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[1:02] » Few minutes early, so welcome everybody

[1:04] to the Salt Lake City work session

[1:06] for May 5th, 2026. Our meetings are

[1:09] public. Uh and you're welcome to join us

[1:12] in person or by watching from the

[1:14] Council agenda page, Zoom, or YouTube.

[1:17] Uh we hope you will continue to join us

[1:19] in whichever manner you feel the most

[1:21] comfortable. This is a work session

[1:23] meeting uh during which there's not

[1:25] public comment. You can join us tonight

[1:27] at 7:00 p.m. our formal meeting to share

[1:30] your comments. Of course, we welcome

[1:32] feedback anytime by mail at P.O. Box

[1:36] 145476

[1:38] Salt Lake City, Utah 84114.

[1:41] You can also email us at council

[1:44] .comments@slc.gov.

[1:48] You can also call our 24-hour

[1:50] phone line 801-535-7654.

[1:55] Comments we receive on agenda

[1:57] topics are shared with the council with

[1:59] council members and post posted in our

[2:02] website

[2:03] at slc.gov/council.

[2:06] Our first agenda item is

[2:10] the an ordinance for lost and

[2:12] misled property at airport text

[2:15] amendments. We're going to welcome at

[2:17] the table Nick Torbett, council deputy

[2:18] director,

[2:20] Bill Wyatt,

[2:21] maybe not, council

[2:23] executive director of the airports,

[2:25] Trevor Anderson, airport operations

[2:26] director, Paul Nielsen, senior city

[2:28] attorney. And Nick

[2:33] All right, thank you, Mr. Chair. This

[2:34] briefing is about an ordinance that

[2:36] would amend city code pertaining to lost

[2:39] and misled property at the airports.

[2:41] The recommended changes are necessary to

[2:43] comply with Senate Bill 172, which was

[2:45] passed this 2026 general session, and to

[2:48] codify the process by which Salt Lake

[2:50] City Department of Airports disposes of

[2:52] misled property left at the airport.

[2:56] Uh, there will be a public hearing on

[2:57] this on May 19th.

[2:59] With that, I'll turn the time over to

[3:00] Paul. Uh, thank you. Um, Mr. Wyatt

[3:03] couldn't make it and

[3:05] Mr. Anderson

[3:07] is at a conference, so we have general

[3:09] Jennifer Kaufman, who runs the airport's

[3:11] lost and found operation with us today.

[3:13] And let me just note that it is unusual

[3:15] for

[3:16] one of the city attorneys to be part of

[3:18] the presentation, but a lot of this

[3:21] effort is really sort of the legal

[3:23] nitty-gritty technical stuff that is

[3:26] probably not terribly interesting, but

[3:28] um

[3:30] Uh, I've I've been involved in the

[3:32] process for a little over 2 years now,

[3:35] and

[3:36] I

[3:36] whatever Jennifer wants to add to that.

[3:40] It's been a a long road to get what

[3:42] we've been operating under at the

[3:44] airport to be legal. And so, with Paul's

[3:47] assistance, uh, we started with going to

[3:49] the legislature and getting um that

[3:51] updated to reflect what we're actually

[3:53] doing at the airport and now we want to

[3:56] propose that the ordinances with the

[3:57] city also reflect that change.

[3:59] I'll note that the the law that was

[4:02] passed during this session goes into

[4:04] effect tomorrow. So

[4:06] we appreciate the council considering

[4:08] this on

[4:09] sort of a quick turnaround.

[4:11] I don't know if you want me to explain

[4:13] the

[4:14] the the technical details.

[4:16] Um

[4:18] we start with

[4:20] city ordinance

[4:22] reflects what had been the state code

[4:26] position and that is that only a law

[4:28] enforcement agency has anything to do

[4:30] with lost and found. We know the reality

[4:32] pretty much everywhere is

[4:35] something quite different. There are a

[4:37] lot of government entities that have

[4:39] lost and found operations, but the only

[4:41] one recognized by state law until

[4:43] tomorrow

[4:44] is that the

[4:45] one that deals with law enforcement.

[4:48] So technically when you receive

[4:52] when

[4:53] government receives lost property

[4:55] they're supposed to to involve law

[4:57] enforcement. Um

[5:00] part of that conversation

[5:04] deals with the fact that

[5:06] again until tomorrow the state law

[5:09] indicates that when a law enforcement

[5:10] officer even touches anything that's

[5:12] lost and found has to be entered as

[5:15] evidence. That doesn't make sense in

[5:16] most cases, but I think that that

[5:19] statute was developed at a time when we

[5:21] had a different idea of what we were

[5:22] dealing with when it comes to lost

[5:24] stuff.

[5:25] Um so we we had the legislature

[5:29] create an exception for

[5:32] law enforcement officers who are

[5:33] assigned to airports

[5:36] may touch the stuff in transition to and

[5:39] this was a concern of Commander

[5:41] Mitchell's. His his team is very uh by

[5:44] the book.

[5:46] They don't want to touch anything. They

[5:47] do not They They just out of that

[5:49] concern. Um and in the process, let me

[5:51] just back up a little bit uh as far as

[5:53] getting the legislation adopted, um we

[5:56] realized that it might be uh a little

[5:59] messy if we tried to involve every

[6:01] single airport or every other public

[6:04] entity. And so, we went with uh airports

[6:06] that are required to have a law

[6:08] enforcement presence per federal

[6:09] regulations. So, that involves Salt Lake

[6:11] City International, um Provo, Ogden, St.

[6:15] George, and Cedar City. And we uh had a

[6:19] collaborative effort with uh all of

[6:21] their airport uh operators. And so, this

[6:24] really only just applies to those

[6:26] airports um as opposed to every uh

[6:28] single regional or city airport.

[6:31] Um

[6:33] we cleaned up the language in uh chapter

[6:36] 2.10 uh to acknowledge that there two

[6:39] different tracks here when it comes to

[6:40] lost and found items. Um

[6:43] updated some of the uh the language uh

[6:46] in the code to reflect state code

[6:48] changes in the last little while.

[6:50] Um a lot of what

[6:53] you'll see in the ordinance uh is

[6:56] definitions, but the the meat of this is

[6:59] the

[7:00] um

[7:01] the language that uh would be in the new

[7:04] uh section 16.10.230,

[7:08] um which is all about the process um of

[7:11] receiving, inventorying, and uh and

[7:14] disposition. Um

[7:17] and that's kind of it. I don't know if

[7:18] you have any specific questions about

[7:20] how that happens.

[7:23] Councilmember Young.

[7:25] No, thank you. I appreciate this. And as

[7:27] someone who has had a child who lost

[7:29] property, I love our website. So, good

[7:32] good job in terms of like making it very

[7:35] clear on things that have been found. If

[7:37] you're ever curious, like what things

[7:39] get left at the airport? Very

[7:41] entertaining way to spend your time.

[7:43] » [laughter]

[7:43] » Like you're like, who knew? Who was

[7:45] traveling with that? Anyway, my key

[7:47] question was just related to like the

[7:49] sale of unclaimed property.

[7:51] Um I I appreciate, you know, funneling

[7:54] it back into a system to be thoughtful

[7:56] about not allocating additional taxpayer

[7:58] dollars where we might have, you know,

[7:59] the ability to cover. My question is, is

[8:02] that the standard practice of most

[8:04] airports?

[8:06] Um just curious kind of where that fits

[8:07] in the larger landscape.

[8:10] Um I don't know if we could answer what

[8:12] the practices of most airports, but I'll

[8:15] tell you there's there's a complication

[8:17] here, and that is

[8:19] um when

[8:21] nobody claims that property, it

[8:23] essentially becomes ours.

[8:26] Um and as the holder of the property,

[8:29] uh

[8:30] the Department of Airports is

[8:34] constrained by

[8:36] federal regulations regarding revenue

[8:38] diversion. So,

[8:40] it's considered our the the department's

[8:42] property,

[8:44] and we have to dispose of it a certain

[8:45] way. And it um

[8:47] really the only way that that we can

[8:49] feel comfortable, and when I say we, I

[8:51] mean the Department of Airports, um

[8:53] would feel comfortable with uh

[8:56] handling those proceeds is putting it

[8:57] back into

[8:59] the enterprise fund, which has to go

[9:03] to pay for the um the lost and found

[9:05] operation, and it's not going to cover

[9:07] that cost.

[9:09] Thank you. I appreciate that. And let me

[9:11] just say, I didn't want to make this

[9:12] personal, but uh Jennifer will tell you

[9:14] that I regularly have to reach out to

[9:17] her because uh colleagues lose things

[9:20] such as laptops, um

[9:23] » A shoe,

[9:25] uh

[9:26] a single yes, uh Jonathan Papelbon's.

[9:29] Um

[9:31] I had to pick up my father's laptop a

[9:33] few months ago, and then uh back in

[9:36] uh

[9:37] in February I had to reach out because I

[9:38] lost a pair of sunglasses.

[9:41] So, I am either the problem or the face

[9:45] of the problem.

[9:46] » You're contributing to the economy, so

[9:48] we appreciate it.

[9:49] Um yeah, no, thank you for that. I don't

[9:51] have any additional questions and think

[9:53] that um I I appreciate you going through

[9:56] a process by which to make sure our

[9:58] policies and procedures are in alignment

[10:00] with state code so that we don't run

[10:02] into like any unintended issues there.

[10:04] So, thank you for your work on that.

[10:08] Any Okay, it seems like we have

[10:11] you know, answer all our questions.

[10:12] Thank you so much for for this update.

[10:15] Thank you.

[10:17] Moving on on the agenda, we're going to

[10:19] go to item number two, which is an

[10:20] ordinance for the indefinite alleyway

[10:23] closure of Jefferson in Jefferson Park.

[10:26] We're going to welcome Brian Fullmer,

[10:28] Council Policy Analyst, to the table,

[10:30] Tyler Murdock, Public Lands Deputy

[10:33] Director, and Amy Riile, Associate

[10:35] Landscape Architect, and we're going to

[10:38] give Brian maybe a few minutes to

[10:41] introduce this item. Thank you.

[10:43] Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a proposal

[10:46] from the Department of Public Lands to

[10:48] indefinitely close but retain ownership

[10:51] of two alleys that the city owns within

[10:54] Jefferson Park, which is located in

[10:56] District 5. The intent is to consolidate

[10:59] parcels within the park for improvements

[11:03] funded by the Reimagine

[11:05] Reimagine Nature General Obligation

[11:08] Bond. [clears throat]

[11:09] And with that, I'll turn it over to

[11:10] Tyler and Amy.

[11:13] Thanks, Brian.

[11:14] Good afternoon, Council. A quick intro

[11:17] before I let Amy kind of run through

[11:18] this.

[11:20] This is a bit unique for Public Lands to

[11:22] bring these. However, it is becoming a

[11:24] lot more common. I just want to preface

[11:26] that. Many of the parks in Salt Lake

[11:28] City were created long before many of

[11:31] our zoning ordinances exist and so a lot

[11:34] of our parks the majority of our parks

[11:36] still today are made up of many

[11:38] different parcels

[11:39] and alleyways and streets and so how

[11:42] we're managing that is when we do

[11:45] updates or master capital improvements

[11:48] we then go through the rezoning process

[11:50] to vacate any alleyways or and then to

[11:52] consolidate the parcels. This is a

[11:54] requirement for us to get our building

[11:57] permits to move these forward. So this

[11:58] is becoming a more of a frequent thing

[12:01] and I just wanted to preface that you'll

[12:02] probably continue to see us as we

[12:03] continue to invest in capital

[12:05] improvements

[12:06] in our parks. So with that I'll turn it

[12:08] to Amy for a quick summary of this one.

[12:12] Thank you. Hello Council.

[12:14] And again here we are to talk about

[12:16] Jefferson Park.

[12:18] Go to the next slide.

[12:22] Site context Jefferson Park

[12:24] is located in D5

[12:26] and it is a detention basin managed by

[12:29] public utilities and a park managed by

[12:32] public lands. Next slide.

[12:39] The purpose for our meeting today is to

[12:42] consolidate parcels within Jefferson

[12:44] Park for planned improvements as

[12:46] indicated. Next concept next slide.

[12:53] The proposed alley closures are both

[12:56] located entirely within the park.

[13:00] So you'll see

[13:02] A is a portion of the east-west

[13:04] mid-block alley between 200 West and

[13:07] West Temple

[13:09] approximately 100 ft by 15 ft.

[13:12] And B is a north-south alley between

[13:15] West Temple Ave and West Fremont Ave

[13:18] approximately 275

[13:20] ft by 16 ft. Next slide.

[13:27] And here they are

[13:29] inside the park.

[13:31] » [laughter]

[13:32] » Next slide.

[13:35] This is just state code to remind you of

[13:39] when we can close the alley and it is

[13:43] not necessary for vehicular travel and

[13:47] it is we would argue necessary to

[13:49] mitigate injury because of the detention

[13:51] basin function that protects surrounding

[13:53] homes. Next slide.

[13:58] The public process that we have followed

[14:00] is noted here

[14:02] and this is a step in the process um

[14:06] and a final noticing requirement is

[14:08] being sent out as per this.

[14:11] Next slide.

[14:14] That's it.

[14:15] Please close the alley so we can do the

[14:17] park improvements. Council members.

[14:20] Okay, we just did that in Madison Park

[14:23] not too long ago.

[14:24] Um and I my question I guess for the for

[14:27] the administration is can you bring them

[14:29] all together to us?

[14:30] We can get it over with. I had a feeling

[14:33] that was going to come up Council member

[14:35] and so we actually have created a full

[14:37] list that identifies every park in the

[14:40] city that requires lot consolidation and

[14:43] vacation.

[14:45] Uh it's a long long list and right now

[14:48] the capacity does not exist within the

[14:50] planning team with our team to really

[14:51] take those all on so we do them on

[14:53] individual basis.

[14:54] Uh we're working towards that with some

[14:56] team changes and hopefully can maybe

[14:59] bring more than one next time. So.

