Public Services seeks five new FTEs for Clean City program as council presses streets maintenance needs

Salt Lake City’s Public Services department presented a proposed fiscal-year budget of $49,000,273 and asked the council to consider items including a new Clean City team, adjustments to facilities funding and a proposal to shift right-of-way engineering staff to the Department of CAN.

“Our proposed budget is just over $49,000,000 … a 6.8% increase or $3,100,000,” Kate Wearett, a council policy analyst, said in her introduction to the department’s presentation.

Why it matters: Public Services maintains streets, facilities, right-of-way services, and other public-facing infrastructure. Council members focused questions on how the department will increase lane-mile treatments and stabilize street-condition outcomes as the city tries to arrest deterioration and reduce long-term reconstruction costs.

Key items in the Public Services proposal - Clean City team: The department requested five new FTEs and new operating funds to consolidate multiple cleaning services—rapid intervention (illegal dumping, encampment cleanup, sidewalk scrubbing), business-district maintenance and a dedicated North Temple corridor crew—under a new “urban services” division. Director Jorge…