Leavenworth eyes high personnel costs in 2027-2028 budget preview

LEAVENWORTH — Personnel costs are expected to increase nearly 10% in Leavenworth’s next two-year budget, which staff says is the city’s highest cost center.

This comes as staff requests three additional full-time positions, saying limited capacity continues to constrain the pace of capital projects.

City Administrator Matthew Selby presented an early look at the 2027-2028 budget during the Sept. 8 City Council meeting, warning that the city will also need to account for weaker sales and lodging tax revenue.

The 2027-2028 budget is expected to increase personnel costs by about 9.4%. Selby projects a rise from $6.76 million in 2026 to $7.4 million due to cost-of-living adjustments, step increases and longevity increases.

However, that number could amount to just under $7.8 million if three additional full-time positions are approved for the parking and public works departments.

Although the city has expanded its total full-time positions from 29 in 2019 to 50 in 2026, Selby noted that capital spending has remained constrained by staff capacity. 

“This organization tends to be really ambitious with how we budget capital. We put a lot of projects on the plate. We put a lot of money in the budget to realize them. But the truth of the matter is, we don't have the staff to implement the amount of things that we want to do at the pace that we want to do them,” said Selby.

For the parking department, Selby proposed a parking administrative assistant position, which would be funded entirely by the Parking Fund.

“We're adding all these programs that take a lot of backend work, and [the parking program manager]...She needs some administrative assistance dedicated to administrative work,” said Selby.

In Public Works, city staff are looking to add an operations & maintenance (O&M) manager, paid for by a mix of operating, utility, lodging-tax and equipment funds, as well as an engineer technician, which would be funded through street, water, sewer, garbage and lodging tax dollars.

Additionally, Selby said staff are being asked to build the 2027-28 budget around a roughly 10% decline in sales and lodging-tax revenue from 2025 levels, as he does not expect the trend to improve during the next biennium. However, he added that the city is expected to enter the next biennium budget with strong liquidity; citywide cash increased from approximately $26 million in January 2025 to $30 million in July 2026.

“But don't think because we have 30 million dollars sitting in investments that we're flush with cash, because a lot of that has already been budgeted for future projects,” said Selby.

About $8 million is committed to major projects continuing into the next biennium, and another $8 million is required for emergency reserves, according to Selby.

As the biennium budget continues to take shape, more work is left to confirm priorities, review personnel, reconcile requests, and refine revenue. The council will provide feedback and help shape the direction of the budget before ultimate approval by the end of the year, according to Selby.

“When we revisit this, what I would hope to glean is…What does our town get for spending that money and having the extra employees?” said Councilmember Mike Bedard.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media