[15:02] Certainly I you know we're not managing

[15:04] your time you know you know the work

[15:06] that you guys do and it's a lot so thank

[15:08] you for bringing this one. Um thank you

[15:10] for the update. Yeah, thank you Council.

[15:14] Okay.

[15:17] So Council members we're going to take a

[15:19] break. Uh

[15:22] We are moving ahead um

[15:23] uh a little faster and um

[15:26] so

[15:27] » We need staff from uh Metro Water and

[15:29] Public Utilities to arrive. They're on

[15:31] their way, but not here yet.

[15:37] So, I'll come back three.

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[39:07] » Start the meeting, restart the meeting

[39:08] with item number

[39:10] four.

[39:11] Uh, this is the fiscal year 2026-2027

[39:15] budget for the Metropolitan Water

[39:17] District. We're going to welcome to you

[39:18] Austin Kimmel, Council Analyst, uh, Anna

[39:21] Lee Munsey,

[39:23] uh, Metro Water General Manager, and

[39:26] uh, Tom Godfrey, Board Chair for Metro

[39:28] Water.

[39:30] Um, Austin.

[39:32] » [clears throat]

[39:33] » Thanks, Council members. Uh, the

[39:35] Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake

[39:37] and Sandy is here to present its

[39:39] tentative budget for the 20 2026-2027

[39:43] fiscal year.

[39:44] The Council's role in Metro Water's

[39:46] budget is somewhat unique. The Council

[39:48] reviews the budget and shares

[39:50] responsibility with Sandy City Council

[39:52] to approve and set the tax rate, but it

[39:54] does not formally adopt the budget. That

[39:57] responsibility rests with Metro Water's

[40:00] Board of Trustees.

[40:02] Metro Water's primary function is to

[40:04] store, treat, and convey water supplies

[40:06] to Salt Lake City and Sandy. It is one

[40:08] of the taxing entities that appears as a

[40:10] line on property taxes for property

[40:13] owners.

[40:14] And this year's total budget is nearly

[40:17] $123.7

[40:19] million, which is about a $12 million

[40:22] increase from last year.

[40:23] The increase is driven primarily by

[40:25] costs from other agencies, price

[40:27] increases from utility providers such as

[40:30] gas and power, and increased capital

[40:32] projects budget.

[40:33] Metro Water proposes a 6% increase to

[40:36] the rate charged to member cities for

[40:38] water sales, and a 6% increase to water

[40:41] rates for non-member entities.

[40:43] Lastly, Metro Water does not propose a

[40:45] property tax increase, and the projected

[40:47] certified tax rate is proposed at

[40:50] 0.00035.

[40:53] And with that, I will turn it over to

[40:54] Anna Lee.

[41:00] Okay.

[41:02] All right, thank you.

[41:05] I want to first introduce

[41:07] Tom Godfrey. He's the chair of the

[41:10] Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake

[41:12] and Sandy. He also serves as president

[41:15] or chair of the Provo River Water Users

[41:18] Association, and Metro is a majority

[41:20] shareholder in that association. And

[41:23] then he also serves

[41:25] as a member of the Salt Lake City Public

[41:27] Utilities Advisory Committee.

[41:29] So, he has a great understanding of

[41:32] water and how it relates to Salt Lake

[41:34] City.

[41:35] And I also want to

[41:38] recognize Laura Briefer and Jason

[41:42] Brown. Okay. Sorry. They have a couple

[41:44] Jason. Jason Brown um with Salt Lake

[41:47] City Public Utilities. Um having their

[41:49] support here today just shows the great

[41:51] relationship with that we have with your

[41:54] utilities.

[41:55] And recognize our role in providing

[41:58] water to the city.

[42:01] Uh next slide.

[42:04] So, for this presentation, I'll just

[42:06] provide a quick overview of Metro Water.

[42:09] And our purpose here today is to present

[42:12] our fiscal year 2027 tentative budget to

[42:14] you. And then I'll just summarize our

[42:17] sources and uses of funds and I'm I'll

[42:20] be happy to address any questions during

[42:22] the presentation or of course at the end

[42:24] as well. Next slide.

[42:31] So the Metropolitan Water District was

[42:32] established in 1935. So we did hit 90

[42:35] years in August.

[42:37] Our sole purpose is to provide reliable

[42:40] drinking water to the Salt Lake Valley.

[42:43] In 1990 Sandy City annexed into the

[42:46] district and so our name changed from

[42:49] Metropolitan of Salt Lake City to

[42:50] Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake

[42:53] and Sandy.

[42:54] Next slide.

[42:58] So we have a board of seven trustees.

[43:01] Five of those represent Salt Lake City

[43:04] and two represent Sandy City. Each

[43:07] trustee serves for a four-year term that

[43:10] can be re

[43:11] renewed. And as you'll know recently you

[43:15] appointed two new trustees to our board

[43:17] and I know

[43:18] we have an open opening that you're

[43:20] currently looking to fulfill for our for

[43:22] our board.

[43:24] Next slide.

[43:28] So Metro's water supply is diverse which

[43:31] supports a reliable water supply for

[43:34] Salt Lake City.

[43:35] The bulk of our water is supplied to the

[43:37] Provo River project. This water is

[43:40] stored in Deer Creek Reservoir.

[43:43] And just in perspective the dam and

[43:45] reservoir were built as part of the

[43:46] Provo River project in the 1940s.

[43:50] Metro's water supply also includes

[43:52] Little Cottonwood Creek. The 20,000 acre

[43:55] feet is a combination of Salt Lake City

[43:57] and Sandy City water rights.

[44:02] The third largest source of water is the

[44:05] Central Utah Project. So this water is

[44:08] stored in Jordan Reservoir, and Metro is

[44:11] a petitioner for this water.

[44:14] Other water sources for Metro include

[44:17] Central Utah Project also has a Utah

[44:19] Lake System water, which is actually

[44:21] Strawberry Reservoir.

[44:23] Oop, I thought it cut out. Okay. Um, and

[44:26] then

[44:27] Salt Lake City um has 3,100 acre feet of

[44:30] that preferential right for that ULS

[44:33] water, and they started paying for the

[44:35] supply in 2021.

[44:37] And Metro also receives water from the

[44:39] Ontario Drain Tunnel.

[44:41] So, a combined total of 108,700

[44:45] acre feet. However, in a poor snow year,

[44:48] like we've all experienced, our water

[44:51] supply is notably less than that.

[44:54] Next slide.

[44:59] So, when you think of water treatment,

[45:01] there's really three key facilities you

[45:03] have to have a treatment facility, you

[45:05] have to have something that conveys the

[45:06] water, and then there's an end

[45:08] reservoir. That's how my simple mind

[45:10] thinks of it.

[45:12] Uh so, Metro is owner of the Little

[45:14] Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant that's

[45:16] located just at the base of Little

[45:18] Cottonwood Canyon.

[45:20] Um, it was originally constructed in

[45:22] 1960.

[45:24] And this plant is the second largest

[45:26] plant treatment plant in the Salt Lake

[45:28] Valley.

[45:29] Uh we also own and operate the Point of

[45:31] the Mountain Water Treatment Plant,

[45:33] which is located in Draper. This was

[45:35] commissioned in 2007

[45:37] as part of the Metro Water Project.

[45:40] And this plant really runs during high

[45:42] demands seasons, so usually in the

[45:45] summer, and it provides redundancy for

[45:47] our plant. And then we're also 2/7

[45:50] owners of the Jordan Valley Water

[45:52] Treatment Plant.

[45:53] Uh it has a

[45:55] it's located in Bluffdale.

[45:57] And they're currently doing a project to

[46:00] expand the capacity of that plant to 250

[46:03] million gallons.

[46:05] And then for a conveyance of the water,

[46:07] we have our Salt Lake Aqueduct, which I

[46:08] call the kind of the backbone of the

[46:10] Salt Lake Valley's distribution system.

[46:13] Um it was it's near over 70 years old.

[46:16] It um

[46:17] is a 42-in for excuse me, 42-mi 69-in

[46:22] diameter pipeline that starts at the

[46:24] base of Deer Creek Dam and brings water

[46:27] down the canyon along the bench and

[46:30] terminates at Mill in Mill Creek at our

[46:32] terminal reservoir.

[46:35] And then we have our Point of the

[46:36] Mountain Aqueduct. It was also

[46:38] commissioned in 2007 as part of the

[46:40] Metro Water Project. And it's a pipeline

[46:43] that connects our Point of the Mountain

[46:44] plant with the one in in Cottonwood

[46:46] Heights.

[46:48] And then we're also 2/7 owners of the

[46:50] Jordan Aqueduct. And this pipeline um

[46:54] helps us deliver water to the northwest

[46:56] quadrant of Salt Lake City at 21st

[46:58] South.

[47:00] And then the storage where we store the

[47:02] finished or what we call treated water,

[47:05] we have our terminal reservoir. It's

[47:07] located in Mill Creek. It's a 48 million

[47:09] gallon reservoir. It was originally

[47:12] constructed in 1951.

[47:14] We did rebuild it and it was completed

[47:16] in 2017 to address current seismic

[47:19] standards.

[47:21] And then that reservoir provides

[47:22] reliable water storage as well for

[47:24] municipal as well as for fire use.

[47:28] And then we're also 2/7 owner of the

[47:30] Jordan Aqueduct Terminal Reservoir.

[47:33] Um it's a 100 million gallon storage

[47:35] reservoir located just off Bangerter

[47:38] Highway around 5300 South.

[47:41] Next slide.

[47:45] Okay. So, now I'm going to review our

[47:47] sources of funds.

[47:49] Next slide.

[47:55] So, this is kind of a little clip from

[47:57] our budget, but we um for this for the

[48:00] 2027 budget, we're looking at water

[48:03] sales about 23% of our revenue.

[48:07] Our property tax is nearly 21%.

[48:11] We have capital assessments that relate

[48:13] to capacity improvement projects such as

[48:16] the Metro water project. That's about

[48:18] 10%. We have miscellaneous revenue. Part

[48:22] of that in this year's budget includes

[48:23] Salt Lake City's portion that they're

[48:26] reimbursing us for the Cottonwood's

[48:27] connection project.

[48:29] And then this year we have bond revenues

[48:31] that we're planning to issue as part of

[48:34] three big capital projects that I'll be

[48:36] highlighting here in a minute. Next

[48:38] slide.

[48:42] So, as Austin noted, we are proposing a

[48:44] 6% increase to our water rates. We are

[48:47] having our public hearing on 15th.

[48:50] And these are rates that we forecast to

[48:54] Salt Lake City and Sandy City in

[48:55] advance, usually two to three years in

[48:57] two two to three years in advance so

[48:59] they can plan on them. So, for Salt Lake

[49:01] City that um increase is noted here.

[49:04] It's a little over a million-dollar

[49:06] increase to their budget

[49:08] for Metro.

[49:10] Next slide.

[49:13] Also, as he noted, we are not proposing

[49:15] an increase to the certified tax rate in

[49:18] this year. You'll recall in fiscal year

[49:20] 25, we did reestablish it to 0.00035.

[49:25] Um we're proposing we've been

[49:26] maintaining that rate, although the rate

[49:28] does erode. Um I think currently Salt

[49:31] Lake City is 0.000327.

[49:34] I just wanted to communicate though we

[49:37] looking at the following year in fiscal

[49:39] year 28, we are proposing an increase.

[49:42] At least our budget rate or our planning

[49:45] shows an increase to the certified tax

[49:47] rate in order to fund these capital

[49:49] projects that address aging

[49:51] infrastructure to repair and replace

[49:54] them.

[49:56] Next slide.

[50:01] So, we had in our current budget, we

[50:04] were anticipating some bonding for the

[50:06] Cottonwood Connection project. However,

[50:09] it's really hard to know when things are

[50:11] going to finish on time. And so,

[50:13] due to a delay and just the

[50:15] construction, we did not issue we aren't

[50:17] planning on issuing any bonds this year.

[50:20] So, we are anticipating it for next

[50:22] year. Um that will be to complete the

[50:25] Cottonwood Connection project.

[50:27] Um also a project called the Little

[50:30] Cottonwood Conduit Replacement Intake

[50:32] Modifications project, which is a

[50:33] pipeline that brings water from Little

[50:35] Cottonwood Creek into the plant.

[50:37] And then also for um design of the

[50:40] Little Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant.

[50:43] Next slide.

[50:45] » [snorts]

[50:47] » Okay. Then we'll go how we uh are using

[50:50] these funds on the next slides.

[50:52] Next, please.

[50:56] So, our total budgeted expenditures are

[51:00] 115.2 million. The operation and

[51:03] maintenance budget totals uh here 48.5

[51:06] million, and that includes our routine

[51:08] operations and maintenance, such as our

[51:10] salary and wages, any interest expenses

[51:14] for our bonds, our costs to the Provo

[51:16] River Water Users Association, employee

[51:19] benefits, contract services, utilities,

[51:22] and chemicals.

[51:24] Um other large ones are like general

[51:25] insurance um and non-routine O&M.

[51:29] Um this graph here does exclude Salt

[51:32] Lake City's uh portion that they're

[51:34] reimbursing for the Cottonwood

[51:35] Connection project.

[51:37] Next slide.

[51:41] This is our fiscal year 2017 tentative

[51:44] capital improvements project budget.

[51:46] Includes nearly 46 million for these

[51:49] routine non-capacity projects.

[51:52] The significant portion is for

[51:54] completion of the Cottonwoods Connection

[51:56] pipeline, which is a pipeline that

[52:00] goes from Fort Union to our plant off of

[52:02] Danish Road.

[52:05] Um, these These costs also represent um

[52:09] really represent replacement and repair

[52:11] of key water infrastructure.

[52:14] The capital improvement projects also

[52:16] includes costs from other agencies that

[52:18] total almost 7.6 million.

[52:22] Next slide.

