Kaysville staff outline $3.8M general-fund gap and propose $1.4M truth-in-taxation increase

City staff told the Kaysville City Council during a budget work session that the general fund faced sizable pressure this fiscal year and presented three levers to narrow an initial roughly $3.8 million shortfall: a possible truth-in-taxation property tax increase, additional use of fund balance, and further deferrals of capital and operating requests.

The staff presentation showed an initial gap of about $3,800,000 between projected revenues and department requests, followed by a proposal to close it using a proposed truth-in-taxation increase of $1.4 million, about $919,000 from the fund balance and a series of targeted deferrals. "We initially started in the general fund with close to a $3,800,000 gap," the budget presenter said during the meeting.

Why it matters: the city’s operating costs are personnel-heavy and rising — health insurance and wages are major budget drivers — and staff told the council some revenue categories (building permits, licenses) are down while many costs have increased. The proposed tax change would raise the city's relative property-tax standing among Davis County cities, but staff cautioned other cities’ future moves could change the comparison.

Key figures and household impact - Initial general-fund gap: about $3,800,000 (presented by staff). - Proposed truth-in-taxation increase: $1,400,000. - Proposed use of fund balance: $919,000 for one-time items (public-works vehicles, parks truck, a pole camera and similar projects). - Median house used in the staff example: $650,000. Staff said a $1.4 million truth-in-taxation, combined with proposed enterprise rate changes, would raise costs for the average household by about $20.59 per month; the property-tax component alone was described as a little under $12 per month for that median-valued home.

Staff emphasized the proposal tries to balance short-term affordability with longer-term service and infrastructure needs. The presentation singled out personnel requests as a major factor: after reviewing department requests, the city has reduced planned new hires this year to one new position (the assistant city attorney) and deferred several longstanding position requests.

Deferrals and one-time uses of reserves Staff said the items chosen to be funded from reserves were one-time capital needs rather than recurring operating costs and included fleet purchases and a few other capital items intended not to become annual expenditures. A slide listed public works vehicles, a parks and recreation truck and a pole camera among projects proposed for reserves.

Enterprise funds and timeline Council members were told enterprise funds (water, power and other utilities) will be discussed at the next work session; staff indicated separate rate increases for water and power may be needed to preserve those systems’ long-term health.

The council was reminded of the budget schedule: a tentative budget is expected for adoption in May; a public hearing is planned for June; and, if a truth-in-taxation measure is pursued, a final budget adoption could be delayed until August to accommodate the required public notification and hearings.

Next steps Council members asked for more department-level detail explaining where the $1.4 million figure comes from. Staff scheduled a follow-up work session to dig into enterprise funds and said they will return with clarifications and refined options.

No formal motions or votes were taken at the work session; the presentation was advisory and intended to guide the council ahead of the tentative-budget adoption and public hearings.