The process began March 3 with budget worksheets to department heads, and concluded Monday, June 22, at a meeting of the Seaside City Council. There was no additional comment from the audience or members of the council unanimously voted to approve the $37.81 million budget for fiscal year 2015-16.

“It’s been a very good year,” said City Manager Mark Winstanley said after the meeting. “Revenue has been better than we expected it would be. Tax collections have been better than we expected them to be. Room taxes have been about 2 percent better than we expected them to be. From a revenue standpoint, it’s been a very good year.

Winstanley attributed a number of reasons for the robust numbers. “The weather’s been very good for us,” Winstanley said. “Lower fuel prices are very important to us. And I’m not sure if people in this area are ready to take trips to Europe or trips to Disneyland. But they do seem to want to vacation, and we seem to be an area they want to come to.”

The budget committee held several meetings throughout April and May before finalizing the proposed budget at its May 12 meeting.

Expenditures in the city’s General Fund, composed of mayor, council, city attorney, business office, library and Community Center, stand at $1,784,773, a reduction of 4.3 percent from the 2014-15 budget.

The tax rate for the Downtown Maintenance District will continue at the same level.

The 2015-16 budget allows for an assistant city manager position starting in January 2016. This will take the place of the finance director position, which the city has not filled since 2010.

The city will forgo any water or sewer rate increases for the third year in a row, as increased usage continues to provide for costs and additional reserves.

The budget also maintains the municipal court clerk position, which was vacant for a year and a half before being filled at the end of 2014.

The city’s budget also accounts for several special revenue funds that are legally restricted to be spent for specific purposes. The special revenue funds include the state tax street fund, the Seaside Downtown Maintenance District, 911 dispatch, economic development, emergency readiness, watershed enhancement and fire equipment.

The Greater Seaside Urban Renewal District, formed under the Seaside Urban Renewal Agency, will “sunset” on June 30, which means 2014-15 is the last year the district has taxing authority, according to Winstanley. That will release approximately $77 million of assessed value to other taxing agencies for 2015-16, and those additional funds will go to the city, schools, Clatsop County and special districts.

Other aspects of the budget include trust and agency funds, capital project funds and enterprise funds. The enterprise funds are for operations that are financed and managed in a manner similar to private enterprises, which means user fees primarily cover costs.

The new budget will fund improvements on North Holladay from 2nd Avenue to 12th Avenue including water, sewer, roads, underground power and sidewalks. The Convention Center will see improvements, as will the airport, and the city will conduct a facilities study to prioritize maintenance and efficiency needs for public buildings.

While construction is still lagging in Seaside, Winstanley said, single-family inventory continues to decline, which should result in increased activity.

“What we see in this area is when revenues go up, business is good,” Winstanley said. “I would anticipate or expect that businesspeople are very happy since we’re seeing very good revenues, they must be seeing some very good revenues.”