[52:27] So, Metro Water, like many agencies in

[52:30] Salt Lake City included, we have water

[52:32] infrastructure that has reached its

[52:35] design life. We're obviously maintaining

[52:37] it, um, but a hazard mitigation study

[52:42] identified the Salt Lake Aqueduct, the

[52:44] raw water Little Cottonwood Conduit, and

[52:46] the Little Cottonwood Water Treatment

[52:47] Plant as facilities that should be

[52:50] repaired, replaced, or rebuilt. Um, all

[52:53] of these projects will provide seismic

[52:55] resiliency, thus ensuring the reliable

[52:58] delivery of clean drinking water to the

[53:00] residents of this valley.

[53:03] You can see Salt Lake Aqueduct placed in

[53:05] service in 1950,

[53:07] uh, the Little Cottonwood 1931,

[53:10] and then the Little Cottonwood Water

[53:12] Treatment Plant 1960,

[53:14] which were great for that time, but just

[53:16] with current concrete and seismic

[53:18] standards,

[53:19] um,

[53:20] they would not perform well in the event

[53:22] of an earthquake or other natural

[53:24] hazard.

[53:26] Next slide.

[53:31] So, as Austin mentioned, our budget does

[53:34] include costs from other agencies.

[53:36] So, as being a petitioner in the Central

[53:39] Utah Project, we do we are charged an

[53:42] O&M as well as a capital cost from

[53:44] Central Utah. So, the total amount that

[53:46] we pay to them is about 5.7 million

[53:48] dollars annually

[53:50] for that 20,000 acre feet of M&I and

[53:53] then 3,100 acre feet of Utah Lake System

[53:56] water.

[53:57] We also have those costs with Jordan

[53:59] Valley Water Conservancy District as

[54:01] we're

[54:02] a 2/7 owner. Their O&M costs

[54:07] are have decreased a little bit, but

[54:09] then their capital projects have

[54:11] increased by 3.8 million. Again, they're

[54:14] also addressing their seismic resiliency

[54:17] of their water treatment plant.

[54:19] And then the with the Provo River Water

[54:21] Users Association, so we're 61.9%

[54:26] the largest of 100% of shares in the

[54:29] association. So, all of their costs,

[54:31] Metro's carrying a large burden of that.

[54:34] Their annual cost is about 5 million

[54:36] dollars.

[54:38] I'm sure many of you are aware the Deer

[54:39] Creek intake project is just wrapping

[54:42] up. They're actually going to have a

[54:44] ribbon cutting next week for this

[54:46] project. Um, but that's something that's

[54:49] very important if you think about our

[54:51] water system. Deer Creek Reservoir is

[54:53] critical to delivery of water.

[54:56] And then when I did this slide, we had

[54:57] an initial allotment of 50%.

[55:01] That has gone up to 69%.

[55:05] So, we're at

[55:09] 42,711

[55:11] acre feet that the association is

[55:13] allotted to Metro. And those are water

[55:16] that Salt Lake City and Sandy City use

[55:19] in their distribution.

[55:22] That is my final slide.

[55:24] Go to the next one. Are there any

[55:26] questions from the council members

[55:29] that Tom would love to answer for you?

[55:32] » [laughter]

[55:33] » Council members?

[55:35] Council member Dunn?

[55:36] Yeah, thank you, Tom, and thank you

[55:37] presentation and you know,

[55:40] water is like probably the number one

[55:42] topic in the city in the state right now

[55:45] uh besides uh data centers.

[55:47] Uh

[55:48] but the question on the uh the sales and

[55:51] the reservoirs status right now and the

[55:54] conservation measures that we we have on

[55:57] uh

[55:58] in process or about to begin even more,

[56:01] how does that impact your

[56:03] uh

[56:04] water sales or

[56:06] and your storage capacity and your

[56:08] revenue

[56:10] uh going future and it and when you

[56:13] do your budget, do you assume I know

[56:16] these are sales to the districts who

[56:18] then deliver it to the residents,

[56:21] uh

[56:22] how's the conservation measures affect

[56:24] your budget and how do you imp- uh

[56:28] forecast those conservation measures on

[56:30] the budget?

[56:32] Does that make sense?

[56:33] » Yeah.

[56:35] So, we we support conservation.

[56:37] Obviously, the reservoirs, I consider

[56:39] those like our bank accounts, our

[56:41] savings accounts. So, any water we don't

[56:43] use in the current year, that will be

[56:45] made avail- that's something we can

[56:47] carry on next year. And typically, our

[56:49] droughts last more than 1 year. So, we

[56:52] definitely support conservation efforts

[56:55] um for our cities. For Metro

[56:58] specifically, how we bill our water is

[57:01] it's a flat rate for the year. And so,

[57:05] we don't see the fluctuations that the

[57:07] utilities see as far as

[57:09] higher demand or lower demand. Um but we

[57:12] want them to use less water because

[57:15] knowing we're probably going to have

[57:16] another year of hopefully better than

[57:18] this year, but the reservoirs are

[57:20] designed to

[57:22] provide water for like a 3-year drought.

[57:24] So, if you go beyond that, then that

[57:26] really stresses the water supply.

[57:29] I don't know if that Does that answer

[57:30] your question, Council member?

[57:31] » And, but

[57:33] there when we conserve our water, we're

[57:35] not buying more water from your agency.

[57:39] And so,

[57:40] your your revenue is also based on what

[57:44] we know. Okay, never mind.

[57:47] We We did

[57:48] So, they did

[57:48] » Always needing this education.

[57:50] » A great question because we have had

[57:52] that We have done that in the past. In

[57:55] before 2017,

[57:57] we would just bill the cities for the

[57:59] water that they took from us.

[58:02] Um there was an analysis done at that

[58:05] time and looked at is is there a better

[58:08] way to manage

[58:10] the predictability of water of what

[58:12] they're going to use as well as what

[58:14] we're going to sell to them. And so,

[58:15] what we went to was a fixed amount. So,

[58:20] we charge the same amount for to Salt

[58:22] Lake City and Sandy City um

[58:25] regardless of the amount of water that

[58:27] they take.

[58:28] Okay, that's what the fixed amount is.

[58:30] So, thank you very much for that

[58:31] clarity.

[58:33] I know I was just one person, but

[58:35] there's probably a lot of people that

[58:36] have that same question. So, thank you

[58:37] very That's That's interesting. That's

[58:39] uh appreciative on that side of the

[58:40] house. So, thank you.

[58:43] Council members, any other questions?

[58:46] And your side of the house seems to be

[58:48] covered uh then. Uh thank you so much

[58:50] for the presentation.

[58:52] Um it's a If there is anything else, uh

[58:55] this is time. Thank you so much for the

[58:56] work. It's a very important.

[58:58] Uh and I I I really appreciate the

[59:00] transparency uh the district uh shows um

[59:04] with us and the public in general. So,

[59:06] thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

[59:11] Thank you.

[59:23] I would like to uh move on to item

[59:25] number five, which is fiscal year 2026

[59:28] 2027 for the proposed budget for the

[59:31] Department of Public Utilities.

[59:34] We're going to welcome at the table

[59:35] again Austin Kimmel or, you know,

[59:37] re-welcome at the table Council Policy

[59:39] Analyst. Thank you for staying there.

[59:41] Laura Briere, Director of Public

[59:42] Utilities.

[59:44] Lisa Tarfelli,

[59:46] Finance Administrator for Public

[59:47] Utilities.

[59:49] And I

[59:52] We've got Jason Brown here, Deputy

[59:54] Director of Public Utilities.

[59:56] » And we might have Jesse Stewart coming

[59:58] by. He's in the middle of some

[59:59] negotiations, so we'll see.

[1:00:03] Awesome.

[1:00:04] This is your turn.

[1:00:05] Great.

[1:00:08] Um just a quick note that Public

[1:00:11] Utilities is here to present its

[1:00:13] proposed budget for the fiscal year

[1:00:16] 2026-27

[1:00:18] budget. The total proposed utilities

[1:00:21] budget is 427,786,665

[1:00:29] dollars. That's about a 44% decrease or

[1:00:32] a nearly 337 million dollar decrease

[1:00:36] from the department's amended FY26

[1:00:39] budget.

[1:00:40] The decrease is driven in part by

[1:00:42] reductions to the department's capital

[1:00:44] projects budget and capital outlay

[1:00:47] budget, as well as a decrease in the

[1:00:49] department's anticipated bond and loan

[1:00:51] proceeds compared to the previous fiscal

[1:00:53] year.

[1:00:55] Public Utilities operates four

[1:00:57] utilities: water, sewer, storm water,

[1:01:00] and street lighting.

[1:01:02] Each operating as separate enterprise

[1:01:04] funds with separate revenue, capital

[1:01:06] programs, and staffing.

[1:01:08] Public Utilities is proposing rate

[1:01:11] changes for all four utilities,

[1:01:13] which are expected to increase customer

[1:01:15] utility bills.

[1:01:17] The These increases are based on recent

[1:01:19] rate studies and are needed to address

[1:01:22] aging infrastructure, meet federal and

[1:01:24] state requirements, keep up with

[1:01:26] keep up with inflation, and maintain

[1:01:29] each utilities financial stability.

[1:01:32] Public utilities will cover the proposed

[1:01:34] rate changes in today's briefing.

[1:01:36] Customer rate impacts of each utility

[1:01:39] are summarized on page six of the

[1:01:41] council staff report.

[1:01:43] And this year's budget includes an

[1:01:45] adjustment to the sewer rates for

[1:01:47] multi-family properties, which are

[1:01:50] intended to address some of the large

[1:01:52] increases some of those customers

[1:01:54] experienced last fiscal year.

[1:01:57] Lastly, a quick note that public

[1:01:59] utilities revised its proposed street

[1:02:01] lighting rate adjustments,

[1:02:03] which differ from the rates summarized

[1:02:05] in the report.

[1:02:07] An email detailing the revised street

[1:02:10] lighting rates was sent to you on

[1:02:12] Friday, May 1st, and it has also been

[1:02:14] added to your packets as an attachment.

[1:02:18] Policy questions for this discussion can

[1:02:20] be found on page two of the council

[1:02:21] staff report, and with that, I will turn

[1:02:23] it over to Laura.

[1:02:26] Great. Thank you so much. Um and I also

[1:02:30] wanted to recognize what a great

[1:02:31] partnership

[1:02:32] Metro

[1:02:34] and Anna Lee and also for Tom

[1:02:41] is serving serving on our advisory

[1:02:43] committee. Um we may have some other

[1:02:46] public utilities advisory committee

[1:02:47] members coming in. I think they're

[1:02:49] planning on coming a little later, so

[1:02:51] they might miss part of the

[1:02:52] presentation. Um but we'll try to

[1:02:55] acknowledge them if they do come in.

[1:02:57] Um I wanted to also start out this

[1:03:00] presentation by just acknowledging and

[1:03:04] uh the concern and the desire for a

[1:03:07] really robust public engagement process

[1:03:09] for our budget, um particularly around

[1:03:13] impact of rate increases.

[1:03:15] Um we are coordinating very closely with

[1:03:19] uh the mayor's office and council staff

[1:03:22] and the citywide communications team.

[1:03:25] Uh, really just integrating a lot of

[1:03:27] strategies to uh better connect with our

[1:03:32] uh and engage with our constituents in

[1:03:34] this process. So, I just wanted to

[1:03:36] acknowledge that. I also want to

[1:03:37] acknowledge just the teamwork between um

[1:03:40] Andrew Wittenberg's team at the mayor's

[1:03:43] office and Lehua for participating in

[1:03:46] all of these and then of course the

[1:03:48] citywide uh comms team.

[1:03:50] Um, so we're happy to answer any

[1:03:52] questions about engagement uh during

[1:03:54] this presentation as we move along.

[1:03:57] Uh, next slide, please.

[1:04:01] Uh, so with respect to public utilities

[1:04:04] services, we are uh charged with

[1:04:08] drinking water collection, which means

[1:04:10] diverting water from

[1:04:12] uh the sources of drinking water as well

[1:04:14] as from the sources in which Metro

[1:04:17] manages

[1:04:18] um distribution of that water to nearly

[1:04:21] 400,000 people across Salt Lake County.

[1:04:24] Uh, that includes uh large portions of

[1:04:27] Mill Creek, Holiday, and Cottonwood

[1:04:28] Heights and smaller portions of Midvale,

[1:04:32] Murray, and South Salt Lake.

[1:04:34] Uh, we are also the sanitary sewer

[1:04:36] provider, also sometimes called

[1:04:38] wastewater,

[1:04:39] um and we do all of the collection and

[1:04:42] treatment for that for the over 210

[1:04:46] or 15,000 residents of Salt Lake City.

[1:04:49] Uh, same as stormwater quality and flood

[1:04:52] control and street lighting.

[1:04:54] Um, I've included some pictures of our

[1:04:57] team and our work in this presentation

[1:05:00] uh because they're really relevant to

[1:05:02] what our water rates pay for and what

[1:05:04] our budgets pay for

[1:05:06] um every year. Um,

[1:05:08] the photo on this slide is our lead and

[1:05:10] copper team. This is a team that

[1:05:12] designed

[1:05:13] uh our lead service line replacement

[1:05:15] program.

[1:05:16] Um I call them the superstars of our

[1:05:19] utility right now. They've done an

[1:05:21] amazing job uh meeting some rigorous

[1:05:23] regulatory requirements on that and

[1:05:25] serving our community in a really,

[1:05:28] really thoughtful way.

[1:05:30] And next slide, please.

[1:05:34] I also wanted to just put on a slide the

[1:05:39] significant generational capital

[1:05:41] investments that

[1:05:43] you have supported the last few years

[1:05:46] and moving into the next few years. Uh

[1:05:49] these investments can span many, many

[1:05:52] years. Um but for instance, we are

[1:05:56] almost complete with the replacement of

[1:05:58] our 65-year-old water reclamation

[1:06:00] facility.

[1:06:02] Uh

[1:06:02] same with our

[1:06:04] uh City Creek Water Treatment Plant,

[1:06:06] which was put into service in 1955.

[1:06:10] Um and then our lead service line

[1:06:12] replacement program. And you can see the

[1:06:14] cost for these types of infrastructure

[1:06:16] programs, the scale of them is quite

[1:06:19] large. Um we are also working on

[1:06:23] replacement of aged water and sewer

[1:06:25] mains. Our residents have seen that.

