The City of Washougal continues to be faced with the difficult financial and budgetary pressures facing all governments in the nation as a result of the great recession. However, I am happy to report that in 2010 and 2011 we have been successful in balancing our budgets without increasing property and sales taxes and without the use of reserves.
Much of the success in achieving this significant accomplishment belongs to the staff, department heads and city council for understanding the situation we were facing early last year and their support of the administration’s efforts to manage our expenses and find efficiencies.
The originally adopted 2010 budget relied upon the use of approximately $1.5 million of reserves to be balanced. In early 2010 we began to aggressively address this situation.
First we implemented a 10 percent across-the-board cut, saving approximately $1 million. Next, with the city council’s support, we hired a municipal finance expert to assist us with a comprehensive financial analysis of our past and current revenues and expenses, and an accurate forecast of our future financial status.
This process involved all of our department heads, representatives from our employee union groups and the city council’s finance committee. The information gained from this process enabled us to make well informed decisions regarding opportunities for additional savings and strategies for the future.