Ridgefield’s city budget for 2023 includes an increase of more than 40% from this year, with much of it going to road projects to support the growing city.
The Ridgefield City Council is set to vote on the final approval of the 2023 budget at its Dec. 1 meeting. The total expenses from all funds is roughly $88.9 million in all, which is an increase from the 2022 budget of about $63 million.
Ridgefield Finance Director Kirk Johnson said this is due to a number of capital projects, which like last year, is a major focus of the city’s spending in 2023.
Roughly $44 million of the capital budget is allocated for road projects, with other projects focused on work to water, stormwater and parks, Johnson said. He said some of the projects are ones that were carried over from this year. Those projects missed the process windows to receive federal funding.
The budget features $15.5 million in grants, which includes $5.8 million for a Pioneer Street extension on the east side of the Interstate 5 interchange which will connect with Union Ridge Parkway. The project will make it easier for truck traffic to access the Union Ridge industrial area and the extension will also serve Clark College’s planned satellite campus in the city.
There is also $3 million in grant funding to finish a section of South Royle Road. Johnson said a good portion of the road had been placed under county guidelines until recently, which didn’t fit with the growth in the area. Work to improve the road has been undertaken in phases, with work from South 15th Street up to the currently improved parts of the road near Rosauers planned for 2023.
Next year’s budget includes the potential for an $18 million bond that has yet to be approved by the council. Johnson said that bond would fund improvements on Pioneer Street from Royle Road to the interstate interchange. The project would turn the road into a boulevard with two lanes in each direction.
If issued, the bond would be paid through regular debt service by city funds.
“We’re not asking the voters to increase property taxes. That would be out of existing revenues,” Johnson said.
The 2023 budget will draw on about $8 million in existing fund balances. Johnson said most of the funding comes from the capital service fund, which gets revenues from impact fees on new development, real estate excise tax and water system development charges.
The budget includes a 3% increase to the city’s water and stormwater rates. Johnson said this is based on rate modeling. He noted the city has not raised water rates in four of the past five years.
“This year, because of the high inflation, we do need to do that minimum inflationary factor,” Johnson said.
The Ridgefield City Council approved a 1% increase to the city’s property tax levy, the maximum allowed annually without voter approval. The increase will contribute about $19,000 more to the levy, which overall increased by $280,000. The bulk of that was from new construction, which in 2022, is estimated to increase the city’s overall assessed value by about $342 million.
Due to appreciation factors, the overall property tax levy for the city will decrease in 2023, landing at about 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, compared to 2022’s rate of roughly 73 cents per $1,000.
The amount of new construction in 2022 is comparable to past years, Johnson said. The city is currently transitioning from a construction-heavy sales tax base toward more permanent commercial tax revenues.
In the past, construction made up about 60% of the city’s sales tax, but it’s now down to 40%. Johnson anticipates the drop will continue until it is similar to other cities in the state at about 20% to 25%.
The budget includes funding for six new positions with the city. Those include two police officers, a facilities maintenance worker, a storm water maintenance worker, a grant writer and an administrative assistant.
Johnson said the new positions reflect a focus on “boots on the ground” staff for the city. He said increased public safety is something prominently requested by city residents.
The new positions will bring the city’s total employees to 74 full-time and two part-time workers.
Johnson, who has been Ridgefield’s finance director for 10 years, said budgeting for 2023 has featured different challenges. Though the city has nearly tripled its size since 2013, the opportunities a larger population provides the city has its benefits.
As an example, he mentioned the arrival of Rosauers supermarket in 2019, which Johnson said wouldn’t have been possible with a smaller population.
“Without the growth we’ve had, we wouldn’t be able to provide a lot of what’s come in,” Johnson said.
This year the city has published its budget in a digital “budget book,” Johnson noted.
Citizens can view the upcoming budget, which is broken down by funding sources, department funding and capital improvements, online at bit.ly/3V7hPxD.
