It is budget season and municipalities are diligently preparing their spending plans for 2027. The City of Washington is delivering good news to its residents. There will be no tax increase in 2027. Councilman Ken Westcott is Council’s Director of Accounts and Finance and he delivered that good news at the City’s agenda setting meeting for November. The spending plan is for nearly $17.3 million dollars. That is an increase in spending of nearly two million dollars. The budget is balanced and comes with a nearly $300,000 carryover from last year. Westcott credits refinancing decisions that saved the city money to invest in certificates of deposit and other investment vehicles. The city saved $200,000 in overtime costs from the fire department and pension subsidies decreased by $300,000. Westcott says the paving program will be the big ticket spending item next year and council will continue to study the possibility of a public safety building for police and fire departments. The budget will be formally adopted in December.