Enumclaw’s tentative budget for the coming year is an interesting document where optimism and reality sit side-by-side.

Released a week ago by Mayor Liz Reynolds, the 2015 spending plan hints at better times on the  horizon, but delivers bad news in the form of higher tax rates and utility bills for residents.

Of course, the mayor’s plan is something of a living, breathing document that can be massaged and manipulated by members of the city council. Reynolds and her administrative team have done their part by putting together a comprehensive plan of collections and expenditures; now, it’s up to the seven members of the council to exert their influence.

Over the course of the next seven weeks the council will discuss, debate and take public comment. A final vote is slated for early December.

Reynolds’ budget message immediately sets a tone reflected by cities and towns everywhere as the country pulls out of a multi-year recession.

“Though I am required by state law to submit a balanced budget, it is by no means to be interpreted as a healthy budget,” the mayor writes in her opening paragraph. “This budget reflects the continued financial struggles of balancing revenues with expenditures.”

Severe cutbacks by the federal and state governments, Reynolds writes, have placed “a crippling financial strain on our community.”

Here are some highlights of the mayor’s proposed budget:

• The city is looking at a property tax rate for 2015 of slightly more than $1.58 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That, combined with property values creeping upward, means property owners will be paying more in the coming year.

• Sales taxes collected by the city are anticipated to grow, a sign of a recovering economy.

• Utility taxes also are expected to increase, meaning another hit to household budgets. The tax on natural gas is proposed to jump by 1 percent. The water and wastewater utilities, hit hard by the lack of residential development within the city’s borders, are proposed to see 2 percent increases.

Outside agencies still getting some help

An interesting part of each year’s budget is the allocation made to groups doing good work on behalf of the community. That sum has waned since 2008.

This year’s preliminary budget shows financial help totaling $111,000. Auburn Youth and Family Services is in line for the biggest piece of the pie, or $60,000.  Plateau Outreach Ministries looks to get $25,000; Neighbors Feeding Neighbors has been earmarked for $5,000; and the Enumclaw  Historical Society looks to get $1,500. Under the heading of “Community Development,” the Chamber of Commerce and Green River Community College figure to receive $10,000 each.

Aside from those apportionments, both the Chamber of Commerce and Arts Alive! will receive subsidies on their rent. Both occupy city-owned space on Cole Street.

Public has opportunity to speak

The public will have several opportunities to speak as the council addresses different parts of the budget.

A public hearing on revenue sources, including the setting of the 2015 property tax levy, will take place Oct. 27. The first public hearing on the preliminary budget is set for Nov. 10, a second public hearing takes place Nov. 24. Adoption of the 2015 budget is planned for Dec. 8.