The city of Renton is increasing property taxes and cutting its electronic home monitoring program in its 2026 budget adjustments.
On Nov. 3, the Renton City Council approved three ordinances to alter the revenue and expenses in 2026: 2026 Property Tax Levy, 2026 Property Tax and 2026 Budget Adjustment.
The first ordinance establishes the property tax levy for 2026 for general city operation purposes at $26,770,023. The amount includes new construction and improvements to property, a re-levy of prior year refunds and any increase in the value of state-assessed property.
The second ordinance authorizes a one percent increase in the property tax for 2026. In a presentation earlier this year, Renton Finance Administrator Kari Roller said this will result in an estimated $5 tax increase for the median household.
The third ordinance amends the city’s 2025/2026 biennial budget to increase the budgeted revenues by $64,410,655 and the budgeted expenditures by $76,520,979. This ordinance also authorizes position changes, amends the 2025 salary table and adopts the 2026 table, authorizes separation pay for eliminated positions. This ordinance was passed with a 6-3 split decision, with Councilmembers Kim-Khánh Văn and Carmen Rivera voting against the adoption.
The reason for the disagreement was because of the elimination of the city’s electronic home monitoring program and the firing of two employees the ordinance will authorize. The program allows defendants to serve all or part of their pre-trial or sentenced time at home.
“I really believe through the discussion and the hearing that we’ve had the last few weeks that with such a policy change, it calls for us to reflect and pause where there’s no rush in this,” Văn said prior to the vote. “It might take staff a week or two to redo adjusting the biennial budget, but if we are not listening to our community and getting the data from it, I think that is something that is a concern.”
Rivera proposed the dissolution of the program goes against the city’s business plan in several ways. She said they will see a drop in services around DUIs and misdemeanor court by not offering home detention services in-house.
“When it comes to facilitating successful communities through neighborhood involvement, we have not been able to effectively involve the community or do that in the decision-making process here,” Rivera said.
Rivera said they also have not actively sought out grants to pay for the program. She then pointed out the two employees whose positions will be cut and were attending the meeting.
“They are 30 years our employees. By saying yes to this budget, we are firing them six years before their retirement, then hiring two CED positions. That is not equitable. That is not in line with our business plan,” Rivera said.
Rivera proposed an amendment to hold off on defunding the program and positions until the next budget cycle. The council voted 3-4 on the amendment, failing the motion. Councilmember Ryan McIrvin joined Văn and Rivera in voting in favor delaying the elimination of the program.
The Renton Reporter previously reported Renton Police Department Chief Jon Schuldt said the department decided to discontinue EHM services after a thorough and lengthy review, which made it clear that the program is not fiscally viable nor responsible to continue. Schuldt said it is his responsibility to ensure the department is being a good steward of its budget, and the program’s costs made it inefficient to continue.
As previously reported, according to data provided by the Renton Police Department, the EHM program ended with a $294,000 deficit, and it’s expected to end with a $311,000 deficit through 2025. According to the data, the program has had a deficit of over $200,000 every year since 2020, as well as a $199,000 deficit in 2019. The total deficit since 2019 has totaled over $2 million, according to the data. Auburn and Burien were estimated to account for about 80% of 2025 revenues, according to the data. However, the data states that the revenue from people who are in Renton’s court system has been decreasing.
According to the Renton Police Guild, it’s possible those employees can transition to another position within the Renton Police Department, but the process is ongoing. They previously said the city’s use of private contractors instead of having its own EHM program will be done at the expense of public safety, personalized service and the rehabilitation rate.
“The Guild feels more could have been done to keep the program. The primary problem at the moment is Renton is being ‘paid back’ at a 20% rate by the participants in our program,” the guild stated. “We were just told the program was ending at the end of the year. One would think this could have been done in stages, starting several years ago by defining certain benchmarks that would have to be hit.”
