[music]
» Few minutes early, so welcome everybody
to the Salt Lake City work session
for May 5th, 2026. Our meetings are
public. Uh and you're welcome to join us
in person or by watching from the
Council agenda page, Zoom, or YouTube.
Uh we hope you will continue to join us
in whichever manner you feel the most
comfortable. This is a work session
meeting uh during which there's not
public comment. You can join us tonight
at 7:00 p.m. our formal meeting to share
your comments. Of course, we welcome
feedback anytime by mail at P.O. Box
145476
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114.
You can also email us at council
.comments@slc.gov.
You can also call our 24-hour
phone line 801-535-7654.
Comments we receive on agenda
topics are shared with the council with
council members and post posted in our
website
at slc.gov/council.
Our first agenda item is
the an ordinance for lost and
misled property at airport text
amendments. We're going to welcome at
the table Nick Torbett, council deputy
director,
Bill Wyatt,
maybe not, council
executive director of the airports,
Trevor Anderson, airport operations
director, Paul Nielsen, senior city
attorney. And Nick
All right, thank you, Mr. Chair. This
briefing is about an ordinance that
would amend city code pertaining to lost
and misled property at the airports.
The recommended changes are necessary to
comply with Senate Bill 172, which was
passed this 2026 general session, and to
codify the process by which Salt Lake
City Department of Airports disposes of
misled property left at the airport.
Uh, there will be a public hearing on
this on May 19th.
With that, I'll turn the time over to
Paul. Uh, thank you. Um, Mr. Wyatt
couldn't make it and
Mr. Anderson
is at a conference, so we have general
Jennifer Kaufman, who runs the airport's
lost and found operation with us today.
And let me just note that it is unusual
for
one of the city attorneys to be part of
the presentation, but a lot of this
effort is really sort of the legal
nitty-gritty technical stuff that is
probably not terribly interesting, but
um
Uh, I've I've been involved in the
process for a little over 2 years now,
and
I
whatever Jennifer wants to add to that.
It's been a a long road to get what
we've been operating under at the
airport to be legal. And so, with Paul's
assistance, uh, we started with going to
the legislature and getting um that
updated to reflect what we're actually
doing at the airport and now we want to
propose that the ordinances with the
city also reflect that change.
I'll note that the the law that was
passed during this session goes into
effect tomorrow. So
we appreciate the council considering
this on
sort of a quick turnaround.
I don't know if you want me to explain
the
the the technical details.
Um
we start with
city ordinance
reflects what had been the state code
position and that is that only a law
enforcement agency has anything to do
with lost and found. We know the reality
pretty much everywhere is
something quite different. There are a
lot of government entities that have
lost and found operations, but the only
one recognized by state law until
tomorrow
is that the
one that deals with law enforcement.
So technically when you receive
when
government receives lost property
they're supposed to to involve law
enforcement. Um
part of that conversation
deals with the fact that
again until tomorrow the state law
indicates that when a law enforcement
officer even touches anything that's
lost and found has to be entered as
evidence. That doesn't make sense in
most cases, but I think that that
statute was developed at a time when we
had a different idea of what we were
dealing with when it comes to lost
stuff.
Um so we we had the legislature
create an exception for
law enforcement officers who are
assigned to airports
may touch the stuff in transition to and
this was a concern of Commander
Mitchell's. His his team is very uh by
the book.
They don't want to touch anything. They
do not They They just out of that
concern. Um and in the process, let me
just back up a little bit uh as far as
getting the legislation adopted, um we
realized that it might be uh a little
messy if we tried to involve every
single airport or every other public
entity. And so, we went with uh airports
that are required to have a law
enforcement presence per federal
regulations. So, that involves Salt Lake
City International, um Provo, Ogden, St.
George, and Cedar City. And we uh had a
collaborative effort with uh all of
their airport uh operators. And so, this
really only just applies to those
airports um as opposed to every uh
single regional or city airport.
