City Budget

The city is committed to fiscal responsibility while working to meet the evolving needs of our residents. This video was created to provide further clarity on the city's budget and budget process in order to meet these needs.

The City of Renton's development of the biennial budget occurs every two years from February through October. The mayor and city council hold a strategic planning retreat to review the city's current service levels and projected revenues into the new biennium to determine if significant budget changes need to be made. City departments prepare and submit budget proposals with estimates for providing existing service levels for each year in the biennium, as well as capital improvement program (CIP) budgets and requests for new programs they would like the mayor to consider.

The mayor must provide a proposed biennial budget to city council no later than the first Monday of October. City Council conducts public hearings and holds open committee meetings to discuss budget requests and amendments. Once public hearings have been held, the deliberative process is complete, and council has made their changes, city council will adopt the budget ordinance in November. 

Washington state law requires that cities must adopt a balanced budget prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. The adopted budget appropriates funds and establishes legal expenditure limits for the upcoming fiscal year. State law also allows for the adoption of biennial budgets provided the city council also adopts a second ordinance for a mid-biennial review and modification prior to the end of the first year in the fiscal biennium. In 2011, the City of Renton moved from an annual budget to a biennial budget with mid-biennial review.

The focus of the 2025-2026 budget is to increase funding dedicated to public safety and human services; provide continued funding of new and ongoing maintenance and improvements to the city's infrastructure; fund planned increases in reserves for replacements (e.g. information technology and facilities funds); and increase staffing to align internal service resources in support of accomplishing department objectives.

View the 2025-2026 adopted budget 

Every two years, the city's preliminary budget is carefully reviewed through a series of public meetings held by the Committee of the Whole. During these sessions:

• The Finance Administrator provides an overview of key highlights from the preliminary budget.
• Each Department Administrator shares their department accomplishments and outlines their goals for the upcoming budget cycle.

View the 2025-2026 budget overview document

Budget overview(PDF, 2MB) 

The 2024 survey was Renton's first city-wide budget survey. The objectives were to gain knowledge of residents' perceptions about the city, understand community priorities and expectations regarding city services, and support decision making for the upcoming budget process.

The survey addressed the following topics:

• ranking budget priorities
• resident opinions on the biggest issue(s) facing the city
• measuring how well Renton's budget priorities align with residents' vision and values for the city's future
• residents' attitudes toward taxation levels as it relates to services provided
• residents' attitudes toward funding specific efforts related to human services, parks, and public safety
• the condition and availability of city-owned facilities
• demographics

View the 2025-2026 budget survey results

2024 budget survey(PDF, 3MB) 

Mayor Pavone's presentation

The mayor must provide a proposed biennial budget to council no later than the first Monday of October. View Mayor Pavone's 2025-2026 budget presentation to the Committee of the Whole on October 7, 2024.

Video - Mayor Pavone's presentation

Department presentations

Representatives from the Parks & Recreation, Police, and Public Works departments presented their accomplishments and budget proposals to the Committee of the Whole. View the department presentations from October 14, 2024.

Video - 10.14.24 department presentations 

Representatives from the Community & Economic Development, City Attorney, Municipal Court, Executive Services, Finance, and Human Resources departments presented their accomplishments and budget proposals to the Committee of the Whole. View the department presentations from October 21, 2024.

Video - 10.21.24 department presentations