City of Redmond proposes $342 million 2024-25 budget; airport expansion, wetlands and Eastside Arterial among top projects

Others include Public Safety Facility, Dry Canyon Park upgrade; budget hearing June 11

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Redmond City Council plans a June 11 public hearing on its proposed $341.9 million 2024-25 budget, a nearly 10% increase from the current year amid a host of major capital projects in the growing community, including the takeoff of a $170 million airport terminal expansion.

“The 2024/25 budget brings additional staffing and infrastructure projects to meet the community’s significant growth (30% over the past five years) while ensuring city operating funds remain in solid financial footing,” a budget summary legal notice published Sunday stated.

 The $85 million budgeted as operating funds for the upcoming fiscal year is dwarfed by nearly $130 million to be spent on capital projects, the budget recommended for approval by the city Budget Committee shows.

“The 2024/25 budget preserves financial strength while addressing staff workload, compensation, keeping up on infrastructure maintenance and equipment replacements, and large-scale growth-related projects, including three ‘half-century’ projects: the Public Safety Facility, the Redmond Wetlands Complex and the Airport Terminal Building Expansion,” the summary stated.

Redmond officials noted that the city’s property tax revenue has doubled in the last decade, allowing the city to support various growth-related needs, improve services “and help address staffing deficiencies in the three main components of the General Operating Funds: Police, Transportation and Parks.”

Utility rates are rising about 5% overall in the coming year to help address capacity issues, as the city begins the estimated $83 million wetlands project, mostly funded through long-term debt to be paid by system development charges and ratepayers.

The Redmond Municipal Airport is seeing passengers at another record level, about 1.2 million a year, “which translates to a strong financial posture” for the terminal building expansion.

The city said Police Department funding is also increasing, as its staffing has grown by almost 20% over the past five years “with the goal of balancing workload, officer safety and time for proactive enforcement.” Two more officers are being added in 2024/25, as well as a records specialist. The budget includes $37 million to complete the voter-approved Public Safety Facility.

In another high-profile area, the city’s budget directs about $14 million to street improvement projects, including design and construction of the Eastside Arterial, an alternative route to Highway 97, which will bring an extension of SE Ninth Street through the former Juniper Golf Course and two roundabouts at SE Veterans/Airport Way and SE Ninth Street/Highway 126.

Other projects in the Redmond budget include a $2.6 million overhaul of the Central Dry Canyon Park, adding enhancements such as parking, restrooms and a pedestrian pathway, and upgraded playground equipment at Fairhaven Neighborhood Park.

Redmond also plans irrigation technology investments to reduce city parks’ water consumption and the construction of several Water Wise demonstration projects “to both better understand conservation techniques and provide examples to share with the public.

The city council approved a new 12.5% rental car tax earlier this year, to help fund transportation projects.

Officials also will be meeting with stakeholders in coming weeks about a proposed significant hike in the transportation System Development Charge (SDC), more than doubling from the current $5,160 to a range of $11,000 to $15,000. The goal is to help cover a funding gap for several road projects, roundabouts and other improvements. It would not be adopted until this fall at the earliest, and likely would be phased in, officials said.

The city of more than 38,000 residents is adding 18 positions overall in the new budget, for a total full-time equivalent of 271 employees.

You can view the proposed 2024-25 budget and those for past years at this page.