Voters in Yakima will decide in November whether to authorize a $6 million levy to cover a sizable portion of the city’s anticipated 2026 budget deficit, preventing deep cuts in public safety and recreation services.
The Yakima City Council voted 4-3 in late July to bring the levy referendum to voters in the general election ballot. The vote came after Council members considered several options to address the $9 million deficit, including covering it entirely through budget cuts.
The levy requires a majority-plus-one vote to pass.
Even if the levy passes, the city will still have to cut $3 million in spending. The proposed cuts include eliminating crime-analyst positions in the Yakima Police Department, reducing funds for downtown beautification efforts, reduced operation of several city-run community centers, closing or reducing hours for local pools and eliminating funding for economic development efforts.
If voters reject the levy, the city will have to make deeper cuts to public safety and parks and recreation services that include eliminating entire police and fire departments, closing a fire station and eliminating dozens of positions.
Three Council members voted against bringing a levy before voters: assistant mayor Matt Brown, Leo Roy and Reedy Berg.
Roy’s and Berg’s elections to the Yakima City Council in 2023 helped lead to a conservative supermajority of five to two. Addressing anticipated multimillion-dollar budget deficits was a major issue in the 2023 Council election.
However, two members of that conservative majority — Mayor Patricia Byers and Councilman Rick Glenn, who also won election in 2023 — voted for the levy resolution.
The levy will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.
