Bellevue residents can expect tighter city budgets for the next two years.

Staff told the City Council on June 23 that revenue growth will remain "relatively flat" through 2028, with staff projecting growth resuming in 2029.

The culprits: inflation pushing up the cost of delivering city services, and reduced consumer confidence dragging down sales tax and business and occupation tax collections.

The forecast landed the same night the council held its first public hearing on the 2027–2028 preliminary budget. The budget will go to the council in September, with an additional public hearing on October 27 before a planned November adoption. Residents can track participation opportunities at bellevuewa.gov/budget.

Results from the city's latest budget survey showed findings consistent with 2024: residents still rate quality of life and city services highly. The council directed staff to ensure those top-rated community priorities show up in the proposed budget.

The council also received results of the Electric Grid Capacity Study, conducted with Puget Sound Energy.

The assessment was prompted by Bellevue's Comprehensive Plan targets of adding 35,000 housing units and 70,000 jobs by 2044.

With planned infrastructure improvements, local substations have enough capacity to serve growth through roughly 2036, assuming the city hits those Comprehensive Plan targets. The council will give staff direction on next steps at a future meeting.

Under the Safe Speeds Bellevue program, 64% of affected streets will see a 5-mph reduction, 20% will drop by 10 mph, and 16% will stay the same. Most downtown streets will move to 25 mph; Old Bellevue and the area around Downtown Park will drop to 20 mph. New signs go up starting in 2027.

A separate initiative lowering neighborhood streets from 25 mph to 20 mph begins later this summer.

Pilot corridors tested in 2025 showed a 19–42% reduction in drivers exceeding 40 mph after limits were lowered from 35 mph to 25–30 mph.

The next public hearing on the 2027–2028 budget is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29.