Skip to main content

City budget of $44 million set for 2017-18

Jun 23, 2017 11:50AM ● By Travis Barton

The South Salt Lake City Council approved its budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year. (Kimberly Roach)

By Travis Barton | [email protected]


South Salt Lake City’s $44 million budget was approved by the city council on June 14. 


After passing the tentative budget on April 26 and holding a public hearing on May 24, the city council unanimously passed the city’s budget that will span the fiscal year from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. 


Notable highlights from the budget: 


Included in the budget also was a $300,000 addition to the ambulance service fund to retrofit the ambulance rigs. But authorization for that expenditure was put on hold until the council sees a presentation from Salt Lake City Fire Department regarding a potential alternative. 


“We’re approving this,” Councilman Mark Kindred said, “with the understanding that it’s on the record that we will not spend these funds until we have a presentation from Salt Lake City.” 


Resident Tammi Diaz told the city council during its May 24 meeting to “get out of the ambulance business” after being billed for what she believed was a high amount of $1,700. She had called for an ambulance in September of 2016 after her husband, who she said has cerebral palsy, needed emergency service. 


The budget will see a step increase of 3 percent for public employees and 4 percent for public safety employees. 


Councilman Ben Pender said during the June 14 city council meeting it’s important for the public to remember the increases aren’t applied across the board, but for those with step plans in place. 


“We want to continue funding those steps so they can continue to get those raises as they progress,” Pender said. 


Finance Director Kyle Kershaw said during an April city council meeting employee benefits rise as salaries rise since benefits are a percentage of the salaries. He also said medical insurance has only increased 1.33 percent over the past three years. 


The general fund saw a large increase with $2.4 million in Class C funds, which plans to fund construction and street maintenance projects. 


Three new staff positions were created, one of which was simply repurposed within the budget, Kershaw said. 


Those positions included a staff engineer, a streets department employee and a staff member to work in storm water maintenance and solid waste collection. 


The city also received a private grant of $8,000 that will be used towards a playground at Central Park Community Center. The city will also acquire 10 police vehicles rather than the seven that were initially planned. 


Overall the budget is broken down into $30,139,060 in the general fund, $6,447,500 in the capital improvements fund, $2,394,000 in the sewer utility fund, $2,390,000 in the water utility fund, $1,655,500 in the ambulance services fund, $668,000 in the insurance reserve fund, $507,000 in solid waste collection fund, $331,000 in the leased equipment debt service fund and $92,266 in the housing fund budget.