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SALT LAKE CITY — Members of the Salt Lake City Council applauded after unanimously approving a record $425.5 million budget that includes major investments in affordable housing, public safety and employee compensation.
"This was a long and important budget (with) a lot of the new things that we discussed," Salt Lake City Council Vice Chairman Darin Mano said moments after the vote Tuesday evening.
The vast majority of the budget goes toward employee salary and benefits, such as health insurance, pension contributions and worker's compensation. The new budget offers a 4.5% pay increase for many employees, according to city officials. The increase helps the city maintain employees in a competitive market, city council members explained in a public meeting earlier this month.
As for other items in the budget, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall touted the $20.1 million in the budget that will go toward affordable housing.
The budget also sets aside $100,000 to provide public transit passes for K-12 students at no charge to them and more electric vehicle charging stations. Utah Transit Authority officials approved the K-12 partnership with the city during a meeting last week.
The budget also provides "game-changing investments in public safety" by creating a new civilian response police team that will be assigned lower-priority calls so uniformed officers can focus on active crimes, the mayor said. The team makes up most of the increase in the nearly $104 million dedicated to the city's police department.
The city's new park ranger program is even included in the budget, though funds for that are covered by American Rescue Plan funds. The entire budget can be viewed online here.
Most of the final budget mirrors what Mendenhall proposed on May 3, including a 4.9% increase in property taxes for city residents, as well as a 15% bump in sewer, water, stormwater and garbage collection services. The latter of the two was predetermined years ago to help fund the city's new $800 million water reclamation plant set to go online in 2025.
The new tax is expected to cost an additional $130.45 per year for a median-valued home of $520,000.
Prior to the vote, Salt Lake City Councilwoman Ana Valdemoros said she was "reluctantly in favor" of the plan, citing "doubts" tied to the tax increase given increases in tax revenue and federal funds. However, the growth of the city led to her final decision on the budget.
"I also understand that we are a growing city with additional needs for service that we cannot completely cover with those revenues," she said. "That's why, I feel, that as stewards of the budget, we can do both."
She contends the city will look at other ways to find revenue without additional property taxes in the future, while also auditing all the new and ongoing services to make sure they are efficient.
The city will hold a Truth in Taxation hearing on Aug. 16 that will go over the tax increases.
