Budget

Fiscal Year 2024 Proposed Budget

Message from the Mayor

 It is my pleasure to present the Fiscal Year 2024 Proposed Budget for the City of Whitehall for the period beginning January 1, 2024 and ending December 31, 2024. 

This budget document comes at a time of organizational transition as I enter my final weeks serving as Whitehall’s Mayor. While leadership is changing, this budget document reflects the City’s steadfast commitment to serving the Whitehall community with integrity, passion and financial responsibility.

2023 was a challenging year for the City financially as changes in income tax withholding had a direct and negative result on revenue and cash flow. Thanks to City Council and multiple leaders throughout the organization, difficult but necessary decisions were made to protect the City’s financial outlook by way of staff reductions, project deferrals and other tools. Because of these efforts, the City was able to absorb the revenue shortfall and projections show the General Fund balance $400,000 lower than budgeted for last year. 

While this budget assumes income tax revenue increasing in 2024, a number of reductions in spending are planned to ensure that the City maintains cash flow and a strong General Fund balance. And as a result of years of sound financial planning, multiple capital accounts have accumulated healthy fund balances, which will allow meaningful investments into fleet, technology and infrastructure with or without transfers from the General Fund. New this year, the appropriating legislation accompanying this spending plan reflect that transfers to capital accounts will be delayed until July 2024 to help ensure appropriate cash flow and allow the Auditor’s Office to analyze actual income tax revenue mid-year. Should income tax revenue fall short of projections, the transfers could be deferred further. Despite this cautious spending plan, the City is leveraging State and Federal funding, the new water and sewer utility surcharge and proceeds from recent bond sales to complete aggressive infrastructure improvements in 2024. 

Finally, this budget also incorporates a number of goals and action items that were adopted as part of the City’s new Strategic Plan. More information on the planned capital and Strategic Plan projects are detailed further throughout this document.

Budget in Brief 

Check out the draft Budget in Brief, representing the proposed spending plan in an easy-to-read, infographic-based format....Note that this document is subject to change pending revisions to the proposed budget.