Tax increases and belt tightening are two ways Woodinville officials are proposing to keep the city budget balanced as they finish some big projects while expecting rising costs and decreasing revenue.
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The city’s proposed 2027-2028 budget, which was presented by staff at the Oct. 20 City Council meeting, includes an already approved increase in the sales tax to pay for children and family services and an expanded tax on ticketed admission sales. The proposal does not plan to increase property taxes.
“[We’re] preparing for maybe less revenues, tightening our belts on expenditures a lot,” said Woodinville city manager Brandon Buchanan. “We’re not adding new programs, new services here.”
New development and housing projects in recent years have brought in more permitting fees and sales tax on construction. But as construction on projects like Woodin Creek Village, The Schoolhouse District and the Eastrail Flats are completed, the city expects that income to diminish in the next two years, according to Woodinville finance director Blaine Fritts.
Some of the money the city receives from development projects is kept in what is called a Restricted Operations Fund, which received a little over $12 million in the 2023-2024 budget. That fund is projected to receive around $10.2 million in the proposed new two-year budget. Fritts said a lot of the fluctuation is due to development, which can be hard to plan around because of unpredictable timelines for long-term construction projects.
Although there are still multiple large scale projects in progress, including the Chateau Ste. Michelle and Midtown Woodinville mixed-use developments, Buchanan called the next two years a “breather” compared to previous years of development.
The proposed budget expects Woodinville to receive $88.5 million in revenue in 2027 and 2028, a $200,000 increase compared to 2025 and 2026. With a starting bank balance at just over $56 million, the city expects to have around $144.5 million in total dollars for the biennium. Although Woodinville is projected to spend $105.3 million over the next two years and leave around $39.2 million in the bank, the city is budgeting with rising costs in mind.
“We estimate revenues low and expenditures high, and that helps us smooth bumps along the road,” said Buchanan. “We build in some room to be able to weather those unexpected turns along the way.”
Some of that built-in revenue buffer will come from taxes that were added or expanded earlier this year.
The new child and family services tax will impose a .01% retail tax, which is expected to add around $238,000 to the city’s budget over the next two years. The tax, which will go into effect in January 2027, will pay for human services grants to organizations specifically serving children and families, including Kindering, Friends of Youth and Manos Unidas International.
The city has also expanded a 5% admissions tax that applies to any venue charging a price for admission. Although Woodinville’s tourist zones used to be exempt, the City Council extended the tax to these areas in September, making tickets to an event like a concert at Chateau Ste. Michelle taxable. This change, which will also begin in January 2027, is expected to add $1.2 million to the city’s budget for parks and tourism.
Overall, Woodinville is expected to spend less in 2027 and 2028 than in the previous two years. This budget anticipates a 12.7% decrease from the city’s 2025-2026 spending of $120.6 million. Much of this decrease is due to an almost $20 million decrease in large infrastructure improvement projects.
The budget still dedicates $50 million toward 23 ongoing infrastructure and facilities projects, including the State Route 202 and trestle widening, as well as street, park, facilities and water management improvements. Many of these improvements are related to expected future housing and population growth.
“The value of those projects that we’re building right now—it’s catching up with and accommodating future growth,” said Buchanan. “A lot of these projects, they’re capacity increasing projects.”
While this budget has been brought to the City Council, it remains a proposal. The council will discuss and take public comments on the budget during their regular meetings through Nov. 17. Input is welcome in person and by writing to council members until the final budget is expected to be adopted on Dec. 8.