[1:06:27] We've tried our best not to disrupt uh

[1:06:30] them and and roadways. Uh but just

[1:06:33] completed a major sewer main

[1:06:34] reconstruction in the West Temple

[1:06:36] Ballpark area. Um and uh are just we're

[1:06:41] just starting a very large sewer main

[1:06:44] reconstruction on Beck Street um from a

[1:06:47] 1890s

[1:06:49] era uh sewer line.

[1:06:51] Um

[1:06:52] and then we are constantly working on

[1:06:54] designs for future infrastructure

[1:06:57] rehabilitation and replacement.

[1:06:59] Um

[1:07:01] a couple of notes here. I have an

[1:07:02] asterisk on our replacement of the water

[1:07:05] reclamation facility and the lead

[1:07:08] service line replacement program.

[1:07:11] Both of those projects, nearly a billion

[1:07:14] dollars worth of work, were projects

[1:07:17] that were also required to meet federal

[1:07:20] and state regulations.

[1:07:22] So, the replacement of the water

[1:07:23] reclamation facility was required to

[1:07:25] meet to meet changes to the Clean Water

[1:07:27] Act. Um, we had to remove more nutrients

[1:07:30] from our discharge.

[1:07:32] And then the lead service line

[1:07:34] replacement program is a requirement of

[1:07:37] EPA

[1:07:38] um

[1:07:39] with respect to getting all lead service

[1:07:42] lines out of commission around the

[1:07:44] country uh by in in the next 10 years.

[1:07:51] I'll also say that these capital

[1:07:53] investments and others that aren't

[1:07:55] listed on this page like um the the

[1:07:58] rehabilitation of Mountain Dell Dam,

[1:08:00] some of our reservoirs, many of our pump

[1:08:03] stations, uh the the new public

[1:08:06] utilities campus,

[1:08:08] um all of those improve our city's water

[1:08:11] resiliency and water security now and in

[1:08:14] the future as well.

[1:08:17] And next slide, please.

[1:08:22] We've also worked really hard. Our team

[1:08:24] has worked really hard on finding cost

[1:08:27] savings and efficiencies.

[1:08:29] Um we with some of these large projects,

[1:08:32] we have experienced inflation pressures

[1:08:36] um and and other types of pressures in

[1:08:39] their construction and design.

[1:08:42] Um but we've calculated that we've saved

[1:08:44] at least $434 million

[1:08:47] just on some of the big capital projects

[1:08:50] that that we've worked on.

[1:08:53] Um and this is through value

[1:08:55] engineering. So, as we go through these

[1:08:56] projects, we uh look at ways that we can

[1:08:59] be more efficient and save costs on the

[1:09:01] engineering uh side of it.

[1:09:04] Um the Envision process actually is very

[1:09:06] helpful. The Envision process is like

[1:09:10] LEED certification except for

[1:09:13] uh specifically for infrastructure.

[1:09:17] Um and we estimate that that has saved

[1:09:19] us $15 million

[1:09:21] on our new water reclamation facility,

[1:09:23] which is quite amazing

[1:09:25] um when you think about it.

[1:09:28] Um so we've We've done a lot in terms of

[1:09:31] efficiency and cost savings.

[1:09:34] Uh

[1:09:35] about $40.7

[1:09:36] million

[1:09:38] in these cost savings

[1:09:40] are in grants from the federal

[1:09:42] government. So we went out and applied

[1:09:45] for and implemented some some large

[1:09:48] grants. The biggest for the City Creek

[1:09:50] Water Treatment Plant at $36.7 million.

[1:09:55] Um and then we also secured low-interest

[1:09:58] federal loans, about $387 million worth

[1:10:02] of low-interest federal loans uh with

[1:10:04] $19 million of that forgivable. Um we

[1:10:08] estimate for one of those loans, the

[1:10:11] loan we received for the water

[1:10:13] reclamation facility under the Water

[1:10:15] Infrastructure Finance and Innovation

[1:10:17] Act uh saves our ratepayers at least

[1:10:20] $100 million

[1:10:21] in financing costs over time.

[1:10:25] Um and you know, with in addition to

[1:10:28] financing innovation, uh we have been

[1:10:31] working on our contracts with many of

[1:10:34] our general contractors and just

[1:10:36] recently realized $1.25 million in

[1:10:39] shared savings on a City Creek Water

[1:10:41] Treatment Plant. Um so a lot of work

[1:10:44] going on. Um

[1:10:46] what I have on this slide really shows

[1:10:48] some savings on large capital projects,

[1:10:50] but even on the smaller capital

[1:10:52] projects, we are implementing

[1:10:54] efficiencies and cost savings.

[1:10:57] And then on the operational side that

[1:10:59] ethic also extends

[1:11:01] for instance repurposing positions

[1:11:03] instead of hiring new positions

[1:11:06] and then using technologies such as GIS

[1:11:09] to help make workflows more efficient.

[1:11:14] Next slide, please.

[1:11:21] So before we dive into our budget, I

[1:11:23] want to talk a little bit about our rate

[1:11:25] drivers and our for well for the budget

[1:11:28] on rates and we mentioned a couple of

[1:11:31] them federal and state regulatory

[1:11:33] requirements definitely drive our

[1:11:36] budgets and our rates

[1:11:38] and to a large degree in our case with

[1:11:41] you know over a billion dollars worth of

[1:11:44] projects that had a federal nexus a

[1:11:46] regulatory nexus to them.

[1:11:48] Aging infrastructure

[1:11:51] is sort of embedded in some of those and

[1:11:54] also out into the future.

[1:11:56] And then debt service costs are

[1:11:58] something that really drives our rates

[1:12:00] this budget

[1:12:02] and we'll talk a little bit more about

[1:12:04] that

[1:12:05] and then of course inflation and then

[1:12:07] drought and water scarcity can affect

[1:12:10] what our rates look like as well.

[1:12:13] So for us you know balancing all of

[1:12:15] these priorities is really important. We

[1:12:17] want to continue to provide this high

[1:12:19] level of service

[1:12:21] comply with all of our regulations but

[1:12:22] we also want to make sure our rates are

[1:12:24] affordable.

[1:12:25] I want to just say that we're not alone

[1:12:28] in our sector in facing these types of

[1:12:30] pressures and in facing the need to

[1:12:33] balance a lot of these priorities

[1:12:36] according to the recently published

[1:12:38] value of water campaign

[1:12:40] which was a national water campaign in

[1:12:43] Utah alone there's 41 billion needed

[1:12:47] over the next 20 years to bring water

[1:12:50] and wastewater infrastructure to a state

[1:12:52] of good repair.

[1:12:54] Nationally, that number is $3.4 trillion

[1:12:57] over the next 20 years.

[1:13:00] Most communities have a very large delta

[1:13:03] between what they can afford in terms of

[1:13:05] bringing that infrastructure to a state

[1:13:07] of good repair and and what's needed.

[1:13:10] And so we're really working very hard to

[1:13:13] make sure we're prioritizing what we

[1:13:16] need while still balancing uh basic

[1:13:19] water affordability.

[1:13:22] So, to sum that up, there's a need to

[1:13:24] replace aged infrastructure. There's

[1:13:26] more of a need to replace aged

[1:13:28] infrastructure than to replace it.

[1:13:31] Um so we rely on a lot of different uh

[1:13:33] asset management, condition assessment,

[1:13:35] and risk assessment to prioritize our

[1:13:37] capital work. Um and we also work hard

[1:13:40] to stretch the life of our aging

[1:13:42] infrastructure and find ways to make

[1:13:44] that aging infrastructure more efficient

[1:13:47] to rehabilitate such as recently

[1:13:49] rehabilitating sewer old sewer lines um

[1:13:52] in a new way.

[1:13:55] Um our debt service to pay bonds and

[1:13:58] loans that we mentioned for some of

[1:14:00] these large projects is has is

[1:14:02] increasing this year um and is set to

[1:14:05] increase.

[1:14:06] » [snorts]

[1:14:06] » One of the changes this year um over the

[1:14:08] last few years is that we now need to

[1:14:11] meet a debt service coverage of two

[1:14:14] times our operational income in order to

[1:14:18] ensure that we maintain our good bond

[1:14:20] ratings. And I think that just reflects

[1:14:22] the um

[1:14:24] that the bond rating industry has become

[1:14:26] a lot more wise to a lot of the need

[1:14:29] that's out there in the country of

[1:14:31] replacing aging infrastructure.

[1:14:35] » [snorts]

[1:14:35] » Our rates also need to increase so that

[1:14:37] we can plan for future regulatory and

[1:14:39] infrastructure needs. So, for example,

[1:14:42] um groundwater contamination at one of

[1:14:44] our most important drinking water

[1:14:46] resources, we've found low levels of

[1:14:49] PFAS forever chemicals, which will

[1:14:52] take quite an investment to clean from

[1:14:55] that well.

[1:14:56] » [snorts]

[1:14:56] » Um

[1:14:59] We also, with respect to this year's

[1:15:02] drought and just the long-term mega

[1:15:04] drought, we've also taken into

[1:15:06] consideration

[1:15:08] um anticipated reductions in water use

[1:15:10] this this year in our operate in our

[1:15:13] operational income.

[1:15:16] Next slide, please.

[1:15:19] Uh so, as Austin mentioned, we have a

[1:15:22] 44% decrease in our proposed budget this

[1:15:26] year as compared to our amended budget

[1:15:29] last year. So, that's um almost $428

[1:15:32] million this year. We are not proposing

[1:15:35] any increases in staff for this year.

[1:15:41] Our budget reduction reflects a nearly

[1:15:43] $350 million

[1:15:45] decrease in capital costs,

[1:15:48] partly because our two largest treatment

[1:15:50] facilities, the water reclamation

[1:15:52] facility and our City Creek Water

[1:15:54] Treatment Plant, are winding down this

[1:15:56] year and are scheduled to be completed

[1:15:58] by the end of this calendar year in

[1:16:00] 2026,

[1:16:01] which is very exciting for us. We

[1:16:04] uh started uh construction on the

[1:16:07] water reclamation facility in 2019. Uh

[1:16:11] many of you've been out to that project

[1:16:13] and understand the very large scale of

[1:16:16] that project um and then the City Creek

[1:16:18] Water Treatment Plant, uh we we're

[1:16:20] actually a little bit ahead of schedule

[1:16:22] on that one, which is a good

[1:16:25] That's the silver lining to the winter

[1:16:26] we had, actually, because we were able

[1:16:29] to be out in and be in construction more

[1:16:32] than we thought. So,

[1:16:35] uh next slide, please.

[1:16:39] So, summary of our utility funds

[1:16:41] budgets, we've broken down um for fiscal

[1:16:44] year 2027 between each of the four

[1:16:47] utilities

[1:16:49] um and between operations, capital, and

[1:16:51] debt service. Um so, one thing I want to

[1:16:54] highlight on this chart is just that our

[1:16:58] debt service this year is is a little

[1:17:00] over $63 million.

[1:17:02] Um that's an increase from last year and

[1:17:05] our projections moving forward is that

[1:17:06] will increase as different bonds um

[1:17:09] start maturing at different times.

[1:17:12] Um

[1:17:15] Yeah, I think we can go to the next

[1:17:17] slide and if there's more questions

[1:17:18] about those that breakdown, we can um

[1:17:20] talk about that. But, we also want to

[1:17:22] talk about our projected revenue and

[1:17:24] sources for fiscal year 2027.

[1:17:27] And [snorts]

[1:17:28] uh

[1:17:29] the couple of things that I wanted to

[1:17:32] highlight here.

[1:17:34] Um first, we've kept our impact fees

[1:17:37] very static. We have not really signaled

[1:17:42] in our budget that we will be increasing

[1:17:44] our impact fees. Um so, they're very

[1:17:47] conservative. We did just complete an

[1:17:50] impact fee facility plan and an impact

[1:17:52] fee study, which would support increases

[1:17:54] in impact fees, but that will be come

[1:17:57] coming through um a separate process

[1:18:00] than our than our budget uh later this

[1:18:02] year.

[1:18:05] And Lisa, is there anything else you

[1:18:07] wanted to mention about revenues? Okay.

[1:18:11] All right.

[1:18:13] Next slide, please.

[1:18:16] And then expenditures for fiscal year

[1:18:18] 2027,

[1:18:19] um there are a few things I wanted to

[1:18:21] highlight here.

[1:18:22] Uh you'll see on the line item for

[1:18:24] materials and supplies and charges for

[1:18:27] service, those two line items kind of in

[1:18:29] the middle of the chart. Those are going

[1:18:33] up. And that's for two reasons. Uh

[1:18:36] for charges for services and materials

[1:18:39] and supplies,

[1:18:41] uh we anticipate increased costs as we

[1:18:44] transition from operating the existing

[1:18:47] water reclamation facility to moving to

[1:18:50] operating the new water reclamation

[1:18:52] facility. So, there's going to be a

[1:18:54] point in time where we're staffed, we

[1:18:56] have uh contractors coming in to staff

[1:18:58] the old facility while we learn the new

[1:19:00] facility.

[1:19:02] Um so, that's one thing, and then the

[1:19:04] other is our operations and maintenance

[1:19:06] team um has added more to their uh

[1:19:10] materials and supplies budget in order

[1:19:12] to be more pro- proactive around asset

[1:19:15] management. So, there's more in the

[1:19:18] budget now to to acquire and replace

[1:19:20] things like valves that fail and cause

[1:19:23] water leaks um and those types of

[1:19:26] things. And that's a that's also in

[1:19:28] keeping with the fact that rather than

[1:19:30] doing a lot replacement right now, we

[1:19:33] want we need to step up stretching the

[1:19:35] life of some of our infrastructure um

[1:19:38] until we have the resources to replace

[1:19:41] some of it as we prioritize different

[1:19:42] infrastructure.

