How did Lewiston get to a balanced budget?

Last-minute maneuvering allowed Lewiston’s city council to balance the budget without raising the municipality’s share of property taxes.

But few specifics were available Monday when the council made the changes about what was cut and what was retained in the final version of the $114.2 million budget for the 2025 fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

Property tax revenue, the second-largest source of city revenue, will be $24.2 million. The largest is $36.6 million for charges and fees for services such as water, garbage and sewer.

Here are more details the Tribune learned in extensive emails with Aimee Gordon, the city’s finance director and treasurer:

What were the biggest reductions?

The largest cuts were made in wages and benefits without cutting any filled positions. The city thought health insurance costs were going to rise, but that turned out not to be the case, allowing it to trim $80,450. At the same time, it isn’t adding a proposed transit driver position that would have cost $60,540. And it’s eliminating a vacant groundskeeper position in the parks and recreation department and a part-time administrative assistant position that had been created, but not filled. Together, those adjustments saved about $100,000. A fund for sidewalks had a $50,000 reduction and money for an arborist was cut by about $40,000.

Because of the belt-tightening even without a property tax increase, some items in the mayor’s original budget proposal that had a 3% property tax revenue increase were returned to the 2025 fiscal year budget. What were some of those items?

A total of $50,000 for traffic light cabinets was added back into the budget, along with $40,000 to replace outdated radio technology. The council also approved a $30,000 license plate reader camera system without facial recognition that will be installed on major roadways to help with police investigations such as missing persons cases, said Lewiston Police Chief Jason Kuzik. The system will not be used for traffic enforcement, he said.

Wages and benefits are still rising from $33.8 million this fiscal year to $35.1 million in the 2025 fiscal year even without adding positions. What’s one of the reasons for the increase?

The city’s contribution to the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho is expected to climb from $2.8 million this fiscal year to $3.3 million in the upcoming fiscal year. The city is required to provide retirement benefits through the system to employees who work 20 hours per week or more and have been with the city five months or longer.

As tight as the budget is, the mayor has proposed adding positions to the police department in the 2026 fiscal year that would start Oct. 1, 2025. What’s the thinking behind that?

The city has 39 police officers and two captains. That’s equivalent to 1.31 officers per 1,000 residents, compared to the national average of communities of Lewiston’s size of 1.71 officers per 1,000 residents.

To align with the national average for similar-size communities, Lewiston would have to hire an additional 11 officers, according to the budget message of Mayor Dan Johnson.

That expansion would have advantages such as a new detective who could focus on property and fraud investigations as well as a reorganization of patrol shifts. At the same time, it would “ensure all officers work consistent days and report to the same sergeant weekly, leading to more cohesive and efficient operations,” according to the mayor.

In the last three years, how much has the city used its reserves in its budgets and what amount is budgeted for the 2025 fiscal year?

The city used $818,530 of reserves in its 2022 fiscal year budget and about the same for the following fiscal year. That amount increased to $1.8 million in the present fiscal year and is projected at $1.2 million for the 2025 fiscal year.

The city had $13.4 million in its reserves, or 164 days, of operating expenses as of Sept. 30, 2022. The city anticipates having $8 million, or 92 days, of operating expenses on Sept. 30, 2025. The industry standard for operating expenses in reserves is 90 days.

The state of Idaho allows municipalities to raise property tax revenue by as much as 3% per year without going to voters for approval. How much has the city raised or decreased its share of property taxes in fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025?

The city took no property tax increase in 2023 or 2025 and had a decrease of 0.37% in its 2024 fiscal year budget.

When municipalities don’t raise taxes, the state of Idaho allows them to recoup all or a portion of the property tax increase they didn’t take in future years with a vote by elected officials through a mechanism called foregone taxes. How much has the city of Lewiston reserved in foregone taxes?

For the 2025 fiscal year, Lewiston’s city council reserved the entire 3%, or $710,654, it could have raised property taxes. The city had $2.29 million reserved in foregone property tax increases after certifying its 2022 fiscal year budget that ran from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022. The amount reserved will be $3.7 million after certifying the fiscal year 2025 budget.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.