Salt Lake City staff outline $132 million general‑fund non‑departmental budget and major line‑item changes

City staff briefed the Salt Lake City Council on May 29 about the mayor’s recommended fiscal 2026 non‑departmental budget, which staff said is the city’s largest departmental accounting grouping. Jennifer (council executive staff) and Austin Kimmel (policy analyst) summarized major elements and specific line items in the non‑departmental package.

Staff said the general‑fund portion of non‑departmental is proposed at about $132,000,000 and that when accounting for other funds — such as Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), debt service and pass‑throughs — the total non‑departmental footprint is roughly $367,000,000. Staff noted they show both actuals and the proposed changes for non‑departmental to provide additional transparency.

Line items highlighted in the briefing included: roughly $2.5 million for inflationary contractual increases across multiple city contracts; a $150,000 increase for the human‑services fair program; a one‑time $141,000 for municipal election costs; $50,000 one‑time for quiet‑zone compliance; an additional $300,000 for street lighting; a $2.8 million transfer to fleet for replacement/maintenance; an $5.8 million IMS allocation from the general fund; $500,000 for gun range remediation; salary increases for mental‑health responders (about $372,000); $250,000 for National League of Cities and Towns conference hosting; $296,000 for contractual public‑safety software increases; an $89,000 increase for fire hydrant fees; and a $647,000 increase for alternative response models. Staff also noted a $500,000 change tied to timing of the UTA contract that represented realized savings rather than a permanent service reduction.

Staff said the non‑departmental budget contains line items that staff administer but which fund activities across multiple departments, and they discussed options for moving some items (for example, social‑worker salaries currently recorded in non‑departmental) back into operating department budgets if the council prefers clearer department‑level accounting.

Ending: Staff said they will continue to refine line‑item locations and report back on requests for accounting clarifications; council members asked for additional follow‑up on selected line items, including status and spend‑down information for specific contingencies such as a $1,000,000 Jordan River contingency and a $500,000 RFP that councilors expected updates on.