 per machine in not-for-profit establishments, a change which is expected to yield $30,000 for the city.
