Mayor warns personnel and capital needs will drive Sandy budget as council narrows priorities

At a Sandy City Council budget priorities workshop, Mayor Zlucansky and city administration laid out budget pressures including rising personnel costs, major public-safety investments and a shortfall on the Alta Canyon recreation project while council members worked in facilitated sessions to produce high-level budget priorities to guide the coming fiscal year.

The administration told the council that personnel remains the largest portion of the general fund and is growing: “In fact, 78%,” the mayor said when describing the share of budget that goes toward personnel and related costs. Mayor Zlucansky also framed the budget around three pillars—protect, connect and create—highlighting recent and planned capital projects including a new fire station (Fire Station 31), a public works maintenance garage and private development at South Town Mall that the administration expects will increase sales-tax revenue over time.

Why it matters: Sandy’s personnel and public-safety spending already dominate the general fund, and several one-time and recurring revenue shifts plus capital shortfalls will shape the tentative budget the administration presents later this spring. The council used the workshop to develop a simple prioritization tool it intends to apply when department budget requests arrive.

Administration overview and numbers The mayor and administration described staffing and capital investments as the main drivers of the coming budget debate. Administration figures and remarks presented during the workshop included: - Personnel costs were described as the city’s largest expense and “always over 75%,” with the mayor citing a 78% figure for personnel’s share of the budget. - Combined police and fire budgets were presented as $41,000,000, or about 54% of the general fund, figures the administration used to illustrate the scale of public-safety spending. - Sworn staffing benchmarks cited by the mayor: police increased from 114 sworn officers in 2019 to 123 in 2025; fire staffing rose from 84 to 101 sworn positions over recent years. - Capital and project notes included ongoing construction at Fire Station 31, a new public-works garage and private projects at South Town Mall that the mayor said are visible across the city.

Revenue shifts, fees and gaps City staff summarized several revenue changes and potential fee adjustments that will appear in budget discussions: - A renegotiated contract with Canyon School District for school resource officers was reported to increase city revenues by about $350,000. - A renegotiated ambulance contract with Gold Cross was cited as generating roughly $600,000 in revenue; half that amount is already being used to support staffing for additional firefighters and ambulance service. - The administration flagged two fee areas likely to be raised for the upcoming budget process: a possible stormwater rate increase and additional charges for bulk-waste collection. - The city identified capital gaps tied to Alta Canyon Recreation: the administration said $11,300,000 is on deposit while the project the council approved runs just over $19,000,000, leaving an approximate multi‑million-dollar shortfall (the mayor described the shortfall as about $8,000,000 on the capital portion). The administration characterized that gap as manageable but requiring outside funding and partnerships. - Staff noted a roughly $2,000,000 shortfall expected during construction at Ellis Canyon because certain facilities and their operating revenues will be temporarily shut down. - The recent opening of the MVP facility was said to have eliminated a prior $275,000 payment to a homeless mitigation fund while generating about $560,000 in mitigation funds that are being applied, according to staff, to two homeless resource officers and three firefighters.

Public safety and workforce focus The mayor emphasized retention and competitive compensation for city employees, especially sworn public-safety personnel. The administration pointed to recent pay changes, equipment and fleet replacements, and facility investments as part of its strategy to retain employees. The mayor summarized the philosophy driving those investments: “It is the people who are the ambassadors for the brand of our city.” The mayor also said, “We are on a positive trajectory,” when describing police staffing gains and fewer vacancies.

Workshop process and council priorities Following the administration overview, the council participated in a facilitated strategic exercise (SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and then drafted high-level budget priorities. The outside facilitator (Matt, a city manager from another jurisdiction) led council members through small-group work and used a “fist-to-five” and sticker-weighting method to test consensus.

Council members consolidated multiple suggestions into five broad budget-priority categories to use when evaluating departmental budget requests. Those categories, as presented to the full group, were: - Employees / workforce (compensation, retention, training and tools) - Fiscal health (long-term budgeting, partnerships and leveraging outside funding) - Economic growth and redevelopment (including South Town Mall redevelopment, sports-related tourism and business attraction) - Quality of life (parks, recreation, arts, events and walkability/active transportation) - Public safety

As a visual exercise, council members used stickers to indicate personal prioritization: the largest single share of stickers went to workforce/employee-related items and to economic growth/redevelopment, reflecting a group emphasis on maintaining staffing capacity while pursuing development that could expand the city’s revenue base.

Discussion points and staff direction Workshop discussions raised several recurring questions staff should expect when presenting budget requests: How does this request advance the council’s identified priorities? Does it improve public-safety outcomes or workforce retention? Can this investment be paired with outside grants, partnerships or private revenue to reduce net city cost? That last point—using partnerships to multiply city investment—was repeatedly discussed by council members.

No formal motions or votes were taken in the session; the workshop was explicitly intended as a planning and prioritization exercise to inform staff as they prepare the tentative budget.

What’s next City staff will return to the council with revenue projections, a tentative budget and follow-up proposals (including any recommended fee changes) later in the budget calendar. The council’s workshop results will be used as a reference point during those reviews and as staff develops the written narrative that will be used to evaluate individual budget requests.