Um
we cleaned up the language in uh chapter
2.10 uh to acknowledge that there two
different tracks here when it comes to
lost and found items. Um
updated some of the uh the language uh
in the code to reflect state code
changes in the last little while.
Um a lot of what
you'll see in the ordinance uh is
definitions, but the the meat of this is
the
um
the language that uh would be in the new
uh section 16.10.230,
um which is all about the process um of
receiving, inventorying, and uh and
disposition. Um
and that's kind of it. I don't know if
you have any specific questions about
how that happens.
Councilmember Young.
No, thank you. I appreciate this. And as
someone who has had a child who lost
property, I love our website. So, good
good job in terms of like making it very
clear on things that have been found. If
you're ever curious, like what things
get left at the airport? Very
entertaining way to spend your time.
» [laughter]
» Like you're like, who knew? Who was
traveling with that? Anyway, my key
question was just related to like the
sale of unclaimed property.
Um I I appreciate, you know, funneling
it back into a system to be thoughtful
about not allocating additional taxpayer
dollars where we might have, you know,
the ability to cover. My question is, is
that the standard practice of most
airports?
Um just curious kind of where that fits
in the larger landscape.
Um I don't know if we could answer what
the practices of most airports, but I'll
tell you there's there's a complication
here, and that is
um when
nobody claims that property, it
essentially becomes ours.
Um and as the holder of the property,
uh
the Department of Airports is
constrained by
federal regulations regarding revenue
diversion. So,
it's considered our the the department's
property,
and we have to dispose of it a certain
way. And it um
really the only way that that we can
feel comfortable, and when I say we, I
mean the Department of Airports, um
would feel comfortable with uh
handling those proceeds is putting it
back into
the enterprise fund, which has to go
to pay for the um the lost and found
operation, and it's not going to cover
that cost.
Thank you. I appreciate that. And let me
just say, I didn't want to make this
personal, but uh Jennifer will tell you
that I regularly have to reach out to
her because uh colleagues lose things
such as laptops, um
» A shoe,
uh
a single yes, uh Jonathan Papelbon's.
Um
I had to pick up my father's laptop a
few months ago, and then uh back in
uh
in February I had to reach out because I
lost a pair of sunglasses.
So, I am either the problem or the face
of the problem.
» You're contributing to the economy, so
we appreciate it.
Um yeah, no, thank you for that. I don't
have any additional questions and think
that um I I appreciate you going through
a process by which to make sure our
policies and procedures are in alignment
with state code so that we don't run
into like any unintended issues there.
So, thank you for your work on that.
Any Okay, it seems like we have
you know, answer all our questions.
Thank you so much for for this update.
Thank you.
Moving on on the agenda, we're going to
go to item number two, which is an
ordinance for the indefinite alleyway
closure of Jefferson in Jefferson Park.
We're going to welcome Brian Fullmer,
Council Policy Analyst, to the table,
Tyler Murdock, Public Lands Deputy
Director, and Amy Riile, Associate
Landscape Architect, and we're going to
give Brian maybe a few minutes to
introduce this item. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a proposal
from the Department of Public Lands to
indefinitely close but retain ownership
of two alleys that the city owns within
Jefferson Park, which is located in
District 5. The intent is to consolidate
parcels within the park for improvements
funded by the Reimagine
Reimagine Nature General Obligation
Bond. [clears throat]
And with that, I'll turn it over to
Tyler and Amy.
Thanks, Brian.
Good afternoon, Council. A quick intro
before I let Amy kind of run through
this.
