Pocatello outlines $186 million tentative budget; resident questions fee accounting and right-of-way charges

Rich Morgan of the city's finance department presented the Pocatello City Council with a high-level timetable and key figures for the coming fiscal year, including a tentative citywide budget of $186,000,000 and a public hearing scheduled for Aug. 6, the council was told.

Morgan told the televised special meeting that Idaho statutes require cities to prepare a budget before passing an annual appropriation ordinance and that the budget should conform to uniform accounting standards. He described the budget as a policy document and a financial plan that sets guardrails for departments and noted the city's fiscal year runs Oct. 1'Sept. 30 under state rules.

Why this matters: Morgan said the tentative budget will be published with comparative figures and that the council typically holds the final adoption after the public hearing so it can consider testimony. "You could adopt the budget on the same day, but the city of Pocatello chooses to adopt the budget the next meeting so that you have time to think about the comments that were made in that public hearing," Morgan said.

On tax capacity and "foregone," Morgan explained the accounting concept used to track taxing capacity the council has chosen not to use, and he gave rough figures for Pocatello's balance. "Currently, the city has about $5,000,000 being tracked in their foregone amount," Morgan said, adding that a portion of that balance could be permanently placed into maintenance and operations subject to statutory limits.

The presentation included a breakdown of major budget shares and revenue sources. Morgan said police represent about 44% of the general fund (about 12% of the total city budget), fire about 23% of the general fund (6% of the total), and that grants account for roughly 18% of the overall budget. He also noted utility charges make up about 25% of total revenue and that property tax is about 20%.

Morgan outlined the budget calendar: departments submit requests in spring, council workshops are held in June, tentative adoption occurs in July, the public hearing will be at the Aug. 6 council meeting and final adoption is planned for Aug. 20. He emphasized maintaining three months of operating reserves, prioritizing recurring revenue to fund ongoing services, and developing a formal capital plan.

Morgan also said the city is implementing OpenGov software to improve public access and multi-year forecasting but acknowledged the OpenGov link was not yet live on the city website. "We're going to take care of that this week," he said, asking staff to make the OpenGov budgeting link available so residents can view the numbers.

During the public-comment period, Lydia Noble of Pocatello raised three items for council consideration, asking the council to: (1) reconsider the practice of sweeping interest earnings into the general fund rather than crediting them to the originating funds, (2) clarify the methodology for right-of-way (ROW) charges embedded in enterprise fund budgets (she referenced the Raftelis rate study), and (3) publish a 10-year comparison that separates base budget growth from grants so residents can see underlying growth.

Noble asked whether burying ROW charges in utility or enterprise budgets could amount to an unconstitutional additional tax. The mayor and Morgan responded that those are longer-term issues to study and that staff will follow up. The mayor noted a recent transfer that moved incremental street dollars out of the general fund as an example of adjustments already under way. "Let's get some logistics there," the mayor said in reply to Noble.

The meeting closed with a reminder that comments related to a pending conditional-use permit appeal for a data center may be excluded under quasi-judicial/ex parte rules; the mayor invited other topics for public comment and provided contact emails for the council. The presentation and public comments set the schedule and flagged several follow-up items for staff ahead of the Aug. 6 hearing and the anticipated final adoption on Aug. 20.