[1:19:46] Um and then again, you'll see that that

[1:19:48] debt service climbs uh by a little under

[1:19:52] $7 million this year compared to last

[1:19:54] year.

[1:19:58] Uh next slide, please.

[1:20:02] So, our proposed rate changes. Now, it

[1:20:05] might

[1:20:06] it might feel a little counterintuitive.

[1:20:09] Our budget's going down by 44%, but we

[1:20:12] are proposing rate increases, and the

[1:20:15] reasons for that are um largely based on

[1:20:19] the increased debt coverage that we need

[1:20:21] to have to maintain our bond ratings.

[1:20:23] Um and then we're also trying to plan

[1:20:26] for the future because we have a lot of

[1:20:28] deferred aging infrastructure that we

[1:20:31] don't want to have to rely on debt to

[1:20:33] replace over time. And so, we want to

[1:20:36] start ensuring that we have a much more

[1:20:39] structurally balanced

[1:20:41] utility financial position as we move

[1:20:43] forward.

[1:20:44] Um, so our new rates to the minimum rate

[1:20:49] increases we need to meet our debt

[1:20:51] coverage requirements

[1:20:53] for water are 25% and actually these are

[1:20:56] revenue increases. The rate increases

[1:20:59] are going to look different depending

[1:21:01] on how much water you use basically.

[1:21:04] Um, and the same as sewer at 40%

[1:21:07] and then storm water at 20%.

[1:21:10] Um, we also have one structural change

[1:21:13] we are proposing and Austin spoke of

[1:21:15] this earlier in his introduction.

[1:21:18] Uh, but we want to change the

[1:21:20] multi-family sewer rate structure to a

[1:21:22] fixed rate per dwelling unit. Um, that's

[1:21:25] $48.94

[1:21:27] per dwelling unit which is

[1:21:29] a little less than what a

[1:21:32] an average single-family resident would

[1:21:34] typically pay just accounting for the

[1:21:36] smaller size typically of um,

[1:21:39] many of our multi-family

[1:21:42] developments.

[1:21:44] » [clears throat]

[1:21:44] » Uh, this will help both

[1:21:47] provide some certainty every month for

[1:21:50] what the rate would be because it's not

[1:21:51] based on a volumetric water use and and

[1:21:56] also will provide for less of a

[1:22:00] increases during the summer time for

[1:22:02] those properties that don't separate out

[1:22:04] their outdoor use and indoor use with

[1:22:06] different meters.

[1:22:08] Um, so we hope that that's a good

[1:22:10] change. We have talked to

[1:22:13] many interested parties that represent

[1:22:16] multi-family

[1:22:17] developments and this seems to be a lot

[1:22:20] more beneficial so far to them and I

[1:22:23] think we're still having that

[1:22:25] conversation back and forth.

[1:22:28] For the street you street lighting

[1:22:30] utility, I were recommending a 50%

[1:22:33] revenue increase or rate increase.

[1:22:36] And that's largely due to the fact that

[1:22:39] we're impacted a lot with wire theft and

[1:22:43] vandalism to these facilities.

[1:22:47] And we relied more on reserves and debt

[1:22:51] in the past and we're going to need to

[1:22:53] start

[1:22:54] making that utility more financially

[1:22:57] capable in the future.

[1:23:01] Um these are photos of our

[1:23:05] watershed and hydrology teams out in the

[1:23:08] field

[1:23:09] picking invasive weeds in the mountains

[1:23:11] and also monitoring our our stream

[1:23:13] flows.

[1:23:15] Next slide, please.

[1:23:21] So we have

[1:23:23] we have some examples

[1:23:26] there's there may be nobody in the world

[1:23:28] who completely fits the fits these

[1:23:30] different profiles that we have in terms

[1:23:33] of what monthly water and sewer rate

[1:23:35] increases will look like. Um but we

[1:23:38] chose these examples based on a lot of

[1:23:40] averages. So for a residential minimum

[1:23:44] what water use

[1:23:47] water use and sewer use which would

[1:23:49] largely be like a lower an average to

[1:23:51] lower than average water user in a

[1:23:54] single family home.

[1:23:57] The combined monthly change would be

[1:23:59] about $21.63.

[1:24:03] Uh for residential low use which is

[1:24:07] just a little bit above our average

[1:24:09] water use indoors,

[1:24:12] that would be around $25.37

[1:24:16] in combined water and sewer fees.

[1:24:19] Medium use represents

[1:24:22] both indoor and outdoor use and that's a

[1:24:26] $41.08

[1:24:27] increase on this example.

[1:24:30] And then high use is

[1:24:33] quite a lot of outdoor watering for most

[1:24:36] of our single-family residential

[1:24:38] customers and that's about $88 per month

[1:24:43] for this example.

[1:24:44] We do have a rate calculator that will

[1:24:47] be live on our website.

[1:24:49] That will make it easier for people to

[1:24:51] look back on the water that they use and

[1:24:54] their bills and be able to see what

[1:24:56] their new rates would be and maybe even

[1:24:58] encourage some additional conservation

[1:25:00] as we look forward.

[1:25:03] And next slide, please.

[1:25:07] Then we have our monthly stormwater

[1:25:09] charges. These reflect a 20% increase to

[1:25:12] stormwater.

[1:25:14] And

[1:25:15] that really goes toward, you know, some

[1:25:18] additional infrastructure work that we

[1:25:19] need for flood control and operational

[1:25:21] work that we

[1:25:23] regulatory requirements. Sorry, I don't

[1:25:25] know what happened there.

[1:25:26] » [laughter]

[1:25:28] » And

[1:25:30] and so we've calculated those for

[1:25:32] single-family and duplex

[1:25:35] homes for either less than a quarter

[1:25:37] acre or more than a quarter acre.

[1:25:39] Triplex and fourplex homes and

[1:25:43] commercial and all other parcels. These

[1:25:46] charges are not based on any kind of

[1:25:48] volumetric charge. It's based on the

[1:25:50] size of a parcel or what we call an

[1:25:53] equivalent residential unit or ERU.

[1:25:59] Next slide, please.

[1:26:01] And then our monthly street lighting

[1:26:03] charges,

[1:26:05] those that this reflects the 50%

[1:26:08] increase. Most of our customers are in

[1:26:11] the base lighting group, which would be

[1:26:14] a $2.60

[1:26:16] increase per month.

[1:26:18] And then we have two different

[1:26:20] residential groupings that have enhanced

[1:26:23] lighting. Enhanced lighting sometimes

[1:26:25] means that there's more

[1:26:27] uh light poles per block or they look a

[1:26:32] lot different and are fancier lights.

[1:26:35] Um and depending on which enhanced

[1:26:38] lighting area you're in, there's

[1:26:39] different increases based on the cost.

[1:26:43] And then group group three is our

[1:26:44] commercial district lighting.

[1:26:47] So that's downtown and Sugar House

[1:26:49] lighting primarily.

[1:26:55] And I think

[1:26:57] the only other thing I wanted to add, I

[1:26:59] think the next slide is my last slide or

[1:27:02] is yes, we're done. The only other thing

[1:27:04] I wanted to add

[1:27:05] is you know, the rates that we see on

[1:27:09] our water and sewer

[1:27:11] bills,

[1:27:12] those go directly towards a lot of

[1:27:14] really important and critical

[1:27:16] infrastructure

[1:27:18] and operations to meet our regulatory

[1:27:20] obligations.

[1:27:22] So everything that's on our bills goes

[1:27:24] to things like maintaining the three

[1:27:27] city-owned water treatment plants,

[1:27:29] um making sure and you know, paying

[1:27:31] Metro for the water resources and the

[1:27:34] infrastructure that they're maintaining,

[1:27:36] uh replacing and rehabilitating water

[1:27:39] mains and hydrants,

[1:27:41] our lead service line replacement

[1:27:43] program,

[1:27:44] reservoirs and dams, uh sewer treatment,

[1:27:48] sewer lines, emergency response and

[1:27:51] operations.

[1:27:52] Um so there's a lot that we do. A lot of

[1:27:54] our infrastructure and a lot of our

[1:27:56] operations are out of sight and out of

[1:27:58] mind and so they're not always thought

[1:28:00] about until something goes wrong and we

[1:28:03] don't want things to go wrong and so

[1:28:06] we're trying to be very proactive in how

[1:28:09] we select and prioritize

[1:28:12] um the needed work to do here and we

[1:28:15] really appreciate the support that

[1:28:18] you've provided in the past and

[1:28:20] would love to get your feedback right

[1:28:22] now and address any questions you may

[1:28:25] have.

[1:28:27] Council members.

[1:28:28] Council member Young.

[1:28:30] Yeah, thank you.

[1:28:32] So,

[1:28:33] I want to make sure we start off by

[1:28:35] recognizing that this is a long-standing

[1:28:40] historical

[1:28:42] debt that we have been carrying as a

[1:28:45] city that is not at the feet of you or

[1:28:49] our current administration, but that we

[1:28:52] can look back over years and decades in

[1:28:56] terms of the fact that these were needs

[1:29:00] that were always kind of pushed off to

[1:29:02] the future and that now we sit here

[1:29:05] together as a collective group kind of

[1:29:08] holding that bag and saying, "What do we

[1:29:11] do?"

[1:29:12] Um, because we can't not have clean

[1:29:15] water going to our residents across the

[1:29:18] city. And so, we need to find a solution

[1:29:21] on the way forward. I really want to

[1:29:23] call out and appreciate the

[1:29:27] um

[1:29:27] slide that you had that highlighted all

[1:29:30] the various grants that you and your

[1:29:34] team and the administration have brought

[1:29:36] in to be able to defray these costs

[1:29:40] related to that historical debt that

[1:29:42] we've been carrying because it could be

[1:29:46] worse. And I think it's important to

[1:29:49] recognize that as we're talking about it

[1:29:52] that we're we're pulling every lever,

[1:29:54] you're looking at every possible

[1:29:56] opportunity to be able to say, "How do

[1:30:00] we come up with the resources necessary

[1:30:03] to continuing to deliver the A+ services

[1:30:07] that our residents have come to expect

[1:30:10] from all the individuals in this space.

[1:30:13] With that, I think there's also a

[1:30:15] balance to kind of shifting the

[1:30:18] conversation

[1:30:20] to the fact that these are debts that

[1:30:23] are not able to be addressed by a single

[1:30:26] budgetary action over a single fiscal

[1:30:29] year.

[1:30:30] And I think that that's been one of my

[1:30:33] ah-has as part of this process, that

[1:30:37] when we've previously been speaking to,

[1:30:41] you know, at least my neighbors,

[1:30:43] personally, about some of these needs

[1:30:46] and underlying infrastructure issues, I

[1:30:49] think there was a hope that kind of each

[1:30:51] year we were taking a step that would

[1:30:53] put us back on track. And we'd be like,

[1:30:55] "Okay, so we have an issue, but we're

[1:30:57] going to take this step this fiscal

[1:30:59] year, and that's going to help us in the

[1:31:01] long run."

[1:31:02] Without necessarily really recognizing

[1:31:05] that this is going to be a multi-year

[1:31:09] effort, not just by the individuals who

[1:31:12] sit in this room today, but looking

[1:31:15] ahead to our future about what those

[1:31:17] needs are, and also helping to educate

[1:31:20] and communicate to our residents

[1:31:23] how that historical debt came to be, and

[1:31:26] what the future looks like, not just

[1:31:29] this year, but also moving forward.

[1:31:33] It is a steep climb. And I don't look at

[1:31:37] the budget and think to myself, "Oh, you

[1:31:39] know what? We don't need that. We don't

[1:31:41] need that, you know, water reclamation,

[1:31:43] you know, center." Like, I've been in

[1:31:45] the buildings with your team, you know,

[1:31:47] to see the '60s infrastructure.

[1:31:51] I've had the opportunity to be educated

[1:31:53] about what does it look like to leave,

[1:31:56] you know, a pipe that has was installed

[1:31:59] in in 1950s and hope for the best you

[1:32:03] know in terms of you know potentially

[1:32:06] leading us as a city to have water

[1:32:09] issues not that last a couple of days or

[1:32:12] a couple of weeks but into the years of

[1:32:15] what it would take in an emergency

[1:32:17] situation to fix it.

[1:32:20] Um

[1:32:22] I appreciate that this is an ongoing

[1:32:25] dialogue and an ongoing effort that you

[1:32:27] along with your team and the

[1:32:29] comprehensive city have been working on.

[1:32:32] I want to reflect that I'm invested in

[1:32:35] being able to figure out what that

[1:32:37] long-term solution looks like and

[1:32:40] appreciate the lens of how are we

[1:32:43] communicating this comprehensively to

[1:32:46] our city so that they don't expect that

[1:32:51] this rate increase is the final rate

[1:32:54] increase when we know we have a longer

[1:32:57] term situation that we need to address.

[1:33:00] So thank you for being here today and

[1:33:02] again thank you for all of your work to

[1:33:04] be able to help address an issue that

[1:33:07] you certainly did not create nor did

[1:33:10] anyone else in this room but that we're

[1:33:12] responsible for in terms of next steps.

[1:33:17] Thank you. May I um just I wanted to say

[1:33:20] one thing too so that

[1:33:22] um people don't come away with a feeling

[1:33:24] that the people before us weren't

[1:33:27] investing.

[1:33:29] So in the 70s and 80s uh we actually we

[1:33:34] and everyone else in the nation were the

[1:33:35] beneficiary of the federal government

[1:33:38] picking up the tab of 50 to 60%

[1:33:41] of a lot of these water infrastructure

[1:33:43] needs.

[1:33:44] Um in Utah last year the estimate is

[1:33:47] that the federal government picked up

[1:33:48] 3%.

[1:33:50] And um

[1:33:52] when you know our predecessors were in

[1:33:56] these positions, I think there was

[1:33:59] investment made, but we're also coming

[1:34:02] to this infrastructure cliff where the

[1:34:04] investments that were made

[1:34:06] were helpful in keeping the facilities

[1:34:08] running, but, you know, for instance, in

[1:34:10] our treatment plants, which are very

[1:34:12] expensive, as Anna Lee

[1:34:14] talked about with the 1960 Little

[1:34:16] Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant, they

[1:34:18] weren't built to seismic standards, yet

[1:34:20] most of them are on fault lines. Um the

[1:34:24] foundational parts of the structure can

[1:34:27] no longer be band-aided.

