Springdale council reviews tentative FY2025-26 budget; staff and council debate event subsidies, water costs and deferred planning projects

Springdale town staff presented a tentative fiscal year 2025–26 budget at a special April 16 work session, and council members spent the meeting reviewing revenue assumptions, fund subsidies and a list of projects cut for lack of general-fund dollars.

Rick Wixom, the staff contact for the budget review, told the council the general fund is balanced in the proposed budget and walked through summary pages and underlying spreadsheets. Staff emphasized that the meeting was a review and that no formal budget adoption or resolution would occur at the session.

Why it matters

The budget review pointed to several items that could affect residents and town operations: continued transfers from the general fund to subsidize the irrigation utility, pending decisions about whether the town will sustain multi-year subsidies for tourism events, deferred planning projects that staff described as priorities, and a set of water-system projects that staff said need attention but for which costs and environmental constraints are still being determined.

Irrigation fund, subsidies and cost allocation

Council members pressed staff on the irrigation fund’s shortfall and how personnel and fixed costs are allocated across funds. Wixom said staff budgeted personnel costs across multiple funds because several employees’ duties span water, irrigation, sewer and streets, and that when hourly time cards are entered the town books actual hours to funds. He said the irrigation fund’s operating shortfall includes a transfer from the general fund and a draw on fund balance: staff identified a $75,000 transfer from the general fund and roughly $34,000 from fund balance in the current packet. Wixom also said roughly $70,000 of the irrigation fund’s budget is personnel-related.

Park projects and event funding

Parks staff described an upcoming plaza project and requested funding items including about $17,000 in wrap-tax funds for perimeter fencing and site furnishings, and a $25,000 request from the general fund to support the Zion Chalk & Earth Festival. Ryan, the staff member describing parks, said, “$25,000 is what we request from the general fund, and that goes into paying…we pay for the artist coordinator, state fees, artists, chalk, toilets and other operational costs.”

Several council members questioned whether the town should commit $25,000 annually to an event that is still growing, saying that personnel and core services may be higher priorities. Council members noted that some events, such as the Butch Cassidy run, produce registration revenue and can net money back to community groups, while the Chalk and Earth Festival has not yet shown a clear net economic impact. Council discussion also compared the $25,000 request to a seasonal staffing position the council had considered in prior years (staff said a seasonal position would cost roughly $13,000).

Planning projects cut for now

Tom, community development staff, outlined several planning projects removed from the proposed budget for lack of funds, including an erosion-hazard analysis of the town’s side washes, a sustainable destination stewardship plan, and short-term rental–compliance software. Tom said the town will still seek grant funding and other low-cost options (including university student projects) to carry forward those planning priorities. Tom also said an invasive-species removal project included in the packet is funded by a roughly $100,000 grant and is expected to be a wash in the budget.

Short-term rental monitoring

Tom described short-term rental compliance services that scour the web for listings and reported a fee of about $6,500 per year for a dedicated monitoring product. The county offers periodic reports and agreed to run ad hoc reports for the town, but staff said the county would not grant Springdale the county’s real-time monitoring license without its own subscription.

Water and infrastructure questions

Public-works and water staff described capital items and deferred maintenance needing more analysis. Staff said the town’s Big Springs pump station is out of service because both pumps have failed; staff are awaiting cost estimates for replacement and said the spring cannot be relied on as the town’s sole source of water. The proposed capital list also includes an emergency supply line connecting Balanced Rock to the 500 storage tank to provide backup supply from Zion National Park if the town’s water treatment plant is offline. Staff cautioned that any work on springs must avoid harming pond levels and respect existing water-right constraints.

Public safety items discussed

Police and public-safety staff discussed several items the council could prioritize in later budget work, including a drone program for search-and-rescue and large-incident response and an impending change to county dispatch billing that could raise the town’s dispatch fees. Police staff said the drone program would require specialized, U.S.-made equipment and certifications and estimated a purchase-and-training cost in the tens of thousands; one staff estimate cited a roughly $27,000 figure discussed during the session.

Tourism-related tax (TRT) funding and county allocations

Council members and staff discussed county TRT allocations and said Springdale has historically received a smaller share of county TRT revenue than it generates. Staff said they are pursuing TRT funding for specific projects (including park work and, at an appropriate time, portions of a proposed medical clinic) and will continue negotiations with the county distribution committee.

Process next steps

Staff emphasized that the packet contains spreadsheets with line-item detail and that the council would have another tentative-budget review in May that may include adjustments. Because the session was a work meeting, the council did not adopt the budget; staff said any large purchases or capital work would return for council approval when funding and project details are finalized.

Notable clarifying details from the meeting

- Staff identified a $75,000 transfer from the general fund and about $34,000 from fund balance to subsidize the irrigation fund (source: Rick Wixom).

- Parks staff requested $25,000 from the general fund for the Zion Chalk & Earth Festival; the request covers artists, coordination, toilets and operational costs (source: Ryan).

- Community development staff removed a sustainable destination stewardship plan and an erosion-hazard side-wash study from the proposed budget because of limited general-fund dollars; an invasive-species grant of about $100,000 remains in the packet and is expected to be grant-funded (source: Tom).

- Water staff said both Big Springs pumps are nonfunctional; replacement costs are pending and the spring’s yield is substantially less than the town’s treatment-plant output (source: public-works staff).

The council will reconvene for tentative-budget review in May. No budget adoption or final votes took place at the April 16 session.