City administrator previews revenue forecast; property tax projected ~2.5% annually

Administrator Hill presented the mayor’s revenue projections and explained the forecast methodology: “T is for trend, A is for actual, and E is economist estimates,” and said the property tax projection is “just, at about 2.5 percent per year through the budget.” Hill told council members the 2.5% projection includes new growth and valuation changes from remodels.

Hill also flagged sales-and-use-tax growth tied to changes in point-of-delivery rules for online sales, saying that trend has driven upward estimates in the forecast. He cautioned that some revenues shown on the forecast are pass-throughs or restricted (for example, Sound Transit-related permit recoveries), and the committee asked for clearer notations in the final budget materials so residents can see which revenues are fungible for general operations.