Midvale Council adopts tentative FY2026 budget, sets June 3 public hearing

Midvale City Council on May 6 adopted a tentative operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2026 and set a public hearing on the budget for June 3 at 7 p.m.

The City’s budget officer, Mariah Hill, presented the tentative budget as an initial draft that reflects estimated revenues and expenditures for July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026. Hill told the council the budget is especially tentative this year because revenue estimates and transfers are still changing and staff will update figures before the final adoption.

Hill said general fund revenues are currently projected at just over $27 million, a decrease of about 13.5% from the prior year, driven in part by a reduction in one-time transfers to capital projects. Sales tax revenue is projected to fall roughly 1% compared with FY25, and property tax projections were shown as unchanged from the prior year. She said the 90th-percentile emergent response time reported for Unified Fire Authority incidents was 7 minutes, 19 seconds (presented during an earlier report), and that citywide salary and benefit increases are reflected in several funds.

A major policy change discussed in the presentation is creation of a public safety special revenue fund. Hill said the city proposes moving public-safety-related revenues and expenses (including the portion of property tax proposed for public safety) into a dedicated fund to isolate those costs from other general-fund responsibilities. The tentative budget includes a public-safety property tax estimated to generate $912,000 for FY26 to cover proposed Utah Police Department (UPD) cost increases; Hill said that would equal about $63 per average household annually under the current estimate. She noted the city may need to adopt a levy ordinance under the Utah Code and, if required, follow truth-in-taxation steps and public-notice requirements.

On the expenditure side, Hill said departments trimmed requests where possible; 12 of 23 general-fund departments show year-over-year decreases after those cuts. Notable single-line requests above $5,000 in the general fund were limited (Hill cited a messaging app and election costs as examples). The water, sewer and stormwater enterprise funds were also presented with projected revenues and planned capital projects.

Council members asked clarifying questions about sales-tax distribution changes tied to the county, how restricted transportation sales-tax revenues will be budgeted, and the timing for finalizing numbers. The council voted to adopt the tentative budget and set the June 3 public hearing; the motion passed unanimously.

The June 3 hearing will allow further public comment and is scheduled before the council must set the final budget and certified tax rate or move into truth-in-taxation proceedings.