City Budget

Image from drone of Renton from downtown to Lake Washington

The city is responsible for building and maintaining roads, providing police protection and emergency management services, as well as maintaining parks, open spaces, and recreational centers. Included in the city’s biennial budget is the six-year capital improvement plan, which identifies the capital needs, prioritization, timing, and funding sources of the general government.

The budget serves as the primary policy document for prioritizing and planning the city’s service levels and addressing capital needs. The city uses a “budgeting for outcomes” approach to building the budget, referred to as Renton Results. Using Renton Results, the budget is built around the city’s six key service areas which are directly tied to the council adopted business plan.

List of budget priorities including safety & health, representative government, livable community, mobility, utilities & environment, and internal support
  • Safety and Health
  • Representative Government
  • Livable Community
  • Mobility
  • Utilities and Environment
  • Internal Support

2027/2028 Budget

The City of Renton is working on the biennial budget for 2027 and 2028. Additional information, including the full budget planning calendar, timeline, and opportunities for input, can be found below:

Budget

2027-2028 Preliminary Budget

The 2027/2028 budget priorities remain consistent as in years past - focus on public safety, maintenance of existing parks and outdoor spaces, and human and behavioral health services. These community-driven priorities served as a guide for the budget’s four organizing themes: public safety, human services, economic development, and capital investment.

Learn more about the 2027/2028 Preliminary Budget:

2027/2028 Preliminary Budget 

 

Overview

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 2027/2028 budget overview document:

Budget overview 

Budget Survey

This year, the city reached out to a random sample of 12,500 households in April and then opened the survey to the whole community in early May. In the end, 805 people completed the survey.

As in years past, the top priorities for residents remained steady. People care most about keeping the community safe, supporting mental and behavioral health and food security, and taking good care of our parks, trails, and outdoor spaces.

When we asked how things have changed over the last five to ten years, the responses were mixed:

  • 38% feel the city has made progress on safety.
  • 48% have seen improvements in park maintenance.
  • 37% aren’t sure whether mental and behavioral health services have moved forward.
  • More than half of respondents think property maintenance enforcement has declined.
  • About a third feel that overall community safety has gotten worse.
  • 30% believe support for people living in homeless camps, along with restoring affected areas, has gone down.

On the topic of taxes, nearly half of respondents say they’re willing to pay a bit more to support city services. Most of those willing to pay more would support an increase between $1 and $99 per year.

A few other highlights stood out:

Parks Maintenance & Human Services

  • 80% support maintaining existing parks and 69% support improvements.
  • There were less residents interested in supporting new parks.
  • Restrooms and security were the top priorities for improving existing parks.
  • Public park restrooms received the lowest condition and cleanliness ratings.
  • There is strong support for managing/restoring areas affected by homeless encampments.

Public Safety

  • 71% support funding police training.
  • About two-thirds support expanded police presence and upgraded police technology.
  • Among those who support expanded presence, 42% want it downtown and near transit centers.

Local Businesses

  • Two-thirds of residents would like to see more food and beverage businesses and grocery stores.
  • About 46% want more retail and 42% want more entertainment options in the city.

City Infrastructure

  • Sidewalks along safe routes to schools were the top priority for new sidewalk development.

These results come from the scientifically sampled portion of the survey. This means every household had an equal chance to participate and gives us a reliable picture of what Renton residents think. Click the link below to read more about the survey.

Budget survey(PDF, 3MB) 

Budget Presentations

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 2027/2028 budget presentation to the Committee of the Whole on October 5, 2026.

Video - Mayor Pavone's presentation

Department presentations

Representatives from the Executive Services and Public Works departments presented their accomplishments and budget proposals to the Committee of the Whole. View the department presentations from October 12, 2026.

Video - 10.12.26 department presentations 

Representatives from the City Attorney, Police, Municipal Court, and Parks & Recreation departments will present their accomplishments and budget proposals to the Committee of the Whole on October 19, 2026

Representatives from the Community and Economic Development (CED), Human Resources and Risk Management (HR&RM), and Finance departments will present their accomplishments and budget proposals to the Committee of the Whole on October 26, 2026.

  

Budget Development

Demystifying Our 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.

Budget Process

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.

 

2025/2026 Budget

Budget

2025-2026-Budget-Cover.jpg

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:

2025-2026 adopted budget 

 

Overview

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 

Budget Survey

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:

Budget survey(PDF, 3MB) 

Budget Presentations

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

Contact Us

Phone

425-430-6887

Fax

425-430-6957

Email

finance@rentonwa.gov

Prior budget documents

Access city budget documents from previous years. In 2011, the City of Renton moved from an annual budget to a biennial budget with mid-biennial review.

View prior budgets

Related Information

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