Salt Lake City Council clears final wording and contingencies ahead of 2025–26 budget adoption

At a June 10 Salt Lake City Council work session, council staff briefed members on remaining issues ahead of the fiscal year 2025–26 budget adoption, reporting updated tax growth, a separate judgment levy increase for the library and edits to conditional language for trail funding.

The briefing, led by Jennifer Bruno, council executive director, said the city will receive about $1,360,000 more in new growth revenue than was in the mayor’s recommended budget and that the judgment levy is $482,000 higher than the recommendation. Bruno said staff updated the council’s “key changes” to use those additional revenues to reduce the amount of general fund balance needed to balance the budget; the council’s quick calculation put the projected fund balance at about 13.32%.

Those revenue increases were partly offset by $24,000 in council-directed additions: $10,000 for Westside air monitors and $14,000 for art across the seven council districts, Bruno said. The items will appear in an updated key-changes document and the budget adoption ordinance that the council will consider at tonight’s formal meeting.

Why this matters: the additional new-growth revenue reduces the drawdown on reserves for next year and affects how contingencies and one-time allocations are funded. The…