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Cottonwood Heights presents FY2026 draft budget with $20M bond and staffing adjustments
Summary
Finance director Scott Georges presented a draft FY2026 budget that includes a proposed $20 million general‑obligation bond to address Hillside Plaza costs, a projected general fund ending balance above statutory minimums, and department increases for IT, public works and personnel costs; council asked staff to refine COLA/merit decisions before the tentative May 6 adoption.
Finance director Scott Georges walked council through a preliminary FY2026 budget at the April 15 work session, calling it a draft guided by the five‑year plan and recent council direction. The proposal includes a $20 million general‑obligation bond intended to reimburse costs associated with Hillside Plaza and to manage future debt service.
Scott reported a projected general fund ending balance of just over $7 million while noting required state and local reserves. He highlighted revenue assumptions — conservative sales‑tax growth (~2%), an estimated $100,000 property‑tax uptick tied to annexations, and uncertainty on energy‑use franchise receipts — and flagged a stormwater revenue shortfall of about $200,000 against planned projects.
On personnel, staff proposed a 2% cost‑of‑living adjustment and a 3.62% merit pool (netting roughly 2.6% for those eligible) and outlined increases for market adjustments, health care costs, and select department base budgets, including substantial IT equipment and software upgrades. Public‑safety and UFA contract changes were also summarized; UFA recently revised its estimate downward to about a 2.96% increase.
Council discussed benchmarking practice and requested additional analysis on COLA/merit before the tentative budget adoption on May 6. Staff said they will publish redlines and comparative data from peer cities for council review, and that final adoption is scheduled for June per the budget calendar.
No final budget vote was taken in the work session; staff indicated changes can be made between tentative and final adoption.
