The Airway Heights City Council had a short agenda to tackle at their Dec. 3 meeting, hearing first readings of multiple ordinances relating to the city’s 2019 budget.
One of those was Ordinance C-916, which will adopt the budget for the fiscal year ending in December 2019. In it, the city proposes nearly $10 million in expenditures from the current expense fund and just over $5 million from the water-sewer fund, primarily due to capital improvements like the Airway Heights Recreation Center and expenses related to the city’s water and sewer systems.
According to city documents, projected revenues for next year across all city funds hover around $21.3 million, while estimated expenses come to $27.62 million, requiring that the city dip into the existing fund balance by about $6.3 million.
Public hearings on the proposed budget were held throughout October and November, and a final hearing on the budget should take place at the council’s Dec. 17 meeting.
Council also heard the first reading of an ordinance establishing the 2019 wages for city employees. Local 270A employees received a 3 percent raise, as did non-represented employees other than the city manager and department heads. Those increases will take effect Jan. 1, 2019.
Several department heads in Airway Heights make nearly $100,000 a year.
The city has not yet reached an agreement with the Public Safety Guild on wages, so what the salaries of police and fire department employees will be in the coming year is still up in the air.
In other news, the council unanimously approved an amendment to the municipal code updating it in accordance with Washington state business license requirements and unanimously approved an amendment to the job description of Clerk-Treasurer, making slight changes to the position’s performance metrics and qualification requirements.
Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].
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