St. Helens’ challenging 2024-2025 budget

The City of St. Helens approved its 2024-2025 budget earlier this summer, and the city has needed to rely on “one-time” sources of revenue to avoid undue stress on budget reserves.

The St. Helens budget is $84.7 million, which marks an $8.4 million decrease from last year’s $93 million. The city has been put in a difficult position with the exodus of its biggest taxpayer Cascades Tissue. One area of concern for the city is the dwindling funds in the budget’s general fund.

In an effort to maintain service levels, the city has resorted to “one-time revenue sources,” such as the sale of city-owned property and timber harvest, according to St. Helens City Administrator John Walsh.

“One-time revenues were allocated to the General Fund which supports the police, library, administration, recreation, and parks budgets,” Walsh said. “There needs to be new revenue sources to fund services, especially police, and we need to eliminate our reliance on one-time revenue to cover budget shortages.”

As the city worked to make the best use of available funds, the cutting of two American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded positions in the general fund was necessary. The two positions were an I.T. specialist and a parks administrative assistant. Despite the cost saving measures, the general fund reserve’s balance is predicted to be negative by fiscal year 2026-2027.

When asked for examples of new revenue sources the city will explore to bolster the general fund, Walsh said they are considering increasing the police service fee or going out for another Police Operating Levy. The levy placed on the ballot for St. Helens’ voters in the May 2024 election in Columbia County was rejected by voters of the town, with 1,265 people for the measure and 1,694 against it. Community members have voiced concerns over the council increasing its service fees, as it affects their wallets and bank accounts.

This year will also include raises in service fees across the board for water, sewer, and storm. Utility fees increased according to rate study recommendations. Water increased by 2.9%, sewer by 7.4%, and storm by $0.18. Walsh said that rate increases are required to complete the city’s capital projects and operational costs.

“Rate increases fund both increases in operating expenses and capital projects. Capital projects are identified through the city’s master plans for each service (i.e. water, sewer, storm, street, etc.) and include targeted timelines and priorities,” Walsh said.

The city has also decreased its budgets for the Street, Street SDC, Sewer, and Community Development Funds. Walsh said there are fewer “projects budgeted for fiscal year 2025 than were budgeted for fiscal year 2024 due to projects being completed this year.”

While much of the budget has been focused on cutting back, Walsh did say the city will be seeking employees to staff three job openings that were not filled last year.

“We will fill three public works positions that were left vacant in the prior year,” Walsh said. “These positions are funded through the city’s enterprise funds, which have more stable revenues than the city’s general fund.”

The city’s budget message

In an effort to bring in more sustainable revenues, the city has been working to bring more manufacturing and industry to St. Helens to replace the tax revenue from Cascades Tissue. In the budget message for the 2024-2025 budget, the city shared the following message:

“This year’s budget process has proven exceptionally challenging with difficult decisions necessary to maintain the city’s financial health. The economic challenges from a competitive labor market and increasing costs for materials and supplies are just a piece of our budget challenges. Additionally, the loss of Cascades Tissue has been a major blow to the city and the local economy.

“Staff has strived to present a balanced budget whereby anticipated expenses align with projected revenues, while funding the city’s desired services throughout the community. Just as in our message last year, the fiscal reality is that there is more demand for services than available funding and the city must prioritize its resources to achieve the highest outcomes.”

Find the St. Helens city budget at: https://www.sthelensoregon.gov/finance/page/st-helens-city-budget .