Nibley City Council adopts budget without raising property taxes, flags EMS and software uncertainties

Nibley City staff presented a revised budget recommendation at a May 28 special meeting and the City Council voted to adopt Resolution 2619, approving the budget without asking residents for a tax increase.

“This is the big news of the night,” city staff member Justin said when introducing the revised figures, explaining staff trimmed about $65,000 from general-fund expenses largely by reducing travel and training and by lowering planned contributions to capital projects. Justin said staff also adjusted revenue assumptions to narrow the recurring gap between projected revenues and spending.

Council discussion focused on two areas of uncertainty the budget does not fully resolve: fire protection and emergency medical services, and the city’s accounting/billing software. Council members noted the interlocal contract for fire protection has increased and that the county may have been subsidizing EMS in the southern county; staff said there is a proposal under consideration that could return a portion of county tax revenue to municipalities as a voucher, but that governance and county-level decisions must play out first. Justin told the council the city could also consider an EMS fee as an alternative revenue source but that decision would come later.

Justin also reported the city’s accounting software vendor is making changes that may force the city to either migrate to a new system or pay higher costs for the current system; the staff estimate in discussion was on the order of “20ish thousand” dollars, though a final number and vendor decision were not finalized at the meeting.

Council members asked for clarifications about fund balances and earmarking. Staff said the capital projects fund’s balance is roughly $4 million by memory and clarified that a separate late agenda item reclassified $2,000 from capital projects to impact-fee funding as a journal entry—shifting the funding source rather than increasing spending.

Council moved and passed the resolution to adopt the budget and to waive a second reading so fiscal year preparations can proceed. As adopted, the budget assumes the county-certified tax rate (as provided by the county assessor) and does not seek an increase in property-tax dollars for the coming year.

What’s next: staff and council will continue work on fire/EMS governance and county reimbursement proposals; any changes that would affect taxes or require a public hearing will be brought back to a future meeting. The council also scheduled a regular meeting in two weeks that will include a water-system update.

Sources: Presentation and council discussion at the May 28 Nibley City Council special meeting.