Clearfield staff report early FY2026 numbers: higher summer water use, investment gains and an energy-tax shortfall

City finance staff presented an early first-quarter update for fiscal 2026 (July–September), reporting mixed revenue signals and some one-time accounting influences that require monitoring.

Rich, a city finance staff member who presented the report, said summer water consumption was about 10% higher than last year — commercial usage up 14%, multifamily up 12% and residential up 8% — and credited both recent growth and improved metering for part of the change. "We are 10% higher than last year's summer, so May through September," Rich said.

On investment income, Rich said the city recorded about $2.6 million in investment earnings this year across all funds compared with a $500,000 budgeted expectation; he attributed the difference in part to higher cash balances in capital project funds tied to the 2021 bond and to interest accruing on a $9.5 million water loan. "We had a lot more cash in the capital project funds with our 2021 bond, but we're now drawing that down," he said. The presentation noted the city made its first loan payment on the water fund loan, $830,000.

Rich also described changes to sales-tax calculations that will affect future receipts: the state is increasing an administrative fee from 0.65% to 0.8% beginning in January, which Rich estimated would have reduced last fiscal year’s receipts by about $11,000. He pointed to other monthly deductions — including an $11,000 homeless shelter funding deduction — that together reduced last month’s sales-tax receipts by roughly $17,000.

Using two months of point-of-sale data, Rich said the city’s point-of-sale sales tax was up about 4.3% year over year and cautioned that early projections are premature; an extrapolation from limited months could suggest approximately $440,000 above budget, he said, but emphasized the dataset is too small to be definitive. He also flagged an energy-tax shortfall of about $400,000 year-to-date that will require monitoring.

On spending, Rich said personnel costs were tracking at about 23% of the year’s budget (below the one-quarter benchmark) and that most other expense categories were below the 25% mark; he predicted staff will adjust next year’s budget categories to reflect spending patterns. On solid-waste metrics, he reported 6,174 curbside accounts, with 37% subscribing to green waste, 52% recycling and 34% paying for an extra garbage can; he noted an 8% drop in extra-can subscriptions as some customers switched to green-waste service.

During a brief Q&A, a council member asked why contracted services rose by about $125,000; Rich said he would check the accounting categorization and provide a follow-up at a subsequent meeting.

Votes at a glance: earlier in the meeting the council approved minutes for the Oct. 7, 2025 work session and the Oct. 14 work and policy sessions after a motion, a second and recorded aye votes.

What’s next: staff will report back with clarified categorizations for the contracted-services increase and continue to monitor energy-tax receipts and sales-tax admin-fee impacts.