- Salt Lake City finalizes a $2.2 billion budget, including $512 million from general fund.
- The budget includes raises for city employees and funds new projects.
- No property tax raises were included, but concerns exist about future tax increases.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's capital city has finalized a $2.2 billion budget, including a record $512 million in general fund spending without a property tax increase for now.
The Salt Lake City Council voted Tuesday to adopt a series of budgets to fund operations for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. The full $2.2 billion includes the city's general fund and other city departments.
"We're proud to adopt a balanced budget that delivers visible improvements for residents without raising property taxes," said Salt Lake City Council Chairman Chris Wharton in a statement after the vote. "This budget strengthens our city with investments in safety, affordability and services that residents rely on every day."
A significant portion of the general fund money, which the City Council oversees, is allocated toward salaries, as is typically the case. Police and firefighters received 5-8.7% raises, based on collective bargaining agreements. The city reached a new three-year agreement with the police union back in April before the budget process began.
Most city employees will receive a 4% raise, which includes city leaders. The mayor's salary jumped to $220,335 and the City Council members' salary to $55,058, according to one of the documents. They received a more substantial raise last year, which garnered a strong reaction from the public at the time.
Funding for new projects was also included, including a "Clean City Team" that will respond to reports of illegal dumping, camping and graffiti, as well as an increase in security within some of the city's higher-use parks and along the Jordan River.
That comes after Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall outlined proposed changes in a new public safety plan she released earlier this year, following concerns brought up by state leaders.
Funding more affordable housing and homeownership support was also included, as was new funding for transit options on the west side and safety, landscaping and building improvements for the Ballpark area.
The City Council also set aside over $55.8 million for its capital improvement program budget. That money will eventually be split to pay for various improvement projects brought to the city or proposed by city leaders, such as improvements to Fisher Mansion that Mendenhall proposed in May.
City leaders are expected to finalize program project allocations by August.
While the city's final budget often goes through major revisions in the weeks leading up to its June 30 deadline, finances didn't change much from what the mayor presented to the council last month. That's largely due to the "economic uncertainty" she had warned about.
Next year's budget represents a 7% increase from the end of the fiscal year, but most of the new funds come from growth in projected tax revenues. The city also drew on its fund balance to cover the remaining increases. This helped avoid any additional property tax increases.
City leaders received good news earlier Tuesday, learning that they received over $1.84 million more in tax and judgment levy revenue than initially forecast. Those additional funds will be used to offset some of the money from the fund balance.
Still, members of the City Council voiced concerns about spending toward the end of budget negotiations. They fear that a future property tax increase could be on the horizon, especially if there is a "slowdown" in the economy or federal funds compared to those in the past.
"I see ourselves hurdling toward a property tax increase at a time of incredible financial insecurity for a lot of our constituents," said Councilwoman Victoria Petro in a meeting last week as she and her colleagues discussed guidelines for what will be considered in a future increase.
The City Council added a "legislative intent" to indicate that it will provide "an evaluation rubric or matrix" in future budget proposals that will outline its reasoning whenever a property tax increase is proposed.
Only time will tell if that's the case before the 2027 fiscal year.