This is a bit unique for Public Lands to
bring these. However, it is becoming a
lot more common. I just want to preface
that. Many of the parks in Salt Lake
City were created long before many of
our zoning ordinances exist and so a lot
of our parks the majority of our parks
still today are made up of many
different parcels
and alleyways and streets and so how
we're managing that is when we do
updates or master capital improvements
we then go through the rezoning process
to vacate any alleyways or and then to
consolidate the parcels. This is a
requirement for us to get our building
permits to move these forward. So this
is becoming a more of a frequent thing
and I just wanted to preface that you'll
probably continue to see us as we
continue to invest in capital
improvements
in our parks. So with that I'll turn it
to Amy for a quick summary of this one.
Thank you. Hello Council.
And again here we are to talk about
Jefferson Park.
Go to the next slide.
Site context Jefferson Park
is located in D5
and it is a detention basin managed by
public utilities and a park managed by
public lands. Next slide.
The purpose for our meeting today is to
consolidate parcels within Jefferson
Park for planned improvements as
indicated. Next concept next slide.
The proposed alley closures are both
located entirely within the park.
So you'll see
A is a portion of the east-west
mid-block alley between 200 West and
West Temple
approximately 100 ft by 15 ft.
And B is a north-south alley between
West Temple Ave and West Fremont Ave
approximately 275
ft by 16 ft. Next slide.
And here they are
inside the park.
» [laughter]
» Next slide.
This is just state code to remind you of
when we can close the alley and it is
not necessary for vehicular travel and
it is we would argue necessary to
mitigate injury because of the detention
basin function that protects surrounding
homes. Next slide.
The public process that we have followed
is noted here
and this is a step in the process um
and a final noticing requirement is
being sent out as per this.
Next slide.
That's it.
Please close the alley so we can do the
park improvements. Council members.
Okay, we just did that in Madison Park
not too long ago.
Um and I my question I guess for the for
the administration is can you bring them
all together to us?
We can get it over with. I had a feeling
that was going to come up Council member
and so we actually have created a full
list that identifies every park in the
city that requires lot consolidation and
vacation.
Uh it's a long long list and right now
the capacity does not exist within the
planning team with our team to really
take those all on so we do them on
individual basis.
Uh we're working towards that with some
team changes and hopefully can maybe
bring more than one next time. So.
Certainly I you know we're not managing
your time you know you know the work
that you guys do and it's a lot so thank
you for bringing this one. Um thank you
for the update. Yeah, thank you Council.
Okay.
So Council members we're going to take a
break. Uh
We are moving ahead um
uh a little faster and um
so
» We need staff from uh Metro Water and
Public Utilities to arrive. They're on
their way, but not here yet.
So, I'll come back three.
» [music]
[music]
» Mhm.
» [music]
[music]
» Mhm.
» [music]
[music]
» Mhm.
» [music]
[music]
» Mhm.
» [music]
[music]
» Mhm.
» [music]
[music]
» Mhm.
» [music]
[music]
» Mhm. [music]
» [music]
[music]
» Start the meeting, restart the meeting
with item number
four.
Uh, this is the fiscal year 2026-2027
budget for the Metropolitan Water
District. We're going to welcome to you
Austin Kimmel, Council Analyst, uh, Anna
Lee Munsey,
uh, Metro Water General Manager, and
uh, Tom Godfrey, Board Chair for Metro
Water.
Um, Austin.
» [clears throat]
» Thanks, Council members. Uh, the
Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake
and Sandy is here to present its
tentative budget for the 20 2026-2027
fiscal year.
The Council's role in Metro Water's
budget is somewhat unique. The Council
reviews the budget and shares
responsibility with Sandy City Council
to approve and set the tax rate, but it
does not formally adopt the budget. That
responsibility rests with Metro Water's
Board of Trustees.
Metro Water's primary function is to
store, treat, and convey water supplies
to Salt Lake City and Sandy. It is one
of the taxing entities that appears as a
line on property taxes for property
owners.
And this year's total budget is nearly
$123.7
million, which is about a $12 million
increase from last year.
The increase is driven primarily by
costs from other agencies, price
increases from utility providers such as
gas and power, and increased capital
projects budget.
