Shoreline's Biennial Budget discussed at Shoreline Council meeting

Shoreline City Manager
Bristol Ellington

By Kathleen Russell

Shoreline City Manager Ellington introduced the transmission of the proposed 2027-2028 Biennial Budget and 2027-2032 Capital Improvement Plan to the Shoreline Council on October 12, 2026. 

Input from Council, City staff, and residents contributed to the budget which comes in at $434.3 million. 

The City Manager confirmed the budget is balanced in all funds and the S&P Global bond rating for Shoreline has been upgraded from AA to AAA, the highest rating. 

The City's focus is to maintain a high level of service using a disciplined approach. The budget includes specific funding for recommended programs but is cautious in adding new staff. 

The City Manager concluded that while the City is not able to fund everything, a good balance has been struck with this budget. The discussion begins at 18:18 on the meeting recording.

City staff provided an overview of the biennial budget including charts and graphs, reviewing revenue and expenses. Though the budget is a hefty 500 pages, it is suggested to view online and search by using “find" for topics of interest.

Link to the 2027-2028 Biennial Budget and Capital Improvement Plan - City of Shoreline
See page 93 for a summary of revenue sources and expenditures.

At the Council meeting on October 19, departments will review their budgets with Council as follows:

• City Council (budget pages 135-140); 
• City Manager’s Office (pages 141-154); 
• Human Resources (pages 155-162); 
• City Attorney (pages 163-170); 
• Parks, Recreation and Community Services (pages 171-180); 
• Administrative Services & Citywide (pages 181-188); 
• Police (pages 189-198); 
• Criminal Justice (pages 199-206); 
• Planning & Community Development (pages 207-216).

In addition, on October 19, staff will present permitting fee options with the recommendation to increase the fees over the next four (4) years (link to page 2 of the staff report).

Budget Review Schedule:

• October 19: Review of department budgets as listed above.
• Link to the Agenda for Council Meeting, October 19, 2026.
• October 26: Review of Public Works, Surface Water and Wastewater Utilities.
• November 2: Public Hearing on the 2027 property tax levy and revenue sources.
• November 2 and 16: Public Hearing on the 2027-2028 proposed Biennial Budget.
• November 16: Potential Council adoption of the 2027-2028 Biennial Budget & CIP; 2027 property tax levy; salary schedules; impact fees; and fee schedules.

Public comment may be made by written comment, or online or in-person comment. 

• Link to the Council Public Comment page.
• The public may also email Council@shorelinewa.gov 
• Include Council meeting date in the email subject line.
• cc: agendacomments@shorelinewa.gov. 

Council Budget Question Matrix. 

• Council provides questions to the City staff via the Matrix which is posted on the agenda page on the Monday of the meeting date. 
• The first Matrix was published on October 12, 2026. Link to the Matrix. 
• The next Matrix will be published on Monday, October 19. Link to the agenda. 
• Questions may be emailed to individual Council members or to Council@shorelinewa.gov. There is no guarantee questions will appear in the Matrix.