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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Puyallup City Council Budget Study Session - October 13, 2026

City Council & Commissions — Tuesday, October 13, 2026
BodyPuyallup, Washington
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateTuesday, October 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:51:18

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:02

Council study session for October 13th is called to order.

0:06

Please stand for the pledge of lead.

Unassigned speaker

0:11

I

Speaker 1

0:12

pledge allegiance through the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

0:19

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for

Unassigned speaker

0:24

all.

Speaker 1

0:29

Will the city clerk please call the rule?

Speaker 2

0:33

Councilmember Adler.

Speaker 3

0:35

Present.

Speaker 2

0:36

Deputy Mayor Johnson.

0:38

Present.

0:39

Councilmember King.

0:40

Present.

0:41

Councilmember Gilliam.

Speaker 4

0:42

Present.

Speaker 2

0:42

Councilmember Castro?

Speaker 4

0:44

Present.

Speaker 2

0:44

Councilmember Smoke.

Speaker 4

0:45

Present.

Speaker 2

0:46

Mayor Whitting.

Speaker 1

0:47

Present.

Unassigned speaker

0:50

Do

Speaker 1

0:50

we have a motion to approve the agenda?

0:53

So move.

0:53

Second.

0:54

All those in favor?

0:56

Aye.

0:58

Motion passes.

1:00

We'll move right into our agenda items.

1:02

We will start off with a budget overview by finance director Barbara Lopez and City Manager Steve Kirkley will give presentations.

Unassigned speaker

1:15

Thank you, Mayor.

Unassigned speaker

1:17

Thank

Speaker 5

1:17

you, Mayor.

1:18

And good evening, Council.

1:20

Had to do it before Dan

Speaker 6

1:21

said anything.

1:23

Turn the mic

Unassigned speaker

1:24

on.

Speaker 5

1:26

It's my pleasure to be in front of you tonight to talk about the 2027-28 preliminary budget.

1:32

In tonight's presentation, I plan on talking about a bit about the budget process itself and some of the factors that went into that budget.

1:41

We'll talk about the citywide budget as a whole.

1:44

That is how you adopt it.

1:46

So it bears a few moments to talk about that.

1:50

Then we'll go into a little bit more detail about the general fund budget, which is where the vast majority of our services are provided from.

1:58

And then lastly, I want to talk a little bit about our priority-based budgeting activities that we accomplished this year and where you can find those in the budget book.

2:13

So a little bit about the budget process.

2:23

These are the activities that staff has engaged in throughout the year.

2:28

We literally started in December of last year of 2025.

2:33

Track one was our priority-based budgeting activities.

2:36

We had a first phase that we did with BERC in the last budget biannual budget cycle, but we wanted to take it to phase two.

2:47

So I will talk a little bit later about what those specific activities were, but it took a lot of time and effort of staff, and so we needed to start in December of last year.

2:58

Track two was the biennial budget itself, this end result that you see before you tonight.

3:08

And we finished up that work in September when we put together the budget to deliver to you by October 5th.

3:16

Track three is the six-year capital plan.

3:19

We're required every year to update that that plan that's heavy with the engineering group and parks group with capital projects.

3:30

Well, I'm guessing that they do that work year-round, but for this particular process, we um ask that they uh we put the request out to them in May, and they wrap that that up in September.

3:43

So both the so track three rolls into track two into the biennial budget, so you'll see that coming in.

3:50

And then the priority-based budgeting piece of it, the biennial budget itself helped inform that, and it informed the biennial budget.

4:00

So we had some activities going back and forth there.

4:05

Now we are at the budget study sessions, and then adoption would be next.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Tourism Promotion████████████████████20%
Budget Equity Analysis███████████████15%
Personnel Matters██████████10%
Public Engagement█████████9%
Procedural████████8%
Engineering And Infrastructure███████7%
Fiscal Sustainability█████5%
Public Transportation█████5%
Public Safety███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Puyallup City Council Budget Study Session - October 13, 2026

The Puyallup City Council held a budget study session on October 13, 2026, to review the preliminary 2027-28 budget, discuss staffing requests, and deliberate on funding allocations from the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC), including a controversial Gateway Arch project. The session featured presentations from Finance Director Barbara Lopez, City Manager Steve Kirkley, and Public Affairs Officer Eric Johnson. The Community Grants agenda item was postponed to the following night.

Agenda Approval

  • The council unanimously approved the agenda.

