Utah League of Cities and Towns board adopts tentative FY‑26 budget, sets June 23 public hearing in Draper

The Utah League of Cities and Towns board on May 19 adopted a tentative fiscal year 2026 budget totaling $5,235,000 and set a public hearing and final adoption for June 23 at noon at Draper City Hall.

The budget presentation said $3,845,000 of the total is ongoing general revenue, $850,000 is state‑funded technical assistance, $270,000 is planned from unrestricted reserves for one‑time investments and staff bonuses, and another $270,000 is drawn from restricted reserves earmarked for the Local Administrative Adviser program. "We are proposing a fiscal year 2026 budget of 5,235,000," finance staff said during the presentation.

The board was told the overall FY‑26 budget reflects a 2 percent decrease from the previous year. General revenue projections include an anticipated $2,705,700 from the property‑value component of membership dues (budgeted conservatively at $2,000,690 to account for potential membership changes) and higher conference registration revenue based on recent attendance increases.

The board discussed reserves and personnel pay. Executive Director Cameron (Cam) clarified that he cannot unilaterally change his salary and that the board must approve adjustments. Board members said a portion of the unrestricted reserves will fund one‑time staff bonuses tied to tenure and performance, while the larger share will fund onetime projects such as policy research, modernization of publications, and support for the National League of Cities conference in Salt Lake City.

On state funded technical assistance, staff said LAA‑related grant funding is declining from last year and that they are treating state technical assistance as a separate budget category. The presentation listed two prospective grants: $50,000 from the Office of Data Privacy for data privacy implementation and $800,000 from the Department of Workforce Services tied to a prior appropriation; staff said they would outline plans for spending those funds in a later section.

After discussion the board voted to adopt the tentative budget and to schedule the required public hearing for June 23 at noon in Draper. The motion to adopt the tentative budget passed with no opposition; the motion to set the hearing date was also approved.

Board members and staff noted the budget remains editable between the tentative and final adoption, and staff asked members to submit feedback before the June meeting.

Ending: The June 23 final‑budget hearing will be held at Draper City Hall at noon; ULCT staff said any changes needed before final adoption can be made and that technical assistance allocations will be refined before the final budget vote.