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Ivins council debates FY2026 budget as managers warn of $1.3M shortfall
Summary
City staff presented a proposed FY2026 budget that adds staff and capital spending but leaves a projected operating shortfall of about $1.3 million; council discussed options including modest property-tax increases, use of one-time revenue, starting a road-replacement fund and packaging future service-fee changes.
Ivins City staff outlined a proposed fiscal year 2026 budget Thursday that would add several personnel and capital items while leaving an estimated operating gap of roughly $1.3 million.
Cade, the city finance presenter, told the council that while operating revenues are largely consistent with expectations, several factors are reducing one-time nonoperating revenues the city has used in recent years — chiefly a projected decline in interest earnings and slower-than-expected tourist-related receipts connected to a partially opened resort. Those changes, combined with proposed staffing and equipment requests, create the shortfall in the city’s draft plan.
Major items in the proposed FY2026 budget include: a request to fund six new full-time positions across departments (police, parks, cemetery and animal shelter among them); a proposed $4-per-hour increase for sworn police officers; funding for roughly nine replacement and new vehicles; an upgraded Axon body-camera / taser contract for police; a proposed city planner in the building/permit group; and capital projects including the animal shelter remodel and continued Highway 91 work. Staff also proposed creating a new dedicated “wrap tax” fund (three-way split for parks, recreation and arts), and a separate road-replacement reserve to begin growing a long-term streets fund.
Staff framed the budget choice as a combination of two pressures: rising necessary operating costs (wage and service increases, catch-up on deferred vehicle replacement and parks maintenance) and declining nonrecurring revenues (smaller interest earnings under new state handling of developer warranty bonds and slower-than-forecast resort-related receipts). The draft assumes a CPI-based pay adjustment (2.9 percent) and a separate merit pool (up to 2.1 percent) for non-sworn employees.
Council discussion focused on options to close the gap: reduce services and cancel proposed hires, increase the property-tax levy through the “truth-in-taxation” process, seek new targeted taxes (state-level proposals for an EMS sales-tax option were discussed), or start new service/impact fees including a proposed road- or street-maintenance fee. Several council members favored smaller, incremental property-tax increases rather than a single large jump; others urged caution to avoid burdening residents on fixed incomes.
Finance staff provided numerical context: the draft budget conservatively assumes modest growth in property and sales tax revenue; it shows a drop in interest income of roughly $400,000–$500,000 year-over-year due to changes in how city-held warranty bonds are handled. Staff also described a planned $305,000 transfer to seed the new wrap-tax fund from unspent prior-year wrap-tax revenue.
No final votes on tax rates or the budget were taken Thursday; the council directed staff to provide more detailed line-item comparisons, a three-year forecast and a numeric estimate of revenue from the proposed EMS sales-tax option should it become available. Staff said tentative adoption and a public hearing could happen in May with final action before the end of the fiscal year.
