Bellingham finished 2024 ahead of full cost
Revenue exceeded the full cost of running the city by 9.0%, a decline from recent years. The latest figure is partial because some cost components weren't available for this year.
Full-cost gap by year
Share of annual revenueAbove zero means revenue covered the measured full cost; below zero means it did not.
The General Fund collected $163.0M
Business taxes supplied the largest share of General Fund revenue (26.2%).
- Per resident
- $1,676
- From taxes
- 69.8%
- Business taxes26.2%
- Sales and use taxes22.1%
- Intergovernmental18.6%
- Other revenue33.1%
The General Fund spent $164.8M
Public safety and Cultural and recreation accounted for 63.0% of spending. Every other department shared the remaining 37.0%.
- Per resident
- $1,694
- Public safety46.1%
- Cultural and recreation16.9%
- All other departments37.0%
The city held 4.8 months of spending in reserve
The source data classifies that level as green, and the recent direction was declining.
Important context: Bellingham’s unrestricted financial position was a deficit of $10.1M, or $104 per resident. Reserves and unrestricted position measure different parts of fiscal health, so both matter.