2027-28 Budget Overview

  • Finance Director Barbara Lopez presented the preliminary biennial budget.
  • Citywide revenues total $348.3 million for the biennium, with expenditures at $355.1 million.
  • The general fund is balanced. Property tax revenue is projected at $23.1 million and sales tax at $65.9 million over the biennium.
  • Councilmember Castman highlighted that the city's portion of the property tax on a median-value home is $568, representing only 10.4% of the total property tax bill, emphasizing the city's fiscal restraint.
  • Tier 3 one-time funds total $2.7 million. Proposed uses include facility maintenance, street repairs, police drone replacement, park mowers, and radio system upgrades.

Staffing Requests

  • City Manager Steve Kirkley presented seven proposed new positions across the general fund and utility funds.
  • General Fund (4 positions): Municipal Court Commissioner, additional Prosecutor (citing a 24% caseload increase), Parks & Recreation Maintenance Worker I, and Assistant City Manager.
  • Councilmembers strongly supported the Assistant City Manager position. Deputy Mayor Johnson called it a "force multiplier," and Councilmember Adler stated it would help the city "serve our residents better."
  • Utility Funds (3 positions): Maintenance Workers for the sewer/stormwater collections division and a Journey Level Civil Engineer for stormwater compliance. City Manager Kirkley confirmed these were accounted for in the previously approved utility rate study.

LTAC (Lodging Tax Advisory Committee) & Gateway Arch Project

  • Mayor Whitting delivered an overview of LTAC funding rules, emphasizing funds must be used for tourism-related activities. City Attorney Joe Becker clarified visitor count definitions.
  • LTAC Committee Awards: The committee recommended awarding $850,690, providing a standard 16% increase to most applicants. Full funding was recommended for Arts Downtown, the Daffodil Festival, Fred Oldfield Art Center, and Tacoma Regional CVB.
  • City LTAC Initiatives: Public Affairs Officer Eric Johnson requested funding for the "Puyallup Always in Season" campaign ($150,000), downtown street furnishings ($30,000), and Wayfinding Signage ($1.1 million).
  • Gateway Arches Project: A detailed debate occurred over the Gateway Arch project. Capital Projects Supervisor Drew Young presented updated cost estimates of $1.75 to $2.45 million for the two arches, plus $483,000 for design.
  • Councilmember Castman made an extensive statement strongly defending the arches as a vital piece of downtown revitalization and a valid use of tourism funds, criticizing media reports for omitting LTAC restrictions.
  • Councilmember Smokle expressed concerns about rising costs, calling the project a potential "vanity project" and suggesting funds could be directed to projects like completing the Riverwalk Trail.
  • Deputy Mayor Johnson made a motion to approve the $72,581 contract amendment with MIG for the arches' additional design work.
  • Vote: The motion passed on a roll call vote of 4-3.
    • Ayes: Deputy Mayor Johnson, Councilmember King, Councilmember Gilliam, Councilmember Castro.
    • Nays: Councilmember Smokle, Councilmember Adler, Mayor Whitting.

Citizen Comments & Testimony

  • Valerie Dent (District 2): Questioned the lack of state participation in funding tourism improvements on state highways like Meridian.
  • Burt Masker (District 3): Criticized the council for a perceived lack of public engagement and for what he characterized as mistreatment of the public during the project approval process.

Key Outcomes

  • Agenda: Approved unanimously.
  • Gateway Arch Design Amendment: Approved (4-3).
  • Community Grants: Postponed to the next city council meeting (October 14).
  • LTAC Package Delay: Final consideration of the city's LTAC awards package was deferred pending review of a council member initiative.

Meeting Transcript

Council study session for October 13th is called to order. Please stand for the pledge of lead. I pledge allegiance through the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Will the city clerk please call the rule? Councilmember Adler. Present. Deputy Mayor Johnson. Present. Councilmember King. Present. Councilmember Gilliam. Present. Councilmember Castro? Present. Councilmember Smoke. Present. Mayor Whitting. Present. Do we have a motion to approve the agenda? So move. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. We'll move right into our agenda items. We will start off with a budget overview by finance director Barbara Lopez and City Manager Steve Kirkley will give presentations. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. And good evening, Council. Had to do it before Dan said anything. Turn the mic on. It's my pleasure to be in front of you tonight to talk about the 2027-28 preliminary budget. In tonight's presentation, I plan on talking about a bit about the budget process itself and some of the factors that went into that budget. We'll talk about the citywide budget as a whole. That is how you adopt it. So it bears a few moments to talk about that. Then we'll go into a little bit more detail about the general fund budget, which is where the vast majority of our services are provided from. And then lastly, I want to talk a little bit about our priority-based budgeting activities that we accomplished this year and where you can find those in the budget book. So a little bit about the budget process. These are the activities that staff has engaged in throughout the year. We literally started in December of last year of 2025. Track one was our priority-based budgeting activities. We had a first phase that we did with BERC in the last budget biannual budget cycle, but we wanted to take it to phase two.

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