POULSBO — All the noise being generated from ongoing construction in Olhava will eventually translate into a financial windfall, but city officials aren’t counting on it prematurely.

City departmental budgets for 2006 should remain much the same as last year’s with few changes, said Finance Director Nanci Lien.

“While we’re aware of Olhava, we probably won’t see anything from it until 2007,” Lien said.

Although Wal-Mart and The Home Depot could have a positive impact on things like sales tax revenue and other revenue sources, those potential funds are not being factored into the city’s 2006 budget, she explained.

“Everyone’s budget will be pretty much the same as last year’s with a few baseline adjustments,” Lien said.

Those funding adjustments will go before the city council’s finance/administration committee for recommended approval before moving to the full council in October, she said.

“The finance committee really wants those adjustments broken into discretionary and non-discretionary categories,” she explained, noting that non-discretionary adjustments are those required by governmental mandates.

Just as important as baseline budget adjustment requests from department heads is getting public input earlier in the budget process, she said.

“When we get it in November, it’s really too late because the process is pretty much complete by then,” she said.

However, if residents have any budget issues they would like to see addressed, now is the perfect time to voice those concerns to council members, Lien explained.

“We’ve had a few people already speak up at finance committee meetings but we’d like to see more,” she said, adding that finance committee meetings are on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.

Another important thing for people to remember as the city begins preparing its budget is that the property tax revenue increase is capped at 1 percent more than last year’s revenue, Lien said.

Councilman Ed Stern, who chairs the finance/administration committee, emphasized the fact that the city is not budgeting on Olhava in its 2006 calculations.

“We don’t count our chickens until the eggs hatch,” Stern explained. “We’re not budgeting on any windfall as such.”

While Olhava could provide a financial boost for the city in 2006, the earliest it would factor into budget deliberations would be 2007, he said.

“Our projections are based on the previous year’s costs and revenues and are adjusted for the cost of living and inflation,” he remarked.

With that philosophy, city departments are expected to maintain their current levels of service and any expenses beyond those adjustments will be reviewed on an individual basis by the council, Stern said.

However, departments will not have to worry about budgeting for rising fuel costs, he said.

“Those hard costs pass right through the budget right now, and that policy was approved by the council,” he explained, noting that in order to maintain the current levels of service, departments must have their energy costs met.