Puyallup City Council Budget Session — October 14, 2026

The Puyallup City Council held a budget study session on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, beginning at 6:30 PM in Council Chambers at City Hall, 333 S. Meridian. All seven council members were present: Mayor Whitting, Deputy Mayor Johnson, and Councilmembers King, Gilliam, Castro, Smolka, and Adler. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mason, an aspiring Eagle Scout. The session addressed community grants carried over from the prior evening, Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budgets for streets, utilities, and parks, two council initiatives, and wrap-up of the two-night budget process.

Consent Calendar

• The agenda was approved by unanimous voice vote, carrying over the community grants discussion from Tuesday's session as agenda Item 1.A.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Valerie Dent (District 2) thanked the council and urged a broader traffic rethink near the Lower Wildwood Park trail entrance at 13th Avenue Southeast and 12th Avenue Southeast. She reported that Cascade Christian Academy grew from 1,100 students at the end of the 2024 school year, to 1,700 at the start of the 2025 school year, to more than 2,000 at the start of the current school year, calling the surrounding 2.5-square-mile area a "racetrack" and emphasizing her long-standing concerns about safety, speed, and finances.

Community Grants (Item 1.A)

• Councilmembers Gilliam, Castro, and Smolka — the community grants subcommittee — reported 24 applications totaling $600,000 in requests against a $180,000 budget. The committee recommended raising the allocation to $190,000 and distributing funds to 14 recipients, nearly double the eight awards made in each of the prior two years (2023: 15 applicants/5 awards; 2024: 12 applicants/4 awards; 2025: 13 applicants/8 awards; 2026: 13 applicants/8 awards).
• The committee said it prioritized local, proven organizations with direct outcomes, avoiding general overhead. Roughly 30% of recommended funding supports food-oriented programs, about 20% supports training or counseling services, and 10% supports clothing; the remainder covers housing, youth, senior, and employment services such as Vlayo Services.
• Councilmember Adler moved to add $10,000 for Communities and Schools of Puyallup, citing the city's funding relationship with the organization since 2005. Mayor Whitting supported the motion, describing tutoring students the previous afternoon through the Golden Bridges program at Karshner Elementary. Councilmembers Gilliam and Smolka expressed openness, while Councilmembers Castro, King, and Deputy Mayor Johnson opposed the motion on process and precedent grounds. Castro noted he served on the original Communities in Schools board in Puyallup in 2002 and that the organization had not received city funding in several recent years.
• The motion to add the $10,000 grant FAILED on a roll call vote: Smolka and Adler in favor; Gilliam, Castro, Johnson, and King opposed; Mayor Whitting's vote was not recorded.
• Deputy Mayor Johnson then moved to accept the committee's recommendations as presented. That motion FAILED 3–4 (Adler, Johnson, and Whitting in favor; Castro, Smolka, King, and Gilliam opposed).
• Councilmember Gilliam moved to refer the matter back to the committee with direction to stay within the $180,000 budget while including support for Communities and Schools. The motion PASSED 5–2.

Capital Improvement Projects — Streets & Utilities

• City Engineer Hans Unger presented the CIP budget, describing prioritization factors: council initiatives, resident requests, aging infrastructure, growth capacity, regulatory requirements, adopted plans, and grant competitiveness. He noted the city is heavily reliant on grants for street projects, with nearly all street projects needing grant funding to move forward.
• Ongoing projects include: 4th Street NW storm improvements (Stage 2); replacement of a collapsing concrete sewer pipe identified through CCTV inspection; 7th Avenue SE sidewalks (utility relocations occupied about nine months before sidewalk construction began); a third secondary clarifier at the sewer treatment plant (a roughly $7 million project); seismic retrofits of two water tanks (one FEMA-funded, one grant pending); 5th Avenue NW improvements including porous asphalt; the Meeker Street parking lot expansion; AMI water meter replacement; and fish-passage culvert replacements, including a $7 million grant for Deer Creek culverts.
• Unger said five project managers each carry workloads of more than 10 projects and credited the grants coordinator with making the city more competitive, comparing the role to an orchestra conductor.

