HAYDEN — With one vote of “no” from Sandra White, Hayden City Council approved the city's proposed 2025 fiscal budget Monday afternoon in a special meeting at City Hall. 

Councilors were particularly interested in looking into the possibility of using money from Fund 111 to offset costs for taxpayers from a 3% property tax increase to just a 2% increase. 

City treasurer Natasha Lang answered a series of questions with assistance from city administrator Lisa Ailport about the 2025 fiscal budget. 

The recommendation from Lang and Ailport was to not touch the fund unless absolutely necessary.   

Mayor Alan Davis said of city leadership, “nobody wants to raise taxes a nickel more than what we have to.”

Councilmember Tom Shafer pointed out the sewer is the biggest part of the budget for the municipality. The 2024-25 Hayden Area Sewer Board budget is $2,696,113. Last year’s budget for the sewer district was $2,695,069, with the current 2023-24 expenses weighing in at $1,757,304.  

“The revelation of 11 threw my world upside down,” Shafer said, adding that he understands the necessity of growing money and keeping it aside for a rainy day.

 Ailport explained that the fund is mainly used to help fund one-time capital projects expenses as a reserve when needed.   

Lang explained that information about the Fund 111 balance isn’t part of the regular budget, but the treasurer's report provides update on the status of its investments four times a year. 

“As we share information based on your questions, it is incredibly nuanced,” Lang said of Fund 111. 

“I don’t want to bully you,” Shafer said to Lang, later thanking her for enlightening council members on how Fund 111 is an investment for hard times and stating he wanted to investigate if it was a potential avenue in future years to put less burden on taxpayers when it comes to future property tax increases.    

Ailport noted the city needs to keep a 90-day cash flow reserve on hand for managing the municipality in the event of transferring of leadership roles and stressed to the assembly that city staff is doing its best to flow money toward capital projects.    

If city leadership is still interested in learning more about Fund 111, Ailport proposed a workshop be held to learn more about citywide investments.   

With regard to the budget, Ailport noted it has gone up every year. 

“We just have to struggle with the realities of running a city,” Davis said.