TWIR: Renton City Council adopts the 2025-2026 biennial budget

During the council meeting on Monday, November 18, Renton City Council adopted the 2025-2026 biennial budget. 

Renton's thought-out spending approach has allowed the city to withstand challenging times over the past 20 years. The adopted budget includes investments to meet community needs and create a positive long-term impact.  

Now, in 2024, with a population of over 108,000, the city can invest in staffing, helping to right-size staff to meet the community's needs. 

For every police officer, maintenance worker, or new initiative added, our internal support divisions coordinate the work. These hardworking teams have been the slowest to rebuild, yet they are critical to the success, pace, and effectiveness of our efforts.  

This budget also addresses three key priorities: cleanliness and condition, public safety, and social services.  

The citywide budget calls for $648 million in spending and $645 million in projected revenue over the next two years. 

The requests below are additional funds to the citywide budget based on priorities the mayor and city departments set. 

1. Cleanliness & Condition: $24,520,000

Parks 

• Added Capital Project Manager to maintain the existing park infrastructure. 

• Increase funding for capital improvement projects including assessments of existing parks and spaces, in addition to new developments.  

Public Works 

• Implement an asset management system and additional staffing to map and collect citywide data on inventory, age, condition, and repair history of infrastructure assets to better allocate funding for the department. 

• Hire professional contract provider for park restroom cleaning, allowing bathrooms to stay open year-round.    

• Investments in capital improvement projects and staffing for city facilities and transportation functions. 

2. Public Safety: $3,530,000

Parks 

• Reclassify three park maintenance positions added in the prior biennium dedicated to encampment clean-up to a higher pay grade.  

Police 

• Eight new commissioned police officers will be added over the next two years to the Patrol Operations Division. These officers will improve patrol officer visibility and response time. 

• Added evidence technician to process the large amount of incoming and outgoing evidence, resulting in increased response to crime scenes.   

• Increase the market rate wages for chief positions to encourage career growth within the department, retain experienced officers, and attract qualified candidates for future leadership roles.  

• Collision and crime scene software to support investigations in effectively mitigating crimes and threats, fully prioritizing the safety of all involved parties.   

Public Works 

• Budget for ongoing safety and compliance training for employees and the public, ensuring staff stay informed about new regulations and safety procedures to reduce the likelihood of accidents. 

3. Social Services: $3,500,000

Parks 

• The Renton Student Health Hub is a partnership with the Renton School District to connect Renton middle school students to mental health services that support their well-being in and outside the school setting.  

The city has effectively controlled the increases in utility rates and property taxes over the years.   

Utility rates are expected to vary per utility over the next two years. Residents can expect to pay roughly $0.50 more per utility over the next two years. Water utility rates will increase by 2% in 2025, with no increase in 2026. Sewer rates will not increase in 2025 but increase by 2% in 2026. Surface water will increase by 3.5% and garbage rates will increase by 6.2% yearly.   

Property taxes will only increase by 2% in 2025. Property taxes make up only 8% of the citywide budget, with a larger amount coming from business taxes, utility user fees, and grant funding. 

The City of Renton only receives 9% of property taxes, with the remaining 91% going towards Renton Regional Fire Authority, Renton School District, Sound Transit, King County, State school fund, King County Library System, Valley Medical Center, Port of Seattle, and emergency medical services. 

With this proposed budget, the city aims to be in a strong position to fulfill the goals set by the council's business plan and make a visible impact on the community. 

Review the full 2025-2026 biennial budget on the city’s website. 

 

Help Renton Police Department choose the winners of this year’s Red Ribbon Week Classroom Poster Contest! 

Third through fifth graders in the Renton School District showcased their creativity through art while learning about the importance of a drug-free lifestyle. 

Now it’s your turn to join in and help Renton Police Department choose the winners.  

Please take a moment to vote for your favorite poster! 

Voting guidelines: 

• Vote once per grade level 

• Vote based on quality, originality, and creativity 

• Posters should reflect the theme: "Life is a Movie. Film Drug Free." 

Thank you for voting!  

 

Garbage, recycling, and food and yard waste will not be collected on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 28). Republic Services Thursday customers will have their containers picked up on Friday, November 29. Friday customers will have their containers picked up on Saturday, November 30.  

Visit Republic Services’ website to view their service guide, collection map, calendar, and more. 

 

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