Ellensburg City Council November 2, 2026

Regular Ellensburg City Council meeting (metadata date: November 2, 2026; the transcript’s opening identifies it as the November 6 meeting). Council held a first reading on the 2027 property-tax levy; staff estimated a $275,325.15 increase, including $237,147.40 attributed to new construction, improvements, and annexations. Council also held first readings on the comprehensive-plan update, land-development-code amendments, and an areawide zoning-map update. Public comments and council discussion focused on housing density, zoning, and parks-plan discrepancies. No contracts or procurement awards were made. The council adopted Ordinance 5000, raising the finance director’s administrative gift-acceptance threshold from $1,000 to $5,000.

Council accepted $48,515 in donations from the Seattle King County Realtors Associations, Ellensburg Morning Rotary Foundation, and Ellensburg Downtown Rotary Club for a North Alder Street Park splash pad. Staff said additional donations could bring the project budget to about $400,000, with completion anticipated by July 1, 2027. The third-quarter financial and investment report was accepted; the city reported about $94.2 million in investments and reinvested matured funds in five-year Treasury investments yielding about 4.2%. The preliminary 2027–28 biennial budget was presented for discussion, not approval. It includes a major ERP-system investment, a City Hall generator, and parks and pool work; the city manager also identified a possible future need for sustainable street funding and proposed utility-rate adjustments, including stormwater. No contract amount for the ERP project was stated.