City Council Study Session November 2nd, 2026

The Ellensburg City Council study session, identified in the meeting title as November 2, 2026 (metadata timestamp: November 3, 2026), focused on the city’s biennial priority-based budget and options for balancing the budget and addressing a continuing structural deficit. Staff described how community members and employees rated city programs, and said essential services generally ranked highest while some quality-of-life programs ranked lower. The city is refining program descriptions, costs, and performance measures; the budget document is expected to accompany the final budget adoption ordinance in early December. Staff also discussed revenue constraints, including the 1% annual property-tax levy limit, and estimated that using the remaining levy capacity could generate about $3.2 million annually. Current utility-tax revenues include approximately $1.7 million from electric, $750,000 from water, $760,000 from sewer, and $700,000 from gas.

Staff reviewed potential revenue sources for future services and infrastructure, including transportation benefit district sales tax or vehicle fees (estimated at about $261,000 annually for a $20 fee or $1.3 million for a voter-approved $100 fee), and voter-approved funding mechanisms for recreation and other capital projects. The session was informational; staff stated that no decisions would be made, and no contracts, vendor selections, bid approvals, or procurement awards were identified. No votes or spending motions were reported.