Metro Water proposes a 6% increase to
the rate charged to member cities for
water sales, and a 6% increase to water
rates for non-member entities.
Lastly, Metro Water does not propose a
property tax increase, and the projected
certified tax rate is proposed at
0.00035.
And with that, I will turn it over to
Anna Lee.
Okay.
All right, thank you.
I want to first introduce
Tom Godfrey. He's the chair of the
Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake
and Sandy. He also serves as president
or chair of the Provo River Water Users
Association, and Metro is a majority
shareholder in that association. And
then he also serves
as a member of the Salt Lake City Public
Utilities Advisory Committee.
So, he has a great understanding of
water and how it relates to Salt Lake
City.
And I also want to
recognize Laura Briefer and Jason
Brown. Okay. Sorry. They have a couple
Jason. Jason Brown um with Salt Lake
City Public Utilities. Um having their
support here today just shows the great
relationship with that we have with your
utilities.
And recognize our role in providing
water to the city.
Uh next slide.
So, for this presentation, I'll just
provide a quick overview of Metro Water.
And our purpose here today is to present
our fiscal year 2027 tentative budget to
you. And then I'll just summarize our
sources and uses of funds and I'm I'll
be happy to address any questions during
the presentation or of course at the end
as well. Next slide.
So the Metropolitan Water District was
established in 1935. So we did hit 90
years in August.
Our sole purpose is to provide reliable
drinking water to the Salt Lake Valley.
In 1990 Sandy City annexed into the
district and so our name changed from
Metropolitan of Salt Lake City to
Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake
and Sandy.
Next slide.
So we have a board of seven trustees.
Five of those represent Salt Lake City
and two represent Sandy City. Each
trustee serves for a four-year term that
can be re
renewed. And as you'll know recently you
appointed two new trustees to our board
and I know
we have an open opening that you're
currently looking to fulfill for our for
our board.
Next slide.
So Metro's water supply is diverse which
supports a reliable water supply for
Salt Lake City.
The bulk of our water is supplied to the
Provo River project. This water is
stored in Deer Creek Reservoir.
And just in perspective the dam and
reservoir were built as part of the
Provo River project in the 1940s.
Metro's water supply also includes
Little Cottonwood Creek. The 20,000 acre
feet is a combination of Salt Lake City
and Sandy City water rights.
The third largest source of water is the
Central Utah Project. So this water is
stored in Jordan Reservoir, and Metro is
a petitioner for this water.
Other water sources for Metro include
Central Utah Project also has a Utah
Lake System water, which is actually
Strawberry Reservoir.
Oop, I thought it cut out. Okay. Um, and
then
Salt Lake City um has 3,100 acre feet of
that preferential right for that ULS
water, and they started paying for the
supply in 2021.
And Metro also receives water from the
Ontario Drain Tunnel.
So, a combined total of 108,700
acre feet. However, in a poor snow year,
like we've all experienced, our water
supply is notably less than that.
Next slide.
So, when you think of water treatment,
there's really three key facilities you
have to have a treatment facility, you
have to have something that conveys the
water, and then there's an end
reservoir. That's how my simple mind
thinks of it.
Uh so, Metro is owner of the Little
Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant that's
located just at the base of Little
Cottonwood Canyon.
Um, it was originally constructed in
1960.
And this plant is the second largest
plant treatment plant in the Salt Lake
Valley.
Uh we also own and operate the Point of
the Mountain Water Treatment Plant,
which is located in Draper. This was
commissioned in 2007
as part of the Metro Water Project.
And this plant really runs during high
demands seasons, so usually in the
summer, and it provides redundancy for
our plant. And then we're also 2/7
owners of the Jordan Valley Water
Treatment Plant.
Uh it has a
it's located in Bluffdale.
And they're currently doing a project to
expand the capacity of that plant to 250
million gallons.
And then for a conveyance of the water,
we have our Salt Lake Aqueduct, which I
call the kind of the backbone of the
Salt Lake Valley's distribution system.
