Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Budgeting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Wales council approves two budgets and records support for raising water rates to qualify for state grants
Summary
At its June 25 meeting, the Wales Town Council unanimously approved the 2025–26 and 2026–27 fiscal budgets. Council members and a Rural Water Association representative discussed raising base water rates to improve the town’s eligibility for state grant funding for water projects.
Wales Town Council approved its 2025–26 and 2026–27 fiscal year budgets during a June 25, 2026 meeting at Wales Town Hall, recording unanimous votes in favor.
The council acted on separate motions to adopt the 2025–26 and the final 2026–27 budgets. Council member David Larson moved to approve the 2025–26 budget and Council member Brian Smith seconded; minutes list votes in favor from Mayor James Roberts and Council members Helen Clawson, David Larson and Brian Smith, with no recorded opposition. The council passed the final 2026–27 budget by the same recorded vote.
Why it matters: council members said the budgets align near-term operations with infrastructure work the town is pursuing, particularly water-system projects that the town hopes to fund with state grants.
At the June 9 open meeting and again in the June 25 open meeting, Janell Braithwaite of the Rural Water Association (Utah) advised the town to show a rate path that saves for capital work in order to improve eligibility for state grants tied to water infrastructure. At the June 9 meeting she described a proposal to move the base water rate from $43.00 to $47.00 with $2 annual increases. The June 25 open-meeting minutes record a later proposal increasing the base to $50.00 with the same $2 annual increase; the minutes contain inconsistent rate figures between the two meetings.
Braithwaite told council members that demonstrating rates set aside for future projects would strengthen Wales’s standing for grant funding and cited the Boost Pump project as an example of a town project that received state funding late in the cycle.
The council’s financial approvals come as the town advances several water-related operations items. Town leaders and staff reported the boost pump is operating manually while automation remains to be installed; staff also discussed a potential third well site west of town near storage tanks. The council allocated no new line-item appropriations in the minutes beyond the published budgets.
The meeting minutes include several typographical errors and inconsistent wording; for transparency the council’s recorded votes and the minutes’ language are reflected directly in this report. The council adjourned at 8:16 p.m. on June 25.