[1:34:30] And we are pushing off, you know, the

[1:34:33] replacement of Big Cottonwood Water

[1:34:35] Treatment Plant until after Little

[1:34:36] Cottonwood. That's partly what why we're

[1:34:39] building that Cottonwood Connection

[1:34:41] project so that we can bring that source

[1:34:43] of water to Little Cottonwood in the

[1:34:45] case of failure. Um we're also putting

[1:34:48] pushing off Parleys Water Treatment

[1:34:50] Plant for some time after 2034, but

[1:34:54] we've got to start thinking about how

[1:34:56] we're going to how we're going to afford

[1:34:57] that in the future because those those

[1:35:01] plants, that infrastructure, is what

[1:35:03] keeps our community running, not just in

[1:35:05] Salt Lake City, but the other

[1:35:06] communities that we serve.

[1:35:08] Um so

[1:35:10] unfortunately, we're not in a position

[1:35:11] where the federal government is I mean,

[1:35:13] we were lucky to get some grants, but

[1:35:15] those are very few and far between, and

[1:35:17] that was under the IIJA,

[1:35:19] you know, and bipartisan infrastructure

[1:35:21] law

[1:35:22] process. We're not seeing those types of

[1:35:24] investments right now, and we may not

[1:35:27] that we can't guarantee that. Um but

[1:35:30] yeah, every local [clears throat]

[1:35:32] government and community is now tasked

[1:35:34] with making sure that they can meet the

[1:35:37] needs that they have with the little

[1:35:39] resources they have on in with respect

[1:35:41] to rates and revenue sources. So, I

[1:35:43] really appreciate those observations.

[1:35:46] Okay. Councilmember Wharton.

[1:35:49] Thank you. Um so

[1:35:52] um

[1:35:53] agree with everything that that Council

[1:35:55] Member Young said um in terms of thanks

[1:35:58] and and that recognizing this isn't

[1:36:02] um

[1:36:03] something that one budget or even a

[1:36:05] couple budgets can alleviate.

[1:36:08] Um,

[1:36:09] but I think people where I hear from

[1:36:12] residents and their frustration is

[1:36:15] uh you you know, you read about maybe

[1:36:17] other communities that haven't raised

[1:36:19] their water rates in

[1:36:21] this long and

[1:36:23] I don't think anybody n- knowing that

[1:36:25] I've spoken to is advocating for that

[1:36:28] either [snorts] because I think that

[1:36:30] also comes with um

[1:36:33] it's own costs.

[1:36:35] Um, but if we could just how would you

[1:36:38] explain

[1:36:40] that it's even possible

[1:36:42] to do that in some communities where

[1:36:46] in our

[1:36:48] system it's it's really not. Yeah. So,

[1:36:51] so with respect to keeping rates lower

[1:36:53] in some communities and Yeah, or just

[1:36:55] saying you know, we have it priding

[1:36:57] themselves on how they haven't raised

[1:36:59] rates in Yeah.

[1:37:01] our many years. I mean, every community

[1:37:03] is very different in the way it when and

[1:37:07] how it developed first of all. So,

[1:37:10] in Salt Lake City, we are if not the

[1:37:13] oldest water system west of the

[1:37:15] Mississippi, we're one of the oldest.

[1:37:17] We're celebrating 150 years and I think

[1:37:20] parts of our water system may have been

[1:37:22] developed before that.

[1:37:24] Um,

[1:37:25] and uh and so some communities have

[1:37:27] newer infrastructure.

[1:37:29] Um, some many communities don't have all

[1:37:33] parts of the system that Salt Lake City

[1:37:35] has where we're diverting the water,

[1:37:37] treating the water, and then

[1:37:39] distributing it um to our customers. And

[1:37:42] on the waste water side, the collection

[1:37:44] system and the treatment system,

[1:37:46] um they may get contract water say from

[1:37:49] Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District

[1:37:52] which is then delivered to those cities

[1:37:54] and they're just dealing with the

[1:37:56] distribution pipes.

[1:37:58] There are also

[1:38:01] many communities are supported by water

[1:38:04] districts and sewer districts in which

[1:38:07] portion of the revenue that's generated

[1:38:10] is from property tax so the rates might

[1:38:13] look lower cuz they're not reflecting

[1:38:15] what's being paid in those property

[1:38:17] taxes.

[1:38:18] So it's very hard to compare. We do try

[1:38:20] to compare with other similarly situated

[1:38:23] cities and in our in our budget book

[1:38:27] towards the end in one of the appendices

[1:38:30] we do compare with places like Denver

[1:38:32] and Phoenix and Flagstaff and others and

[1:38:36] we're all around the same range so we're

[1:38:39] not really that far from each other with

[1:38:43] some of those more comparably sized

[1:38:45] cities.

[1:38:47] And we do also compare with sewer

[1:38:49] with with other cities on sewer but

[1:38:52] again it's a hard comparison because

[1:38:54] many other cities rely on districts to

[1:38:58] provide their treatment and that

[1:38:59] property tax.

[1:39:01] Okay.

[1:39:02] Can you talk a little bit about the

[1:39:06] I mean

[1:39:08] obviously I

[1:39:10] being on the council 9 years I've

[1:39:12] supported the other increases.

[1:39:15] Can you talk about like the costs so I I

[1:39:18] I feel that we're making the right

[1:39:20] decision when we've done those things.

[1:39:22] What is the alternative?

[1:39:25] If I let's say that

[1:39:27] that you have residents that are saying

[1:39:31] you know vote for the alternative. What

[1:39:33] does that look like?

[1:39:35] The alternative to not raising rates

[1:39:39] well this year one of the consequences

[1:39:42] could be

[1:39:43] um

[1:39:44] potentially undermining our high bond

[1:39:46] rating.

[1:39:48] Um so we have a double A1 Moody's rating

[1:39:51] and which is which is a very high rating

[1:39:53] and helps us afford lower interest costs

[1:39:56] on the money we do borrow.

[1:39:58] Um if that bond rating is is threatened

[1:40:02] or downgraded, that could potentially

[1:40:04] cost more in the long term

[1:40:06] um not just for our department, but also

[1:40:08] for other city needs as well.

[1:40:12] Um but I think the bigger question there

[1:40:15] is, you know, if we continue to defer um

[1:40:19] the needs that we have and we

[1:40:22] continue to signal that

[1:40:24] um

[1:40:26] we don't need to plan for those future

[1:40:28] needs. I think that sets itself for

[1:40:32] uh

[1:40:33] reducing our resiliency and reducing our

[1:40:36] water security in the long term. Um and

[1:40:39] it sets us up for potential

[1:40:41] unreliability in what I think, you know,

[1:40:44] water and wastewater kind of the

[1:40:46] underpinnings of

[1:40:48] not only our public health and our

[1:40:50] environmental health, but our economy.

[1:40:52] And we want to make sure that we're

[1:40:55] ahead of it. We're not there yet. If we

[1:40:57] as we continue to plan for sound

[1:41:00] financial

[1:41:02] health as well as making sure that we're

[1:41:05] addressing what we need to address.

[1:41:06] We're not addressing everything that we

[1:41:08] need that we've identified, but we're

[1:41:10] addressing the key critical points.

[1:41:13] Um you know, then then I think there's

[1:41:16] confidence in the system. Um

[1:41:19] there are examples across the nation of

[1:41:21] and they're

[1:41:22] albeit quite extreme that we've heard,

[1:41:25] but some examples where

[1:41:28] the the communities were not able to

[1:41:31] uh

[1:41:32] make those investments for a lot of

[1:41:35] different reasons and that has resulted

[1:41:38] in some very

[1:41:40] difficult conditions in those

[1:41:42] communities.

[1:41:43] Um, I'm not saying we're anywhere near

[1:41:46] that.

[1:41:47] Um, but we don't want to we want to make

[1:41:50] sure that we're we continue to be

[1:41:51] proactive.

[1:41:53] Okay, I also hear

[1:41:56] um

[1:41:59] I also hear from a lot of constituents

[1:42:02] um that

[1:42:04] uh one of their biggest concerns is

[1:42:06] um Great Salt Lake and you know, what is

[1:42:09] the what can the council do

[1:42:11] to help Great Salt Lake and are we doing

[1:42:14] everything that we can?

[1:42:15] Um

[1:42:17] how does something like our water rates

[1:42:20] um relate to the Great Salt Lake? Do

[1:42:22] those have anything to do with each

[1:42:24] other?

[1:42:25] Yeah, um that has to do with the design

[1:42:28] of our rate structures. So, in Salt Lake

[1:42:31] City, we have a a four block or four

[1:42:34] tiered rate structure

[1:42:36] and we send a price signal through those

[1:42:38] higher blocks of rates for conservation.

[1:42:43] And so, um that's one way in which we

[1:42:47] account for that. Um, and then also with

[1:42:50] respect to Great Salt Lake um the

[1:42:53] investments for instance into the water

[1:42:55] reclamation facility ensures that the

[1:42:57] quality of the water that we're

[1:42:59] discharging into Great Salt Lake is

[1:43:01] meets all of the Clean Water Act

[1:43:03] requirements that it needs to meet. Um,

[1:43:06] but it also means that we have 35

[1:43:09] million gallons of water on average a

[1:43:11] day going to Farmington Bay.

[1:43:14] Um, and you know, I think that's really

[1:43:17] important as well. So, there's

[1:43:19] definitely a nexus between

[1:43:22] water conservation, Great Salt Lake, and

[1:43:25] and the rates that we charge.

[1:43:28] Okay. And my last question is

[1:43:32] um just can you talk a little bit more

[1:43:34] about the change to like apartments,

[1:43:37] condos, um that portion of the pre- and

[1:43:40] the, you know, um

[1:43:42] culinary water versus um

[1:43:45] um the water that's going to

[1:43:48] landscaping. Mhm.

[1:43:50] Um

[1:43:52] I think

[1:43:54] you know, not not

[1:43:56] to I don't mean this as a criticism, but

[1:43:58] like I think we found last year that we

[1:44:00] could have communicated that better. Um

[1:44:03] and that we've probably learned a lot. I

[1:44:05] know that that and I appreciate the time

[1:44:08] that you have spent and and your team

[1:44:10] has spent with

[1:44:12] the residents and um and landlords,

[1:44:16] property owners in my district,

[1:44:18] you know, walking them through the

[1:44:19] process,

[1:44:21] um correcting where we have made

[1:44:23] mistakes, um and maybe we weren't

[1:44:26] charging them the right amount or

[1:44:27] something like that, you know, or or

[1:44:30] there were other factors that we weren't

[1:44:31] considering. Can you speak to

[1:44:34] So, I think those individuals might feel

[1:44:37] nervous Right.

[1:44:38] » Um when I talk to them about them there

[1:44:40] being another change in that area. Yeah.

[1:44:43] Um can you you know, can you speak to

[1:44:46] that issue and and how would you speak

[1:44:49] to some of those constituents that you

[1:44:51] and I have met with

[1:44:52] that were really upset last year um and

[1:44:55] might be nervous this year.

[1:44:58] With the new a multi-family rate

[1:45:00] structure being fixed per dwelling unit,

[1:45:02] those multi-family properties are not

[1:45:05] going to see the wild swings that they

[1:45:08] saw last summer. Um particularly those

[1:45:11] properties where the the meter that they

[1:45:13] had was both for indoor use and outdoor

[1:45:16] use. Um if they shared a meter, then

[1:45:20] their sewer charges were based on their

[1:45:23] total use. Um and in some cases that

[1:45:28] resulted in a very large summer sewer

[1:45:30] bill that they were not accustomed to

[1:45:32] seeing.

[1:45:33] Um that actually was not a situation we

[1:45:35] were aware of during the rate study and

[1:45:37] implementation. So we did as you said we

[1:45:40] did learn quite a lot.

[1:45:42] Uh that led to some really

[1:45:45] important and and informative meetings

[1:45:48] with the trade organizations that

[1:45:50] represent multi-family housing.

[1:45:53] Um and uh we walked through the new rate

[1:45:56] structure

[1:45:58] with them. We're still waiting to hear

[1:46:00] back from them on

[1:46:01] the their calculations of you know what

[1:46:04] what the new rates would look like for

[1:46:06] them.

[1:46:07] Um but our preliminary calculations do

[1:46:10] indicate that it'll be a lot better for

[1:46:12] those many of those multi-family homes.

[1:46:15] Um

[1:46:16] we've also worked with uh the commercial

[1:46:19] entities that were on that same sewer

[1:46:21] rate structure and had a similar

[1:46:23] situation. We're We're working with

[1:46:25] them. It's not a rate structure change

[1:46:27] but we're working with them to separate

[1:46:28] their

[1:46:30] outdoor use from their indoor use so

[1:46:31] that we have a better idea of what's

[1:46:33] going on what they're putting on their

[1:46:35] landscapes outside and what's going

[1:46:37] inside and we can charge them

[1:46:39] appropriately for that. Um and then

[1:46:41] finally one of the things we all learned

[1:46:44] um both the trade association

[1:46:46] representatives that we met with uh and

[1:46:49] some of the residents

[1:46:50] um and some of the commercial properties

[1:46:53] is

[1:46:54] uh there's a great opportunity for

[1:46:56] conser- outdoor

[1:46:58] conservation.

[1:46:59] Um and I believe that Stephanie Duer,

[1:47:03] our water conservation manager,

[1:47:05] um is actually doing a water

[1:47:07] conservation presentation uh with the

[1:47:09] rental housing association

[1:47:12] um and and other stakeholders who are

[1:47:14] really interested in this.

[1:47:16] Um so that could also help Great Salt

[1:47:18] Lake in the long term, [clears throat]

[1:47:19] too.

[1:47:20] Okay.

[1:47:21] Thank you. Councilman Carson.

