Salt Lake City unveils $512.5 million general fund proposal; council adopts tentative FY26 budget

Mayor Rachel Mendenhall presented her recommended budget for fiscal year 2025–26 on the council dais, proposing a general fund of $512,471,524 and saying the plan contains no property tax increase for the coming year.

The budget “is a nearly entirely flat budget” shaped by inflation and rising operational costs, Mendenhall said, stressing that the roughly 6.7% increase from last year is driven “almost entirely by inflation and rising cost of maintaining the services and the infrastructure we already have.” She told the council the proposal sustains current services while advancing targeted public safety, housing and infrastructure actions.

Why this matters: the tentative budget sets city priorities and funding levels that will guide public‑safety staffing, housing subsidies and capital investments. The council must hold budget briefings and approve a final budget later in the process; adopting the tentative budget is the formal step that moves FY26 planning into that review phase.

Key items in the mayor’s presentation included:

- A proposed general fund of $512,471,524 (a 6.7% increase over last year’s adopted general fund), described by Mendenhall as driven by inflation rather than new programs.

- A $5…