While the City of Auburn collected 11% more revenue for its general fund as of June 30, 2025, than it took in by the same period in 2024, on the flip side, it has collected 5% less than it did over the first six months of 2024.
Yet, as Auburn’s financial director Jamie Thomas told the Auburn City Council at its Sept. 8 study session, a significant part of the difference is the $4.2 million in one-time transfers the city injected into the general fund over the first six months of 2024.
“If we remove those (large) one-time revenue sources from the analysis,” Thomas said, “we actually are favorable by $1.6 million, if you are looking at our revenue collected to date.”
Thomas spoke as she guided council members through the second quarter 2025 financial report for the general fund.
Every quarter, the city summarizes its year-to-date revenues and expenditures and compares what it has budgeted from its major revenue streams. The General Fund is of key importance, as it pays for the baseline costs of municipal services, like maintaining and covering community services. It is the primary funding source for operations and programs the city considers key to residents’ well-being and the city’s physical condition.
• Property taxes make up the city’s most significant revenue stream. In fact, up to 32% of the total taxes, and the $25 million the city budgeted for 2025 year-to-date is on schedule, Thomas said, and she expects the city to finish 2025 still on schedule.
• The retail sales and use tax, the second largest revenue stream, makes up 29% of the city’s total taxes. And from it, the city budgeted $22.6 million year-to-date, and has collected $252,000 more than it had expected. The upshot is that the city is 2 percent over budget and has collected $142,000 more than it did by June 30, 2024. Indeed, it is outperforming 2024 by 1%.
• The Business and Occupation tax makes up 13% of the total budgeted tax, with $10 million budgeted in 2025. To date, the city has collected $7.1 million, which includes the fourth quarter of 2024 taxes that were due by Jan. 31, and the 2024 annual filings that were due in April of this year.
There is still about a 64-36% breakdown between what the city collects in gross receipts tax versus square footage tax. Businesses only pay one or the other, not both, and the majority of the $7.1 million of the B&O tax collected to date comes from the gross receipts tax. In fact, the city has outperformed its year-to-date budget by $1.8 million, although $1.18 million of that amount is actually past due B&O taxes from prior years the city has collected.
As expected, the construction sector is lagging behind last year’s revenues, Thomas said.
“Really, what’s carrying us is that 1%, and that (auto sales) continue to outperform the year-to-year budget and actuals,” Thomas said.
While the city has under-spent its budgeted expenditures by 14% this year, Thomas said, it has spent 4% more than it did to date in 2024. In total, it has spent $2.8 million more in 2025 than it has collected.
“What that is saying is that we are spending down some of that fund balance — we did budget for that — but I am just pointing out that we are now starting to eat away at some of that fund balance that we know in the next four to six years will be gone,” Thomas said.
While historically, the city collected utility taxes only from its own internal water, sewer, and storm utilities, and from external utilities such as television, electricity, cable, natural gas, and telephone, since early 2023 it has collected revenue from the Lakehaven Water District and from cities like Bonney Lake and Kent, which provide water, sewer and storm services to Auburn residents.
“That has resulted in our out-performing our year-to-date collections and our budget … by $1.8 million, which really has to do with collecting more water, sewer and storm than we had expected and budgeted for,” Thomas said.
Councilmember Lisa Sturgis asked how Auburn’s “being ahead of plan on salaries … is affecting major public services right now in having those openings, or how are we feeling on recruitment and filling those positions?”
“I don’t know if I’m the one to answer the pinch that we’re feeling on the recruitment and retention side,” Thomas answered, “so I’m thinking, if we’re looking at public safety vs. other parts of the city, from the finance department’s standpoint, we’re fully staffed and we’ve been fully staffed…for years. But I do know the human resources department is pretty diligent about keeping recruitments lean, so as soon as a supervisor or manager posts a vacant position, they’re on it. The turnover if there’s a vacancy is actually pretty quick.”
