City unveils $46M budget

The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening gave preliminary approval to a budget of almost $46 million for 2025.

The budget can pass with a vote at the council’s meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Shelton Civic Center. No one stepped up to the microphone at the public hearing.

The proposed budget totals $45,902,596, with a general fund appropriation of $16,789,551. The state requires that the budget be approved by the end of the year.

The proposed 2025 budget is $1.9 million higher — a 4.3% increase — than the adopted 2024 general fund budget.

“This is our road map and strategic map for the next year,” said Mike Githens, the city’s finance director.

The city’s proposed $45,902,596 budget includes $16,829,551 for the general fund, $2,377,749 for the street fund, $535,000 for the Transportation Benefit District, $23,000 for general resources, $97,000 for tourism funds, $181,300 for the bond fund, $6,017,072 for the capital improvement fund, $4,233,864 for the water fund, $8,452,254 for the sewer fund, $50,000 for the solid waste fund, $2,263,176 for the storm drainage fund, $763,500 for the water capital fund, $1,303,500 for the sewer capital fund, $272,500 for the storm drainage capital fund, $160,350 for the payroll benefits fund, $1,260,668 for the equipment rental fund, $80,600 for the firefighters’ pension fund, $30,000 for the library endowment fund, and $971,512 for real estate excise tax.

The proposed ending fund balance would be $18,048,508.

In his budget overview, City Manager Mark Ziegler wrote that, “Following an adopted 2024 budget that realized staffing and service reductions, the 2025 budget will rely on general fund balance to focus on core general fund services such as maintaining a viable workforce, public safety, and asset management.

“Not diminished are the critical services of enterprise funds to provide safe, clean drinking water and wastewater treatment. The coming year will see a continued focus on bringing water storage issues to a resolution and intentional prioritization of future planning and maintenance and operation efforts to avoid future service connection limitations.”

The street projects in the proposed budget include rebuilding Olympic Highway North from C Street to Wallace Kneeland Boulevard, downtown sidewalk replacement and repairs, and $150,000 in paving projects prioritized by the newly completed Pavement Condition Index study and funded through taxes collected for the Transportation Benefit District.

The proposed public safety budget includes replacing three patrol vehicles, purchasing tactical equipment and providing additional training for a SWAT officer.