Um it was it's near over 70 years old.
It um
is a 42-in for excuse me, 42-mi 69-in
diameter pipeline that starts at the
base of Deer Creek Dam and brings water
down the canyon along the bench and
terminates at Mill in Mill Creek at our
terminal reservoir.
And then we have our Point of the
Mountain Aqueduct. It was also
commissioned in 2007 as part of the
Metro Water Project. And it's a pipeline
that connects our Point of the Mountain
plant with the one in in Cottonwood
Heights.
And then we're also 2/7 owners of the
Jordan Aqueduct. And this pipeline um
helps us deliver water to the northwest
quadrant of Salt Lake City at 21st
South.
And then the storage where we store the
finished or what we call treated water,
we have our terminal reservoir. It's
located in Mill Creek. It's a 48 million
gallon reservoir. It was originally
constructed in 1951.
We did rebuild it and it was completed
in 2017 to address current seismic
standards.
And then that reservoir provides
reliable water storage as well for
municipal as well as for fire use.
And then we're also 2/7 owner of the
Jordan Aqueduct Terminal Reservoir.
Um it's a 100 million gallon storage
reservoir located just off Bangerter
Highway around 5300 South.
Next slide.
Okay. So, now I'm going to review our
sources of funds.
Next slide.
So, this is kind of a little clip from
our budget, but we um for this for the
2027 budget, we're looking at water
sales about 23% of our revenue.
Our property tax is nearly 21%.
We have capital assessments that relate
to capacity improvement projects such as
the Metro water project. That's about
10%. We have miscellaneous revenue. Part
of that in this year's budget includes
Salt Lake City's portion that they're
reimbursing us for the Cottonwood's
connection project.
And then this year we have bond revenues
that we're planning to issue as part of
three big capital projects that I'll be
highlighting here in a minute. Next
slide.
So, as Austin noted, we are proposing a
6% increase to our water rates. We are
having our public hearing on 15th.
And these are rates that we forecast to
Salt Lake City and Sandy City in
advance, usually two to three years in
two two to three years in advance so
they can plan on them. So, for Salt Lake
City that um increase is noted here.
It's a little over a million-dollar
increase to their budget
for Metro.
Next slide.
Also, as he noted, we are not proposing
an increase to the certified tax rate in
this year. You'll recall in fiscal year
25, we did reestablish it to 0.00035.
Um we're proposing we've been
maintaining that rate, although the rate
does erode. Um I think currently Salt
Lake City is 0.000327.
I just wanted to communicate though we
looking at the following year in fiscal
year 28, we are proposing an increase.
At least our budget rate or our planning
shows an increase to the certified tax
rate in order to fund these capital
projects that address aging
infrastructure to repair and replace
them.
Next slide.
So, we had in our current budget, we
were anticipating some bonding for the
Cottonwood Connection project. However,
it's really hard to know when things are
going to finish on time. And so,
due to a delay and just the
construction, we did not issue we aren't
planning on issuing any bonds this year.
So, we are anticipating it for next
year. Um that will be to complete the
Cottonwood Connection project.
Um also a project called the Little
Cottonwood Conduit Replacement Intake
Modifications project, which is a
pipeline that brings water from Little
Cottonwood Creek into the plant.
And then also for um design of the
Little Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant.
Next slide.
» [snorts]
» Okay. Then we'll go how we uh are using
these funds on the next slides.
Next, please.
So, our total budgeted expenditures are
115.2 million. The operation and
maintenance budget totals uh here 48.5
million, and that includes our routine
operations and maintenance, such as our
salary and wages, any interest expenses
for our bonds, our costs to the Provo
River Water Users Association, employee
benefits, contract services, utilities,
and chemicals.
Um other large ones are like general
insurance um and non-routine O&M.
Um this graph here does exclude Salt
Lake City's uh portion that they're
reimbursing for the Cottonwood
Connection project.
