City Council Adopts $181 Million Budget for Fiscal Year 2022

The Corvallis City Council voted Monday to approve an annual budget totaling $181,346,700 for Fiscal Year 2022. Council’s action was the final step in the City’s annual budget process, which began in May with a series of Budget Commission meetings and included extensive deliberations, analysis and public input.

The new budget goes into effect on July 1, when the City of Corvallis begins its new fiscal year.

The new budget arrives after an extraordinary year for Corvallis and the nation. Almost overnight, the COVID-19 pandemic turned daily life upside down for many community members. Public health measures intended to combat the pandemic took a toll on the Corvallis community and the City organization.

Across the City, essential staff moved quickly to implement creative solutions to continue delivering services during the pandemic. Entire divisions switched over to remote work without missing a beat. Offices and facilities were reconfigured to encourage physical distancing. City staff helped stand up a joint Emergency Operations Center with Benton County during the early days of the pandemic. Beloved local institutions, such as the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library and Majestic Theatre, embraced alternative ways of delivering services that soon became indispensable for many people in the community.

The Fiscal Year 2022 budget arrives as the community is beginning to emerge from the pandemic, and the City is just beginning to reckon with the long-term financial impacts of the pandemic. While the City was able to avoid instituting a hiring freeze last year, the new budget includes some expenditures of reserves to shore up revenue shortfalls.

“After a year that has challenged us in ways we couldn’t have imagined, I am pleased to report that the City has a balanced budget heading into the next fiscal year,” said City Manager Mark Shepard. “Assisting our community during the pandemic was a humbling and extraordinarily rewarding experience that is shared by all City employees.”

For more information on the budget for the City of Corvallis, go to www.corvallisoregon.gov/budget.