Springdale prioritizes FY26 capital list; council flags generators, roads and possible transportation tax

Springdale, UT

At its Jan. 28 work meeting the Springdale Town Council reviewed the FY2026 capital priorities list and heard staff's recommendation to apply a priority-based budgeting approach across year-1, year-2 and year-3 project lists compiled from multiple master plans.

Town staff described several near-term and longer-term capital items. Public works confirmed an emergency-preparedness purchase (a box trailer of gear, pumps, hoses and a smaller portable generator) and installation of two propane-fueled standby generators next week: one to serve the community center (excluding the library) and one to serve town hall. Operations staff said the installed units will have roughly 500-gallon propane tanks and are expected to run for "10 to 14 days," depending on load; they will be exercised weekly.

Roads and funding options: Public Works identified several expensive road projects coming into the capital horizon, including reconstruction of Red Hawk Drive (on the order of $500,000), an overlay/reconstruction of Big Spring that staff estimated at roughly $492,000, and eventual significant work on Lyon Boulevard and Paradise Road. Rick Wixom suggested the council evaluate a 0.3% local option transportation sales tax (state code cited during the meeting) to create a dedicated, locally controlled revenue stream for road reconstruction and safety work; staff estimated the tax could generate on the order of $600,000 per year based on current resort and sales-tax collections.

Why it matters: Council members said relying solely on general fund transfers to pay for recurring large road reconstructions is unsustainable. The proposed local-option sales tax would dedicate lodging and sales tax receipts to road maintenance and capital rather than using general balances.

Other flagged items: tree removals adjacent to SR 9 near businesses (safety-driven work with relatively high bid costs because of proximity to the highway), multi-use path root repairs (concrete replacement behind the Hyatt), and a potential asphalt patch at the SunTrans bus turnaround to reduce rutting and tracking of debris onto Lyon Boulevard.

Next steps: Staff will pursue more detailed cost estimates and bids for specific projects, follow up on SunTrans turnaround options, and draft materials explaining the 0.3% transportation tax option and the ordinance and public process required for council consideration.

Quotes from the meeting: "Priority based budgeting means it's a broad concept that can mean lots of things to lots of people," Rick said while describing the approach. On generators, operations staff said the units "are propane fueled" and described tank sizes and expected run times. On roads, Rick said a local option transportation tax "comes 100% to the community" and suggested the tax be considered to pay for road needs.

Context and timing: Department budgets will be prepared in February, a council work meeting on departmental budgets is planned for April, a tentative budget in May and a final budget (with the public hearing) in June.