# Richland City Council Workshop Meeting

Richland City Council workshop, September 23, 2026, focused primarily on the preliminary 2027 budget and Tri-Cities animal services. The budget presentation projected citywide revenue growth of about 2.4%, a roughly $86 million General Fund (up 3.1%), and citywide expenditures up approximately 3.8%. Proposed capital and purchasing items included about $3 million for police-station design ahead of planned 2028 construction, a $4.3 million pavement-preservation target, vehicle and equipment replacements, and significant IT hardware costs; staff estimated upcoming servers could cost about $300,000, compared with $75,000 one or two years earlier. The proposed staffing increase was 4.9 FTEs, reduced from 11.9 requested. The workshop did not approve the preliminary budget or make contract awards. The opening meeting snapshot also reported council authorization to apply for a low-interest state loan to rehabilitate or replace aging sewer lift-station equipment, and described consultant support for planning, contracting, and renovation of the police station. Several projects were recommended for lodging-tax funding but were still awaiting council consideration.

Council also discussed the regional animal-control and shelter arrangement, whose interlocal agreement expires at the end of 2027. Richland’s contribution to the current facility was reported at just under $2.1 million. Members sought additional cost, service-response, and liability information before choosing a future model; the general leaning was to further explore a hybrid arrangement involving public animal-control services and a nonprofit sheltering partnership, rather than make a final decision. No contract or operating-model change was approved during the discussion.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Construction & Infrastructure, Public Safety
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure, Grants & Funding
**Published:** September 23, 2026

### Sources
- [Richland City Council Workshop Meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HFYg6W5-hk) - Richland CityView