Eureka staff advises preliminary property-tax filing as council reviews 2025/26 budget

EUREKA, Utah — City staff told the Eureka City Council on June 23 that roughly $800,000 sits in the city’s savings accounts but most of it is legally or contractually restricted, and that staff has filed a preliminary truth-in-taxation figure the council can lower before a public hearing.

The council spent the bulk of its work meeting reviewing the year-end budget for fiscal 2025 and a preliminary budget for fiscal 2026. Brad (staff member) presented a worksheet showing about $800,000 in savings as of May 31 and said approximately $558,000 of that is in restricted accounts — for example, water and sewer loan reserves, impact fees and a B&C road fund — leaving roughly $241,000 described as “available.” He said the city had received $50,913 in property taxes so far this fiscal year and that a draft projection in the 2026 budget showed $57,000.

Why it matters: staff said those balances affect how large a property-tax increase, if any, the city needs to adopt to balance the coming year’s budget. Brad told the council he and staff identified restricted accounts and the amounts held in each so members could see what funds are actually available for general use.

Details: Brad said the water fund had about $229,000 and impact fees were “close to 20-ish thousand dollars.” He added the B&C roads fund contained about $250,000. He described the savings-account total as a snapshot that did not reflect outstanding invoices through June and cautioned final audited numbers will differ.

Staff action and figures: Patricia (city staff) told the council she had submitted a preliminary truth-in-taxation filing that would allow the city to collect up to $87,695 from property taxes next year under the current calculations; she said that figure can be reduced before the formal hearing. Brad said the administration had erred on the side of leaving room to adjust the figure downward if the council chose.

Property-tax options discussed: Brad said staff had prepared an example increase to close the budget gap and described two alternative figures during discussion. At one point he characterized the proposed increase as “roughly a $30,000 property tax increase”; later in the meeting he and others noted the gap could be “about a $47,000 increase” depending on final numbers and assumptions. He emphasized the draft numbers would be refined before the council’s truth-in-taxation hearing.

Elected-official stipend: The council also discussed elected-official stipends. Brad and Patricia reported the council’s stipend had been $12 per month since 1947 and that the administration was discussing increases — possible illustrative amounts mentioned included $100 per month for council members and $500 per month for the mayor. Brad warned any stipend change must be adopted after a separate public hearing and cannot take effect immediately on July 1.

Next steps: Staff recommended the council adopt a final amended 2025 budget (a year-end projection) and present a preliminary 2026 budget now, to be adjusted as invoices and final county property-tax numbers arrive. No formal council motion to raise taxes or change stipends was made at the June 23 work meeting. The only formal motion recorded during the session was to adjourn, which passed by voice vote.

Quotes: “You have about 800-ish thousand dollars in the savings accounts for the city,” Brad said, noting many of those funds are restricted. Patricia said she had filed the preliminary truth-in-taxation figure so the county could perform final calculations and the council could reduce the amount later.

Ending: The council did not act on a tax increase at the June 23 work meeting; staff will return to the council with refined numbers and a formal public hearing will be scheduled under Utah’s truth-in-taxation procedures if the council pursues an increase.