Next slide.
This is our fiscal year 2017 tentative
capital improvements project budget.
Includes nearly 46 million for these
routine non-capacity projects.
The significant portion is for
completion of the Cottonwoods Connection
pipeline, which is a pipeline that
goes from Fort Union to our plant off of
Danish Road.
Um, these These costs also represent um
really represent replacement and repair
of key water infrastructure.
The capital improvement projects also
includes costs from other agencies that
total almost 7.6 million.
Next slide.
So, Metro Water, like many agencies in
Salt Lake City included, we have water
infrastructure that has reached its
design life. We're obviously maintaining
it, um, but a hazard mitigation study
identified the Salt Lake Aqueduct, the
raw water Little Cottonwood Conduit, and
the Little Cottonwood Water Treatment
Plant as facilities that should be
repaired, replaced, or rebuilt. Um, all
of these projects will provide seismic
resiliency, thus ensuring the reliable
delivery of clean drinking water to the
residents of this valley.
You can see Salt Lake Aqueduct placed in
service in 1950,
uh, the Little Cottonwood 1931,
and then the Little Cottonwood Water
Treatment Plant 1960,
which were great for that time, but just
with current concrete and seismic
standards,
um,
they would not perform well in the event
of an earthquake or other natural
hazard.
Next slide.
So, as Austin mentioned, our budget does
include costs from other agencies.
So, as being a petitioner in the Central
Utah Project, we do we are charged an
O&M as well as a capital cost from
Central Utah. So, the total amount that
we pay to them is about 5.7 million
dollars annually
for that 20,000 acre feet of M&I and
then 3,100 acre feet of Utah Lake System
water.
We also have those costs with Jordan
Valley Water Conservancy District as
we're
a 2/7 owner. Their O&M costs
are have decreased a little bit, but
then their capital projects have
increased by 3.8 million. Again, they're
also addressing their seismic resiliency
of their water treatment plant.
And then the with the Provo River Water
Users Association, so we're 61.9%
the largest of 100% of shares in the
association. So, all of their costs,
Metro's carrying a large burden of that.
Their annual cost is about 5 million
dollars.
I'm sure many of you are aware the Deer
Creek intake project is just wrapping
up. They're actually going to have a
ribbon cutting next week for this
project. Um, but that's something that's
very important if you think about our
water system. Deer Creek Reservoir is
critical to delivery of water.
And then when I did this slide, we had
an initial allotment of 50%.
That has gone up to 69%.
So, we're at
42,711
acre feet that the association is
allotted to Metro. And those are water
that Salt Lake City and Sandy City use
in their distribution.
That is my final slide.
Go to the next one. Are there any
questions from the council members
that Tom would love to answer for you?
» [laughter]
» Council members?
Council member Dunn?
Yeah, thank you, Tom, and thank you
presentation and you know,
water is like probably the number one
topic in the city in the state right now
uh besides uh data centers.
Uh
but the question on the uh the sales and
the reservoirs status right now and the
conservation measures that we we have on
uh
in process or about to begin even more,
how does that impact your
uh
water sales or
and your storage capacity and your
revenue
uh going future and it and when you
do your budget, do you assume I know
these are sales to the districts who
then deliver it to the residents,
uh
how's the conservation measures affect
your budget and how do you imp- uh
forecast those conservation measures on
the budget?
Does that make sense?
» Yeah.
So, we we support conservation.
Obviously, the reservoirs, I consider
those like our bank accounts, our
savings accounts. So, any water we don't
use in the current year, that will be
made avail- that's something we can
carry on next year. And typically, our
droughts last more than 1 year. So, we
definitely support conservation efforts
um for our cities. For Metro
specifically, how we bill our water is
it's a flat rate for the year. And so,
we don't see the fluctuations that the
utilities see as far as
higher demand or lower demand. Um but we
want them to use less water because
knowing we're probably going to have
another year of hopefully better than
this year, but the reservoirs are
designed to
provide water for like a 3-year drought.
