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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall says she believes there's an "electric atmosphere" in the city over the "infinite possibilities that lie ahead," after the recent announcement of a new push to bring a Major League Baseball team to Utah's capital city
Salt Lake City, she says, continues to recover strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic, as residents and businesses benefit from the state's strong economy and quality of life rankings. It's not just MLB — the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games is close to filing the paperwork needed to host either the 2030 or 2034 Winter Olympics, and Salt Lake City could even end up with a National Hockey League team in the future, too.
"I have never been more confident in the strength of our city than I am today," she said, speaking to members of the Salt Lake City Council Tuesday evening.
Despite the recent developments, she said there is still plenty of room for improvement and serious issues to tackle, such as housing affordability, road safety and the environmental challenges tied to drought and the Great Salt Lake. These topics are also outlined in a $444.5 million budget she's proposing for the upcoming 2024 fiscal year.
The mayor's request includes another $10 million toward affordable housing investment spending and $20.5 million toward road and sidewalk improvements, as well as some money to help piece together a plan to create a new Great Salt Lake shoreline preservation area.
"This year's recommended budget charts a path forward to further strengthen the foundation we've built while recognizing the continued growth of our city population and resident needs," she said.
The budget goes up but no new taxes
If untouched, the proposal would be about a 4.4% increase from the record $425.5 million budget that the City Council approved ahead of the current fiscal year. Mendenhall explained that most of the increase is tied to inflation, which had climbed to 8.5% by the start of the 2023 fiscal year.
She added that labor and utility costs rose by $8 million over the past year; however, she's not requesting the City Council raise property taxes to adjust for the changes, especially since the city's sales tax collection ended up at about $17 million more than the initial forecast.
Residents and other users of Salt Lake City's water system are still expected to see an 18% increase in water fees, 15% in sewer fees and a 10% increase in stormwater fees, but that increase was previously outlined as a part of the plan to repay for a new $800 million water treatment plant that is needed to keep up with new federal regulations.
The mayor added that the city is also working to ensure that it's blending its needs with what is "fiscally responsible" at the moment, so the city can have a "healthy" fund balance ahead of any potential turns in the economy. She noted during her speech that the city is "exercising caution" as it's seeing a slight slowdown in licensing and permits as compared to the "frenetic" construction growth that had happened over the past three years.
Tackling the city's bigger issues
Employment remains the top budget item, as is the case every year. Mendenhall's request calls for a 5% cost of living adjustment for the one-third of city employees not represented through unions, as well as "market-rate adjustments" in fields where wages are lagging.
Affordable housing
But housing continues to be one of the top standalone topics highlighted in the plan. It calls for $10 million toward the perpetual housing fund that helps developers construct projects that set aside affordable housing units. This is on top of another $10 million currently being considered as part of a 2023 fiscal year budget amendment.
Both would tack onto the $56 million allocated to affordable housing projects since 2020, which have helped create more than 4,000 new affordable housing units, according to the city.
Mendenhall said she's also "confident" that the first units of a large tiny home community will go online sometime during the 2024 fiscal year, though that means it may not open until the first half of the 2024 calendar year. The project has been delayed because of "environmental mitigation" issues in the selected area.
While appreciative of the new funding, some of the region's housing advocates say it's still not enough. Wendy Garvin, the executive director of Unsheltered Utah, called it a "drop in the bucket" when comparing it to other major budget items, like police, as she spoke on another issue that the city council listened to Tuesday evening.
"I appreciate the intent but I think we need to be doing a whole lot more if we're going to say we support affordable housing," she said.
Traffic funding
She's also seeking $10.2 million to fund improvements to frequent transit routes, urban trails, traffic circle construction and traffic signal replacement, as well as another $10.3 million toward improvements to sidewalks and alleyways.
This comes as the city seeks ways to improve roadway safety, following 26 traffic fatalities last year. The city is also coming close to the end of its 2018 streets bond, as a plan to enhance 2100 South is the last big project.
Environmental issues
The mayor is recommending a new Great Salt Lake Shoreline Preservation area in coordination with several groups, including the Audubon Society and The Center for Biological Diversity. She explained that the researchers who warned the Great Salt Lake is on pace to vanish in the next five years calculated this year's snowpack and believe it tacked on two additional years to their projections.
As for air quality, the mayor is asking for $230,000 for a new Residential Air Quality Incentive Program. The city currently focuses on replacing lawn equipment with electric alternatives but the program would be enhanced to include new items like e-bikes and indoor air quality tools.
The next steps
It's ultimately up to the Salt Lake City Council to finalize the 2024 budget.
The council will work over the next several weeks to piece together the final document before its June 30 deadline, hosting a pair of public hearings on the proposed items on May 16 and June 6. That's where residents can speak about what they like and don't like about the proposal.
The new fiscal year begins on July 1.
