Richland homeowners are likely to pay slightly less in city property taxes next year, even though the City Council is moving ahead with an 8% levy adjustment that taps most of the city's banked taxing capacity.
Finance Director Brandon Allen laid out the numbers for council members at the Oct. 20 meeting, presenting the city's revenue outlook along with the first two ordinances tied to the 2027 property tax levy. It was the first of three public hearings in Richland's budget process this fall, according to NBC Right Now.
Here's the part that trips people up: the city is recommending an 8% increase to use most of its available banked property tax capacity — room under the taxing limit that Richland didn't use in past years and can claim now. But a separate library debt levy is dropping off the books in 2027, and that drop is big enough to offset the increase. The net result is that Richland's total levy rate would fall from $1.8655 per $1,000 of assessed value to $1.8362 per $1,000, per the city's presentation.
For a $500,000 home, that means the Richland portion of the tax bill would go from $933 in 2026 to $918 in 2027, a $15 decrease. At the same time, the city still expects to collect roughly $1.7 million more in property tax revenue overall, largely because assessed values across Richland continue to rise.
Why the city wants more revenue now
Allen told the council the adjustment is about getting ahead of costs that are coming whether or not the city raises taxes this year. He pointed to a projected $2.5 million increase in medical claims and an expected $2 million annual debt payment for the new police station starting around 2028.
"We're looking into the future and saying that this isn't sustainable," Allen said, according to NBC Right Now. "We need to decide now to make adjustments that need to be made so we don't end up in a situation where we're having to make major cuts where we're scrambling like we're seeing a lot throughout" the region.
That regional comparison isn't abstract. Kennewick is grappling with an $11.4 million budget gap and has frozen police and fire hiring, while Pasco is weighing cuts to about 55 city jobs, including roughly a fifth of its police force, to close its own shortfall. West Richland's fire district just released a separate $10 million budget plan. Against that backdrop, Richland's approach, using banked capacity to shore up reserves while still lowering most homeowners' bills, stands out as comparatively mild.
The deferred 1% increase
The levy adjustment is separate from the state's standard 1% annual property tax increase that cities are typically allowed to take. At a Sept. 22 budget preview, staff told council the draft 2027 budget does not include that 1% increase. Citywide revenues are projected to rise about 2.4% against a 3.8% increase in expenditures, making the general fund one of the harder pieces of the budget to balance, according to NBC Right Now's earlier coverage.
"Right now in this current budget we have not built in the 1% increase at this point," Allen said at that meeting. The statutory 1% would have brought in about $215,000 a year citywide, with impacts on individual homeowners ranging from roughly $5 to $17 annually based on the examples staff presented. Whether the city will revisit that deferred increase as the 2028 police station debt payments approach remains an open question heading into future budget cycles.
What's next
The council is set to take up the second reading and passage of the tax ordinances along with a first reading of the 2027 budget and capital improvement plan in the coming weeks, with full budget passage scheduled for Nov. 17. The city has not yet detailed how the roughly $1.7 million in added revenue will be allocated across departments, or broken out how the rate change affects commercial and other non-residential property classes. Residents who want to weigh in before the Nov. 17 vote can attend upcoming council meetings, where the remaining public hearings on the levy and budget are expected to be held.