So, if you go beyond that, then that
really stresses the water supply.
I don't know if that Does that answer
your question, Council member?
» And, but
there when we conserve our water, we're
not buying more water from your agency.
And so,
your your revenue is also based on what
we know. Okay, never mind.
We We did
So, they did
» Always needing this education.
» A great question because we have had
that We have done that in the past. In
before 2017,
we would just bill the cities for the
water that they took from us.
Um there was an analysis done at that
time and looked at is is there a better
way to manage
the predictability of water of what
they're going to use as well as what
we're going to sell to them. And so,
what we went to was a fixed amount. So,
we charge the same amount for to Salt
Lake City and Sandy City um
regardless of the amount of water that
they take.
Okay, that's what the fixed amount is.
So, thank you very much for that
clarity.
I know I was just one person, but
there's probably a lot of people that
have that same question. So, thank you
very That's That's interesting. That's
uh appreciative on that side of the
house. So, thank you.
Council members, any other questions?
And your side of the house seems to be
covered uh then. Uh thank you so much
for the presentation.
Um it's a If there is anything else, uh
this is time. Thank you so much for the
work. It's a very important.
Uh and I I I really appreciate the
transparency uh the district uh shows um
with us and the public in general. So,
thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
I would like to uh move on to item
number five, which is fiscal year 2026
2027 for the proposed budget for the
Department of Public Utilities.
We're going to welcome at the table
again Austin Kimmel or, you know,
re-welcome at the table Council Policy
Analyst. Thank you for staying there.
Laura Briere, Director of Public
Utilities.
Lisa Tarfelli,
Finance Administrator for Public
Utilities.
And I
We've got Jason Brown here, Deputy
Director of Public Utilities.
» And we might have Jesse Stewart coming
by. He's in the middle of some
negotiations, so we'll see.
Awesome.
This is your turn.
Great.
Um just a quick note that Public
Utilities is here to present its
proposed budget for the fiscal year
2026-27
budget. The total proposed utilities
budget is 427,786,665
dollars. That's about a 44% decrease or
a nearly 337 million dollar decrease
from the department's amended FY26
budget.
The decrease is driven in part by
reductions to the department's capital
projects budget and capital outlay
budget, as well as a decrease in the
department's anticipated bond and loan
proceeds compared to the previous fiscal
year.
Public Utilities operates four
utilities: water, sewer, storm water,
and street lighting.
Each operating as separate enterprise
funds with separate revenue, capital
programs, and staffing.
Public Utilities is proposing rate
changes for all four utilities,
which are expected to increase customer
utility bills.
The These increases are based on recent
rate studies and are needed to address
aging infrastructure, meet federal and
state requirements, keep up with
keep up with inflation, and maintain
each utilities financial stability.
Public utilities will cover the proposed
rate changes in today's briefing.
Customer rate impacts of each utility
are summarized on page six of the
council staff report.
And this year's budget includes an
adjustment to the sewer rates for
multi-family properties, which are
intended to address some of the large
increases some of those customers
experienced last fiscal year.
Lastly, a quick note that public
utilities revised its proposed street
lighting rate adjustments,
which differ from the rates summarized
in the report.
An email detailing the revised street
lighting rates was sent to you on
Friday, May 1st, and it has also been
added to your packets as an attachment.
Policy questions for this discussion can
be found on page two of the council
staff report, and with that, I will turn
it over to Laura.
Great. Thank you so much. Um and I also
wanted to recognize what a great
partnership
Metro
and Anna Lee and also for Tom
is serving serving on our advisory
committee. Um we may have some other
public utilities advisory committee
members coming in. I think they're
planning on coming a little later, so
they might miss part of the
presentation. Um but we'll try to
acknowledge them if they do come in.
