Council debates FY2027 draft budget, raises concerns over per-capita spending and Recreation Fund use

Finance Director Brett Baltazar presented the draft FY2027 budget, describing it as balanced (revenues equal expenditures by fund) and noting the budget will proceed through the Truth & Taxation process. Baltazar said projections used historical data and forecasting formulas and that the difference between holding and changing the rate would be about $5,000 to $6,000.

Councilman Joel Dills said he opposed raising the rate and asked for a per-capita spending study because he is concerned South Weber spends more per resident than similar cities. He listed specific pressure points including a 5% annual employee salary increase assumption, rising parks maintenance, declining gravel-pit revenue, slow sales at General RV, requests for more full-time staff with benefits, and engineering costs. Councilman Blair Halverson agreed he shared similar concerns; Councilman Wayne Winsor said cost-per-capita is a single metric that requires qualitative context.

Staff asked permission to begin a recreation registration software agreement despite the item not being budgeted yet; council authorized City Manager David Larson to proceed so staff can start the process before final budget adoption. Larson also noted the Recreation Fund balance has subsidized lost gravel-pit revenue and can sustain that subsidy for about one more year at current levels. Baltazar asked whether the council favored increasing an IT line item for a server and firewall from $15,000 to $30,000; the council discussed trade-offs but did not record a binding adjustment at this meeting.

The council's discussion highlighted competing priorities and the need for longer-term strategy on spending and staffing levels before finalizing the FY2027 budget.