The Centralia City Council began its 2024 budget process by approving next year’s property tax levy rate and increasing it by 1% during the council’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
It was approved by a vote of 5-1 on first reading, with Councilor Mark Westley opposing it and Councilor Adrianna Garibay not present at the meeting due to a death in her family.
Centralia Finance Director Bret Brodersen broke down the levy’s details and explained the current 2023 tax rate is $0.44 per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. The 1% increase adds less than half a cent to the levy rate for 2024.
In 2023, the levy generated $1,057,398 in tax revenue for the city, Brodersen said.
Municipalities in Washington are allowed to increase levies by 1 percent each year without going to citizens for a vote.
“The (City of Centralia’s real and personal property) assessed value currently is $2.48 billion, the levy value is spread across that,” Brodersen said, later adding, “the (proposed) levy this evening is presented to be $1,067,972.17, an increase of $10,573.98, which is a 1% increase.”
Brodersen stressed the 1% increase was spread generally across the “total levy” for the city’s entire assessed value, not applied to individual properties.
The city’s Finance Department is also preparing next year’s budget, and Brodersen explained that while general fund revenues have increased by just over 2%, expenditures have increased by more than 14%.
“What that means is general fund undesignated fund balance has made up the difference … So we need to look at how the general fund is funded,” he said.
While he said he understood the need for the increase, Westley was concerned about both the timing of the tax levy increase, as the Centralia School District is preparing to once again ask voters for approval of its own replacement levy in a special election scheduled for February.
“We could be doing some severe damage to the best opportunity for the school district to pass their levy in February if we precede their request for a tax increase by voting in a tax increase,” Westley said.
The school district saw two failed attempts to pass its replacement levy earlier this year in other special elections.
“I’m torn currently. Obviously I’m pro-levy and don’t want to jeopardize where our school district is,” Councilor Cameron McGee said.
McGee said he was on the fence though because Centralia hasn’t been keeping pace with the property tax levy increases in surrounding municipalities.
Westley still believed the dangers of another replacement levy failure for the Centralia School District outweigh potential budget shortfalls the city might face next year.
“I just can’t get the picture of those students out of my mind and the incredible suffering that our district has gone through financially, so I’m not going to be behind this,” Westley said.
Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston said she understood his concerns, but believed the revenue generated by the city’s own levy increase will fund projects that help the community flourish and increase hope.
“Once you get the hope finally going, a lot of other things fall into place, like support for our school district,” Smith Johnston said.
She added it would obviously not solve all the issues the city is currently facing and she was still undecided about supporting the levy increase’s second reading, scheduled for Nov. 28.
Centralia City Council meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 7 p.m. inside Centralia City Hall, located at 118 W. Maple St.