[1:47:24] Um I I My comments will be similar to

[1:47:27] Council member Young's, but I just want

[1:47:29] to, you know, start by saying that I

[1:47:32] believe leadership means making hard

[1:47:34] decisions.

[1:47:36] It means not passing the buck,

[1:47:38] » [snorts]

[1:47:38] » And it means managing expectations over

[1:47:41] the long term. And

[1:47:44] I I I feel confident in

[1:47:46] public utilities doing those things

[1:47:50] and recognize how

[1:47:52] critically important water is to all of

[1:47:55] us

[1:47:57] and the management of this very, very

[1:47:58] precious resource that we all depend on

[1:48:01] every single day.

[1:48:03] I appreciate the thoughtfulness with

[1:48:05] which you're approaching these decisions

[1:48:07] and these proposals and the comment that

[1:48:11] you shared in regards to the declining

[1:48:14] federal investment in

[1:48:16] water infrastructure.

[1:48:19] I'm curious are there any ways we can

[1:48:22] change that

[1:48:23] » [laughter]

[1:48:24] » Declining interest in helping us

[1:48:26] carry the burden of our infrastructure?

[1:48:28] And even you mentioned that it seems

[1:48:30] like some of those um

[1:48:32] grants that we were able to apply to

[1:48:34] seem to be few and far between. Is there

[1:48:36] anything else we can do,

[1:48:39] um any other grants or other

[1:48:40] opportunities to really balance that

[1:48:43] affordability that I think all of us are

[1:48:45] also keeping in mind, too.

[1:48:47] Yeah, I mean I I think this is a real

[1:48:49] generational question because those

[1:48:52] initial investments in the '70s and

[1:48:54] '80s, you know, we're we're now

[1:48:57] moving forward another one or two

[1:48:58] generations from then, and our

[1:49:00] infrastructure is doing the same.

[1:49:02] And we also, especially in the West,

[1:49:04] have a lot of

[1:49:06] water challenges, scarcity, drought, the

[1:49:09] Colorado River challenges. So, I think

[1:49:12] there's a great opportunity for

[1:49:15] a renewed partnership with federal

[1:49:18] investments or federal agencies. So,

[1:49:21] sometimes we talk about unfunded

[1:49:22] mandates. For instance, I showed the

[1:49:24] slide where a lead service line

[1:49:26] replacement um regulations is a hundred

[1:49:29] to a hundred and fifty million dollars

[1:49:31] um over the course of the next ten

[1:49:33] years. That's a huge amount um of

[1:49:37] investment and it's an important

[1:49:38] investment, but it's from a regulation

[1:49:41] that came with

[1:49:42] really no funding. Although we did

[1:49:44] secure a low-interest loan for that,

[1:49:47] that's not always available.

[1:49:49] Um so, there is a lot of work happening

[1:49:53] on the national level with uh

[1:49:55] my sector with the water and wastewater

[1:49:58] sector around

[1:50:00] uh trying to work with federal agencies

[1:50:02] to see what kinds of policy shifts could

[1:50:04] happen on that level if it's even

[1:50:06] possible. Um there may be other ways

[1:50:09] this this year uh Lisa and and the team

[1:50:12] our executive team will be sitting down

[1:50:15] uh doing a long-range strategic plan

[1:50:19] around financial health and and um

[1:50:24] resiliency

[1:50:26] as well as what needs to be done and

[1:50:29] we'll be coming up with some good ideas

[1:50:31] there, too, I hope.

[1:50:34] Commissioner Petro.

[1:50:37] Thank you. Um

[1:50:39] ditto to everything. Nothing is

[1:50:42] unnecessary. We are not growing as one

[1:50:44] of my predecessors used to say, "Unicorn

[1:50:46] farms." Everything is necessary. And you

[1:50:49] definitely proved your value in District

[1:50:51] 1 um this year. We know well that it is

[1:50:55] City Public Utilities that shows up. It

[1:50:57] wasn't county flood, it was you all who

[1:50:59] showed up to make things right when they

[1:51:02] went awry. So, all of that said and I'm

[1:51:05] really deeply grateful, Laura, that you

[1:51:07] like tutored me because I am not

[1:51:09] intuitive about water policy or rates or

[1:51:12] anything. So, I'm so thankful for the

[1:51:14] time that you've spent with me.

[1:51:15] I think um

[1:51:17] part of the crisis here is that you are

[1:51:20] doing an amazing job of being a steward

[1:51:22] and making sure that we have money set

[1:51:25] aside for future maintenance. But in

[1:51:27] order for us to do that as a collective

[1:51:29] entity we have to raise rates on people

[1:51:31] who aren't able to do that for

[1:51:32] themselves. We're doing it for people

[1:51:34] whose car will stop running and they

[1:51:37] will not have had the benefit of setting

[1:51:39] aside a down payment for a new one. Um

[1:51:42] and that is the nature of the beast. But

[1:51:45] it does lend a little bit of gravity and

[1:51:47] difference to how we approach this. Um

[1:51:50] one question of clarification under

[1:51:52] street lighting utility here in my staff

[1:51:54] report under revenue

[1:51:57] um

[1:51:58] there's a line there that says general

[1:52:00] fund contributions.

[1:52:02] We are incredibly fantastic about making

[1:52:04] sure that things generated within

[1:52:06] enterprise funds only go back into the

[1:52:08] enterprise fund. Can you explain to me

[1:52:10] what the $20,000 that comes in as a

[1:52:13] revenue from the general fund is?

[1:52:15] Yeah, that's actually I believe a

[1:52:17] contribution from the general fund to

[1:52:19] the enterprise um and that is for the

[1:52:22] private lighting program. Is that right?

[1:52:24] Yeah. Yeah.

[1:52:26] Okay. Yeah. Thank you. That's a good

[1:52:28] clarification. My other request would

[1:52:31] just be

[1:52:33] any if we can't provide stability and no

[1:52:37] increases to our to our neighbors

[1:52:40] the next best thing is we can provide

[1:52:42] anticipatory guidance so they can

[1:52:44] prepare to absorb them.

[1:52:47] And I'm struggling because even as much

[1:52:49] in information as I have, admittedly I

[1:52:52] am not bright when it comes to this. I

[1:52:54] need help and hit lots of hand-holding.

[1:52:57] But for instance, my storm water total

[1:53:00] already now on my April bill reflects

[1:53:03] what a rate increase should be. I don't

[1:53:05] understand why that is. When I look at

[1:53:07] my cubic feet, it looks like I'm a low

[1:53:09] water user, but then my sewer rate

[1:53:12] already reflects a medium user.

[1:53:14] You know, these are things that I'm sure

[1:53:16] there are really, really great reasons

[1:53:18] for I don't need you to explain my water

[1:53:19] bill on the public record, but I would

[1:53:22] love the opportunity for us to work to

[1:53:24] make sure that our neighbors it if you

[1:53:27] ask us, we're all going to say we're low

[1:53:28] users.

[1:53:30] Um, and so

[1:53:32] I I think that sort of education to help

[1:53:34] our neighbors, you know, as I looked as

[1:53:36] I looked here,

[1:53:38] um, the average

[1:53:40] complete bill for a low user in my

[1:53:42] district with our enhanced lighting

[1:53:45] should be increasing $29.93

[1:53:48] to $33.67

[1:53:51] per month.

[1:53:53] That is significant when our gas in our

[1:53:56] vehicles have doubled in the past 2

[1:53:58] weeks.

[1:53:59] Um, and so, you know, while people might

[1:54:02] consolidate trips or ride their bike to

[1:54:04] Smith's instead of driving and things,

[1:54:07] it really is feeling increasingly and

[1:54:08] maybe this is the nature of us living in

[1:54:09] a high desert and we had a false

[1:54:11] precedent set for us before

[1:54:14] there isn't very much that you can do

[1:54:17] to conserve on your water bill even when

[1:54:20] you are doing the right thing and

[1:54:21] conserving water.

[1:54:23] So, as we move forward, um, you know,

[1:54:25] I'm I'm having people say things to me

[1:54:28] like we feel like we did everything

[1:54:29] right, we did the natural plants, we put

[1:54:31] in a low waste irrigation system and I'm

[1:54:34] still seeing my water bill go up. Um,

[1:54:37] I'm having people say that they're

[1:54:38] nervous about being able to grow their

[1:54:40] own food this year and to be able to

[1:54:42] afford the water that goes into that in

[1:54:44] a time where people are worried about

[1:54:45] the price of goods being trucked to them

[1:54:47] because of fuel increases. So, this is a

[1:54:49] double whammy. So, as we're moving

[1:54:51] through this, I just would like to work

[1:54:52] with you to get to we are asking people,

[1:54:55] like I said, who can't do the kind of

[1:54:58] planning for their own lives that we are

[1:55:00] doing as a city. And that's a really,

[1:55:02] really great thing that we're asking for

[1:55:04] them to contribute to. And so, if we

[1:55:06] can't provide stability, we have to

[1:55:07] provide predictability. And I

[1:55:11] Thank you for Thank you for being

[1:55:13] possibly the best experts in the region,

[1:55:16] not just the state, and for offering

[1:55:18] this guidance. But as we move through

[1:55:20] this, um

[1:55:22] our responsibility for communicating

[1:55:24] clearly and concisely only goes up as

[1:55:26] our rates do.

[1:55:30] We agree totally. I agree totally. Um

[1:55:34] This is a really hard

[1:55:36] budget and year in a a lot of ways with

[1:55:39] our department and you know, just the

[1:55:42] compounding impacts of

[1:55:44] everything going on in that's affecting

[1:55:47] what it costs to live with a good

[1:55:50] quality of life. And

[1:55:52] um and so, this this is not a budget or

[1:55:56] a proposal we take lightly at all. And

[1:55:58] we've been talking about you know, ways

[1:56:00] in which we could

[1:56:02] improve our customer assistance

[1:56:05] uh programs

[1:56:06] uh that make them a little less

[1:56:08] restrictive than they were in the past.

[1:56:11] Um we're more modeling the

[1:56:13] uh

[1:56:14] the energy assistance programs that is

[1:56:17] funded by the federal government.

[1:56:19] We don't have that same thing for water,

[1:56:21] but uh

[1:56:22] we're trying to do that. But But we we

[1:56:25] could we could potentially replicate

[1:56:27] that ourselves.

[1:56:28] Um

[1:56:29] but also, as you said, the education is

[1:56:32] really important. Um how to read the

[1:56:35] water bill. So,

[1:56:37] like the rate calculator is going to be

[1:56:39] only so good as how someone might be

[1:56:42] able to read their water bill, right?

[1:56:43] And um and so, we'd be happy to work

[1:56:47] with you and your constituents,

[1:56:49] everybody's constituents on

[1:56:51] any of any of that. And um

[1:56:54] maybe we'll talk more about that as

[1:56:57] well. Thank you.

[1:56:58] » Councilmember Dugan.

[1:57:00] Yeah, thank you. And I thank you for the

[1:57:01] discussion and and the comments. I think

[1:57:03] they're all spot on and uh it is a

[1:57:06] you know, the perfect storm here to use

[1:57:08] that old

[1:57:09] line.

[1:57:11] My question is the rates that we have

[1:57:13] going on here

[1:57:15] there was an assumption on on us saving

[1:57:17] water throughout the year. And what is

[1:57:21] what is your projection for the budget

[1:57:23] as far as what the city is saving so

[1:57:27] that we keep water in the reservoir and

[1:57:28] that we feed water to the Great Salt

[1:57:30] Lake cuz both are necessary during

[1:57:33] drought season. We We don't want to just

[1:57:35] have everything go to the Great Salt

[1:57:36] Lake and drain our reservoir and vice

[1:57:38] versa. So, how do you uh

[1:57:42] what's your projections on the on our

[1:57:43] savings rate to the budget because that

[1:57:46] that impacts our our rates.

[1:57:49] Um in our in our budgeted revenues in

[1:57:53] the water utility, we made an assumption

[1:57:56] of an 8% decrease over last year.

[1:58:00] Um

[1:58:01] but it's also a larger, if you look

[1:58:04] it's hard to look at our

[1:58:06] water demand year over year cuz there's

[1:58:08] so much variability. So, we also look at

[1:58:10] the average last the average 3 years.

[1:58:12] So, we're budgeting lower than we ever

[1:58:15] have in our

[1:58:18] projected water demand in this in this

[1:58:21] budget. Um and that includes a lower

[1:58:25] uh anticipating lower water demand than

[1:58:28] our historically lowest years.

[1:58:31] Um

[1:58:32] so so that is embedded in in our budget.

[1:58:36] Um we are in stage two of our water

[1:58:39] shortage contingency plan that has

[1:58:41] mainly voluntary

[1:58:43] uh participation. We'd like people to

[1:58:46] save somewhere around 10 million gallons

[1:58:47] a day.

[1:58:49] Uh so far this spring, we haven't seen

[1:58:51] that. We're just around where we were

[1:58:52] last year.

[1:58:54] Uh but as we get into the summer, I

[1:58:56] think we'll probably be saving a lot

[1:58:58] more water. Um and as we move forward

[1:59:03] into this year, we're going to be

[1:59:04] evaluating just what you said, you know,

[1:59:07] storage versus stream flow, what do we

[1:59:10] what do we want to hold over in storage

[1:59:13] uh for next year in case we have another

[1:59:15] drought year. Um so that's something

[1:59:17] we'll be working with Anna Lee and and

[1:59:19] Metro and um

[1:59:21] and our other stakeholders on as well

[1:59:23] this year.

[1:59:25] Thank you.

[1:59:27] Thank you

[1:59:28] uh for for the time. I, you know,

[1:59:32] the public utilities in our city

[1:59:35] uh is is just a gem

[1:59:37] uh

[1:59:38] for the work that you have done to bring

[1:59:41] us up to speed and to

[1:59:43] uh make us um resilience resilient to

[1:59:47] the changing uh environment that we

[1:59:49] have. And

[1:59:51] um and you know, it it is actually

[1:59:53] something to celebrate that we have a

[1:59:54] billion dollars of infrastructure in

[1:59:57] motion right now

[1:59:59] um and that we are making it in time,

[2:00:01] that we're making it in some of those

[2:00:03] ahead of time and that we are building a

[2:00:06] system that is going to

[2:00:08] uh outlast many of us here, uh which is

[2:00:11] how we're supposed to be making those

[2:00:12] decisions. So it's it's huge. Um I, you

[2:00:16] know, I have

[2:00:19] I'm very proud of the work that you do.

