Rexburg staff report shows tight reserves; council sets aside $100,000 for pickleball courts

Rexburg’s finance director presented a year‑end forecast and five‑year streets plan, and the council agreed to reserve $100,000 for future pickleball courts while urging staff to pursue grants and additional funding if surpluses appear.

Matt Nielsen told the council the city must publish its FY2024 annual street report in December and submit it to the state. He said the city’s carryover increased to roughly $7.1 million and that staff has identified about $13 million in projects in the five‑year plan. Nielsen also reported liquid reserves of about $9 million and reviewed general fund reserve targets of 25–33 percent. He estimated the city’s reserve would be roughly 31.2 percent at year end but warned that accepting all requested budget items would have dropped reserves to about 16 percent by the end of fiscal 2025 without cuts.

On parks funding, Nielsen recommended setting aside $100,000 toward a future pickleball court project and estimated a minimum renovation cost of roughly $60,000 for the Smith Park tennis courts conversion. Council members debated leaving more in reserve versus increasing the pickleball allocation; the council ultimately directed staff to set aside $100,000 now and to seek grants and monitor year‑end surpluses to potentially add funds later.

Nielsen also noted additional positive items that helped the forecast: a favorable health insurance renewal that reduced general fund costs and a $20,000 grant from the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation to assist Smith Park renovations.

Next steps: staff will finalize year‑end transfers and continue grant searches; the Smith Park courts renovation is anticipated to add six courts.