Brigham City considers property-tax increase to fund full‑time city attorney, police IT sergeant, animal‑services raises and more

Mayor opened a June 4 work session outlining personnel items included in the mayor's proposed property-tax increase, saying staff would present details and cost estimates before the council sets a tentative budget.

Jeff Schmidt, the city's finance director, reminded the council that three personnel requests form the bulk of the tax increase proposal: moving the city attorney from a contracted arrangement to a benefited full‑time position, creation of a sworn administrative IT sergeant in the police department to manage growing technology and compliance demands, and market-adjusted compensation for animal-services staff. Staff also requested expanded seasonal hours for parks operations.

On the city-attorney change, staff said the current contract expires in August and the difference between continuing a contract and hiring a full‑time attorney is roughly $140,000 a year when salary and benefits are combined. The presentation noted the existing contract attorney may apply for the full‑time job, but no hiring decisions have been made.

Police leaders asked the council to approve a new sworn administrative sergeant position to serve as an IT and compliance liaison for policing systems, citing expanding state and federal criminal‑justice information requirements, body and dash camera management, license‑plate reader rules and other technical reporting obligations.

Chief Ray told the council the department's command staff has been stretched since an earlier reorganization removed an administrative slot and that the proposed sergeant would relieve critical supervision and compliance duties. Royce Wilkerson, who spoke about technical requirements, said patching and vulnerability management already occupies large blocks of staff time and that ongoing CJIS (criminal justice information system) obligations are shifting from triannual audits to continuous reporting.

On animal services, staff shared a market analysis of 17 comparable municipalities and proposed a 10‑step stepping grade for animal control officers and a five‑step plan for the part‑time shelter technician to improve retention and reduce risk to service continuity. The chief described animal control as a high‑risk, high‑stress assignment and emphasized the difficulty of replacing experienced staff.

Parks staff asked for 5,780 additional seasonal hours — an increase staff estimated would cost about $110,000 annually — to improve early‑season start‑ups, maintain several recently inherited detention basins and reduce deferred maintenance.

Several council members praised the public-safety presentations but pressed staff on affordability and alternatives. "We're asking residents for near‑term tax increases," one councilor said, asking staff to run scenarios that reduce the proposed gap before the tentative budget vote. The mayor and staff confirmed the council could revisit allocations at a June 10 work session and again before the June 18 tentative budget adoption; the certified county tax rate expected before the 10th would materially change scenario results.

The mayor asked council members to send specific questions to staff before the June 10 meeting so staff could present financial scenarios and tradeoffs. The meeting moved to additional agenda items after the work session.

Ending: The council did not vote on the larger budget package at the June 4 meeting; staff scheduled a follow-up work session for June 10 to run scenarios and expected to present a tentative budget on June 18, with the final truth-in-taxation step in August.