[2:00:21] I always proud of of our public

[2:00:23] utilities department uh and and how you

[2:00:26] see the problem and you tackle it. Um I

[2:00:29] am

[2:00:30] uh certainly have opinions about water

[2:00:32] usage

[2:00:34] uh and about how, you know,

[2:00:35] multi-family, you know, um

[2:00:38] you know, uh units use water um and I

[2:00:41] wish we could do more to curve the use

[2:00:44] of water and some of those feel like

[2:00:47] many of them are not realizing how much

[2:00:51] how much waste waste water that is

[2:00:54] happening in in within our city.

[2:00:56] Um

[2:00:58] But I I would like to focus a little bit

[2:01:00] on a on a question that I don't think

[2:01:01] that we probably have the time to to

[2:01:03] chat about, but I would love to have the

[2:01:05] opportunity to chat a little more

[2:01:06] through

[2:01:09] a couple weeks ahead through the budget

[2:01:11] discussions and it relates to street

[2:01:13] lighting.

[2:01:14] Um and

[2:01:16] I'm still, you know, hyper focused on

[2:01:18] the the issue of equity related to to

[2:01:21] street lighting

[2:01:22] and you know, past decisions this

[2:01:24] council

[2:01:25] or a different iteration of this council

[2:01:27] made to you know, to absorb some debts

[2:01:32] that I felt like it, you know, bring

[2:01:33] back the question of equity

[2:01:36] representing the West Side and the

[2:01:37] service that we would receive from from

[2:01:40] public lighting

[2:01:41] and I would love to hash out some of

[2:01:43] those numbers and try to get to a maybe

[2:01:47] potentially a better outcome.

[2:01:49] And I believe that we're doing a great

[2:01:51] job right now

[2:01:54] as a whole in the city. I just want to

[2:01:56] bring the the service levels maybe

[2:01:59] closer to what other neighborhoods are

[2:02:01] seeing. So that's my my hope.

[2:02:04] I don't know if there's anything. Yeah,

[2:02:06] we would like to do that too and our

[2:02:08] street lighting master plan that we

[2:02:11] updated now six years ago

[2:02:14] really changed what that lighting looks

[2:02:17] like. So instead of base lighting it

[2:02:20] anticipates more pedestrian level

[2:02:22] lighting or a greater density of

[2:02:23] lighting in different areas. Part of the

[2:02:26] reason why we're looking at our street

[2:02:28] lighting rates this year

[2:02:31] so closely and why we have this increase

[2:02:34] is so that we can start to be able to

[2:02:37] implement that street lighting plan so

[2:02:40] that we can bring greater equity uh to

[2:02:43] different parts of our community.

[2:02:45] Um so we we completely agree with that.

[2:02:47] No, I mean I think that's a valid

[2:02:49] proposition that I would love to to make

[2:02:51] to my neighbors if I'm going to say

[2:02:54] you're going to have to pay more, but

[2:02:55] this is what you're getting. Uh

[2:02:57] and and I would love to explain to my

[2:02:59] neighbors why this is important.

[2:03:02] Um but I hope that we have more time in

[2:03:04] in future weeks if uh I appreciate you

[2:03:07] and your work that the administration

[2:03:08] does to to bring transparency to this

[2:03:10] budget. So

[2:03:11] um any anything else council members?

[2:03:14] Okay, thank you so much for the time.

[2:03:16] Thank you.

[2:03:18] » Council members, we

[2:03:20] uh we're uh we have a few board

[2:03:22] appointments and I believe they're both

[2:03:23] online uh and available for us. Both

[2:03:27] appointments

[2:03:28] uh are for the Housing Authority of Salt

[2:03:30] Lake City. Uh we have a an item number

[2:03:33] six, Devra Chiquito

[2:03:36] uh will join us uh online. Are you

[2:03:38] there?

[2:03:40] Devra?

[2:03:43] Yes.

[2:03:45] Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you.

[2:03:47] Can you tell us um briefly why do you

[2:03:50] want to join this board?

[2:03:53] Yes, uh my career I'm a social worker by

[2:03:55] career and I worked 20 years in the

[2:03:59] Utah State Prison, retired 3 years ago.

[2:04:02] Um and one of the main things

[2:04:05] um I worked with the women

[2:04:08] um

[2:04:08] in a treatment program for substance use

[2:04:11] and we would have them in a residential

[2:04:13] program. They'd do well, but they'd get

[2:04:15] out, they wouldn't have safe housing,

[2:04:17] they wouldn't have stable housing, they

[2:04:19] wouldn't have, you know, any

[2:04:21] um transitional supports that and they'd

[2:04:23] be right back in prison. So I really

[2:04:25] have a

[2:04:27] um an interest in um seeing um

[2:04:31] kind of that transitional support

[2:04:32] re-entry stuff for especially women uh

[2:04:35] for people coming out of the the uh

[2:04:38] correctional system as well as

[2:04:39] homelessness and and everything that

[2:04:42] goes with it. And I really like what you

[2:04:44] what the Housing Board of Salt Lake City

[2:04:46] is doing and what the mayor

[2:04:48] um is doing as well as far as the

[2:04:51] funding and the housing and the you

[2:04:54] know, multi-faceted. It's it's not um

[2:04:57] just, you know, well,

[2:04:59] good luck, you know, it needs to be

[2:05:00] sustainable. It needs to be

[2:05:02] multi-faceted. There's mental health,

[2:05:04] trauma informed stuff, training,

[2:05:06] um ongoing, you know, um

[2:05:10] issues that um we need to address within

[2:05:14] Salt Lake City, within the state, within

[2:05:16] other communities, um within

[2:05:20] you know, um and get the support and

[2:05:23] funding [clears throat] and the

[2:05:24] legislature, you know, the uh the state,

[2:05:27] local communities working together, the

[2:05:29] prison, um you know, other entities, the

[2:05:32] community partners, that type of thing.

[2:05:35] Um and so I would I would be honored to

[2:05:39] kind of rejoin uh

[2:05:42] the

[2:05:43] um fight to I guess is fight the wrong

[2:05:46] word, but

[2:05:47] the um

[2:05:51] join the team to help, you know, work

[2:05:54] hard and and get things

[2:05:56] um

[2:05:57] going and support the goals that you

[2:05:59] guys have

[2:06:01] been working on so hard. So, it would be

[2:06:03] an honor. Anyway, is that

[2:06:05] Does that help?

[2:06:07] That's fantastic. Thank you.

[2:06:09] Okay, thank you. Um I you know, we we

[2:06:12] are really thankful uh for you you know,

[2:06:15] volunteering your time um and uh

[2:06:18] wanting to join this board Council

[2:06:19] member Dugan. I do appreciate you

[2:06:21] retiring from this work and then going

[2:06:24] right back into it and that your

[2:06:25] advocacy for it.

[2:06:27] Uh

[2:06:27] we need people like you

[2:06:29] uh

[2:06:30] standing on the uh

[2:06:32] stool and and and uh

[2:06:34] really advocating for all this great

[2:06:36] work. So, I appreciate that and thank

[2:06:37] you for stepping up to the plate.

[2:06:41] You're welcome. I've had 3 years to

[2:06:44] go

[2:06:45] travel and do my own thing, so

[2:06:48] I've um

[2:06:50] think I have the energy again

[2:06:53] to get back in and work hard, so thank

[2:06:55] you for considering me and for the

[2:06:58] opportunity. I appreciate that. Thank

[2:07:00] you. We uh as you know, the process goes

[2:07:03] your name is going to be put on the

[2:07:04] consent agenda on the formal meeting

[2:07:07] tonight.

[2:07:08] You don't need to attend

[2:07:10] to

[2:07:12] to be appointed to this board. The

[2:07:15] administration will reach out to you

[2:07:17] with more information soon after.

[2:07:20] Okay, sounds good. Thank you very much.

[2:07:22] Thank you.

[2:07:24] Now looking into a board appointment for

[2:07:28] the Housing Authority again of Salt Lake

[2:07:30] City. Turner Bitten, are you online?

[2:07:42] Um can someone reach out to Turner and

[2:07:44] see if he will be joining shortly cuz I

[2:07:47] think it will inform whether or not we

[2:07:49] reschedule this board appointment. I

[2:07:51] think we'll have

[2:07:52] a sort of longer close session. We could

[2:07:55] go to

[2:07:56] report of the chair and announcements to

[2:07:59] just maybe buy a few minutes.

[2:08:00] » Yes, let's do that.

[2:08:05] Um Report of the chair and vice chair.

[2:08:08] » Yes,

[2:08:09] moving on to

[2:08:11] there is no report from ours. Now

[2:08:14] standing items report and announcements

[2:08:16] from the executive director Jen. Yep,

[2:08:18] and this one we just wanted to make sure

[2:08:21] that you guys know that agenda packets

[2:08:23] will shift to Fridays during the the

[2:08:25] just to give our staff a little extra

[2:08:26] time to

[2:08:27] get that information together and thanks

[2:08:29] in advance to the administration for all

[2:08:32] of the questions we're about to send.

[2:08:34] Um, meetings are also going to adjust

[2:08:36] starting at 1:00 p.m. Um, unless

[2:08:37] otherwise noted, we will adjust if we

[2:08:40] can avoid starting at 1:00, but

[2:08:42] we're kind of just holding that space

[2:08:44] while we can. Um, we're also starting

[2:08:46] Thursday meetings maybe a little bit

[2:08:48] earlier than some of you who've been

[2:08:50] around for a while um are used to. So,

[2:08:52] our first Thursday meeting will actually

[2:08:53] be next week. Um, Thursday the 14th. We

[2:08:56] will um

[2:08:59] we will um

[2:09:01] be in touch with you guys about the

[2:09:02] timing of those Thursday meetings. It's

[2:09:04] possible that they'll be shorter and so

[2:09:06] hopefully wrapped up either, you know,

[2:09:09] if they start if they have to start

[2:09:10] after 5:00 in order for everyone to get

[2:09:12] here, hopefully they won't go too late.

[2:09:13] Or if we need to be done by 5:00, we'll

[2:09:15] just kind of be in touch

[2:09:17] um about that.

[2:09:18] Uh, the goal there is to get as much

[2:09:21] information kind of into the council's

[2:09:23] um minds so that as you figure through

[2:09:26] what um budgets you're comfortable with

[2:09:29] both with and without a property tax

[2:09:31] increase, you have kind of as much

[2:09:33] information as possible as early as

[2:09:35] possible.

[2:09:36] Just confirming all of these will have a

[2:09:37] virtual option.

[2:09:39] All of these will have a virtual option.

[2:09:40] Yes, absolutely.

[2:09:42] Um, and so then

[2:09:45] uh, this list of this is the list of

[2:09:47] dates. So, um feel free to read through

[2:09:50] them and um let staff know if you have

[2:09:53] any questions.

[2:09:54] Um, the CRA budget will be discussed on

[2:09:58] Tuesday, May 19th. So, that's why we're

[2:10:00] having a CRA meeting on that night.

[2:10:03] We've kind of reaffirmed with CRA that

[2:10:05] if the council or board has more

[2:10:07] questions, we can add, you know, brief

[2:10:09] CRA meetings as needed um after that.

[2:10:13] Okay, that's it. I don't know if Turner

[2:10:16] is here yet.

[2:10:17] » [laughter]

[2:10:18] » Um

[2:10:19] thank you. Um, we we're going to you're

[2:10:21] embarking on a on the budget. We're

[2:10:23] excited to to ask some questions and to

[2:10:26] receive some answers and to get to the

[2:10:28] bottom of it.

[2:10:30] Um

[2:10:30] Uh,

[2:10:31] let

[2:10:32] let's see if Councillor Bitten

[2:10:35] is online.

[2:10:39] No?

[2:10:40] No?

[2:10:42] Okay. We can reschedule his interview

[2:10:44] for another day

[2:10:46] and just will have to remember to pull

[2:10:48] it from the consent agenda. So. Yes, we

[2:10:50] need to pull it from today's consent

[2:10:52] agenda, but we can

[2:10:54] we can

[2:10:56] add it to a different agenda in the

[2:10:58] future.

[2:11:00] Okay, so that brings us to

[2:11:04] potential closed meeting.

[2:11:06] Council members.

[2:11:11] » [snorts]

[2:11:12] » Mr. Chair, I move that we go into

[2:11:16] closed meeting to discuss

[2:11:20] um

[2:11:22] uh, yeah. Okay, thank you. Um

[2:11:30] character, professional competence, or

[2:11:32] physical or mental health of an

[2:11:33] individual

[2:11:35] and attorney-client matters. And then

[2:11:37] can we add labor negotiations as well?

[2:11:40] » An update on yes, labor negotiations.

[2:11:43] Second.

[2:11:49] I have a motion by Councillor Warden and

[2:11:50] a and a second by Councillor Duggan. I

[2:11:53] Councillor Member Petro.

[2:11:55] Aye. Councillor Member Warden. Aye.

[2:11:57] Councillor Member Carlson. Aye.

[2:11:59] Councillor Member Young. Aye. Councillor

[2:12:01] Member Duggan. Yes. And I may

[2:12:03] Yes,

[2:12:06] that passes unanimously with one

[2:12:08] Councillor missing from the meeting. Six

[2:12:12] uh,

[2:12:13] passes unanimously. Thank you.

[2:12:17] Yeah, we are adjourned after that and

[2:12:19] then we're going to join into a formal

[2:12:21] meeting at 7:00 p.m.

[2:12:23] Thank you.

[2:12:40] » [music and bell]

[2:12:46] [music]

Salt Lake City Council Meeting

Agenda

Transcript