Votes at a glance: Eureka City Council approves election services, iWORK contract, budget amendments and festival expenditures

EUREKA, Utah — The Eureka City Council took several formal actions May 27 that direct staff on elections, software services, festival spending and next steps for the fiscal-year 2026 budget.

Summary of votes

- Elections services: The council approved an interlocal agreement with the county to administer Eureka’s 2025 municipal elections. The county’s estimate in the packet was "not to exceed $3.50 per voter," and staff said total cost would depend on whether a primary is needed. The council approved the agreement by unanimous voice vote.

- iWORK entity-management: The council approved moving forward with the iWORK entity-management module for business licenses and related community-development workflow. Staff said the entity-management portion is $2,500; the community-development package had been previously approved. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

- Silver Jubilee expense (recreation): The council approved paying $420 for a water-slide rental for the city’s Silver Jubilee children’s activities and authorized staff to remit the band deposit. Council members noted routine competitive-bidding rules did not apply to this small, single-event rental; the motion passed unanimously.

- Tentative-budget amendments and truth in taxation: After an extended budget discussion, the council voted to proceed with a truth-in-taxation process (to consider raising the city’s property-tax dollar amount) and separately voted to amend the tentative budget to add a full-year city-engineer line and a code-enforcement position (including related operating costs such as fuel). Council members instructed staff to prepare the detailed numbers and to bring back supporting materials before final adoption. Both motions passed by unanimous voice vote.

- Consent agenda: The council approved the consent agenda, which included minutes and routine items, by unanimous vote.

What the votes mean

Using county election services: City staff said using the county’s administration reduces the city’s workload and complies with new election-law requirements. The packet included a not-to-exceed per-voter estimate; staff gave a rough total that would vary depending on whether a primary is required.

iWORK entity-management: Staff explained the iWORK suite will centralize business-license management and building permits, allow automated notices for renewals, and integrate with a CivicLink ordinance-codification module. The entity-management module approval authorized a $2,500 purchase order for that portion of iWORK’s services.

Budget direction and truth in taxation: Council members debated fiscal-year performance, fund balances and whether to ask voters for increased property-tax revenue. Staff and counsel outlined timing: to pursue a change in the city’s certified property-tax dollar amount the council must notify the county assessor by the June 1 deadline for the upcoming tax year; a final budget hearing would follow. Council members asked staff to return with a more granular capital-projects list, fund-balance detail and precise costs for the new proposed positions before the final vote.

Ending — What’s next: Staff will return with budget line-item detail and updated fund-balance figures; the council’s direction to begin truth-in-taxation procedures requires staff to prepare public notices and supporting documents ahead of the assessor’s deadline.