BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Bellingham is facing a roughly $3 million budget deficit as the city is seeing less revenue than it expected.

Finance Director Andy Asbjornsen detailed the both the current and potential finances in a presentation to the city council during a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday, July 15.

He said flattening revenues are posing a risk to the city’s economic growth, as spending has not caught up with the increased costs of labor and service.

The city’s 2023-2024 biennial budget accounts for the multiple projects that have yet to begin, and the ARPA funds that the city will only have access to until the end of the year.

The biggest over expenditures in departments were in the police and fire departments.

Council President Daniel Hammill says that the city’s growth is a factor in why Bellingham is seeing a deficit similar to those seen during a recession.

“We constantly being outstripped and outpaced,” Hammill said following Asbjornsen’s presentation. “We continue to grow – it’s what, like 1,600 people per year or maybe a little more – and this also makes the case for infilling: spreading out means we have to provide more services further out; that means more fire, more police [and] municipal services.”

Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu announced a three month-long hiring freeze on Monday, July 15 because of a similar budget shortfall at the county level.