Parks & Recreation Capital Projects

• Parks, Recreation and Facilities Director Cody Geddes presented the parks CIP update. The Wildwood Park Master Plan is underway; for the project, the LaBelle property is being called "Lower Wildwood." A public open house is scheduled for Wednesday, November 4, 2026, from 5–7 PM at Pioneer Park Pavilion, with concepts expected for council in early 2027.
• The Minnick Trail connecting Upper Wildwood to Lower Wildwood is about 50% complete on its first phase; an easement with MultiCare was finalized, construction is underway with Washington Trails Association, and the trail is expected to open in early 2027.
• The Bradley Lake playground replacement project ranked 20th of 58 projects in an RCO grant application; if the funding line holds, the city will receive a $500,000 match on top of the council-approved $500,000, making a $1 million project, with construction hoped for in fall 2027.
• The Parks Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan is expected to come to council in early 2027; adopting it alongside the comprehensive plan update would extend state grant eligibility to eight years.
• Demolition at Puyallup Skate Park began in September, with reopening hoped before the end of the year. Facility updates: Pavilion AV upgrades and Giorgio's roof replacement are complete; the Memorial Center roof and HVAC work is nearly complete; Public Works and library HVAC work is ongoing.
• Geddes noted the city operates 19 parks within roughly 14 square miles serving about 43,000 residents, including a five-mile loop trail. The seasonal park ranger, Chris Medlin, worked through the summer; Deputy Mayor Johnson suggested exploring a year-round ranger position.

Council Initiatives

• Mayor Whitting proposed a feasibility study for an experiential arts center: four to six studios (painting, pottery, glass blowing, stained glass, jewelry, printmaking, and more), a classroom, and a gift shop, potentially anchored by the Fred Oldfield Western Heritage and Arts Center. Councilmember Castro cautioned that similar past efforts and incubator models became bureaucratic. Councilmember Gilliam called the vision too vague, and Councilmember King estimated such a study could cost $200,000–$250,000.
• Deputy Mayor Johnson moved to authorize the Arts Commission and Arts Downtown to independently and collaboratively develop ideas for positioning Puyallup as an arts destination city. The motion PASSED by voice vote; Mayor Whitting voted in favor "with a high degree of skepticism," and City Manager Kirkley was directed to arrange a meeting with the two organizations.
• Mayor Whitting also presented a Chamber of Commerce business growth accelerator proposal: a 12-week program covering business assessment, planning, financial literacy, marketing, and digital marketing, budgeted at $50,000 for a contracted facilitator plus about $69,000 for Chamber administration (about $119,000 total), with no participant fees. Councilmember Gilliam questioned the lack of participant investment, and Councilmember Castro said the field is already crowded with resources such as the WSU Small Business Development Centers. The motion to proceed received no second and was declared dead.

Wrap-Up and Next Steps

• City Manager Steve Kirkley said the preliminary budget will go to first reading and a public hearing at the regular council meeting on October 27, 2026, with the community grants committee follow-up work to be completed beforehand.
• Mayor Whitting summarized the budget: balanced with no new taxes and only the routine 1% property tax increase; the city receives 10.4% of the property tax bill; the average residential property tax is projected to decline from $567 (2026) to $564 (2027); the reserve stands at 15%; police and public works account for 30% and 25% of staffing, respectively; seven new positions are proposed while FTEs per 1,000 residents remain at 7.6; 2027 streets funding totals $9.2 million, including an additional $400,000 from tier-three funds; and $1.5 million is committed to the public safety radio system. He contrasted Puyallup with Tacoma's reported $40 million deficit and Lynnwood's $20 million debt.
• Deputy Mayor Johnson urged council members to be measured in public statements about city finances, and Councilmember Adler thanked staff for producing a balanced budget.

Key Outcomes

• Agenda approved unanimously.
• Motion to add $10,000 for Communities and Schools of Puyallup FAILED (2–4 on roll call; Mayor's vote not recorded).
• Motion to accept the community grants committee's recommendations as presented FAILED 3–4.
• Motion to refer community grants back to the committee, staying within budget while including Communities and Schools, PASSED 5–2.
• Motion to commission the Arts Commission and Arts Downtown to develop an arts destination vision PASSED by voice vote.
• Business growth accelerator proposal died for lack of a second.
• Next step: preliminary budget first reading and public hearing on October 27, 2026.