Um I wanted to also start out this
presentation by just acknowledging and
uh the concern and the desire for a
really robust public engagement process
for our budget, um particularly around
impact of rate increases.
Um we are coordinating very closely with
uh the mayor's office and council staff
and the citywide communications team.
Uh, really just integrating a lot of
strategies to uh better connect with our
uh and engage with our constituents in
this process. So, I just wanted to
acknowledge that. I also want to
acknowledge just the teamwork between um
Andrew Wittenberg's team at the mayor's
office and Lehua for participating in
all of these and then of course the
citywide uh comms team.
Um, so we're happy to answer any
questions about engagement uh during
this presentation as we move along.
Uh, next slide, please.
Uh, so with respect to public utilities
services, we are uh charged with
drinking water collection, which means
diverting water from
uh the sources of drinking water as well
as from the sources in which Metro
manages
um distribution of that water to nearly
400,000 people across Salt Lake County.
Uh, that includes uh large portions of
Mill Creek, Holiday, and Cottonwood
Heights and smaller portions of Midvale,
Murray, and South Salt Lake.
Uh, we are also the sanitary sewer
provider, also sometimes called
wastewater,
um and we do all of the collection and
treatment for that for the over 210
or 15,000 residents of Salt Lake City.
Uh, same as stormwater quality and flood
control and street lighting.
Um, I've included some pictures of our
team and our work in this presentation
uh because they're really relevant to
what our water rates pay for and what
our budgets pay for
um every year. Um,
the photo on this slide is our lead and
copper team. This is a team that
designed
uh our lead service line replacement
program.
Um I call them the superstars of our
utility right now. They've done an
amazing job uh meeting some rigorous
regulatory requirements on that and
serving our community in a really,
really thoughtful way.
And next slide, please.
I also wanted to just put on a slide the
significant generational capital
investments that
you have supported the last few years
and moving into the next few years. Uh
these investments can span many, many
years. Um but for instance, we are
almost complete with the replacement of
our 65-year-old water reclamation
facility.
Uh
same with our
uh City Creek Water Treatment Plant,
which was put into service in 1955.
Um and then our lead service line
replacement program. And you can see the
cost for these types of infrastructure
programs, the scale of them is quite
large. Um we are also working on
replacement of aged water and sewer
mains. Our residents have seen that.
We've tried our best not to disrupt uh
them and and roadways. Uh but just
completed a major sewer main
reconstruction in the West Temple
Ballpark area. Um and uh are just we're
just starting a very large sewer main
reconstruction on Beck Street um from a
1890s
era uh sewer line.
Um
and then we are constantly working on
designs for future infrastructure
rehabilitation and replacement.
Um
a couple of notes here. I have an
asterisk on our replacement of the water
reclamation facility and the lead
service line replacement program.
Both of those projects, nearly a billion
dollars worth of work, were projects
that were also required to meet federal
and state regulations.
So, the replacement of the water
reclamation facility was required to
meet to meet changes to the Clean Water
Act. Um, we had to remove more nutrients
from our discharge.
And then the lead service line
replacement program is a requirement of
EPA
um
with respect to getting all lead service
lines out of commission around the
country uh by in in the next 10 years.
I'll also say that these capital
investments and others that aren't
listed on this page like um the the
rehabilitation of Mountain Dell Dam,
some of our reservoirs, many of our pump
stations, uh the the new public
utilities campus,
um all of those improve our city's water
resiliency and water security now and in
the future as well.
And next slide, please.
We've also worked really hard. Our team
has worked really hard on finding cost
savings and efficiencies.
Um we with some of these large projects,
we have experienced inflation pressures
um and and other types of pressures in
their construction and design.
Um but we've calculated that we've saved
at least $434 million
just on some of the big capital projects
that that we've worked on.
Um and this is through value
engineering. So, as we go through these
projects, we uh look at ways that we can
be more efficient and save costs on the
engineering uh side of it.
Um the Envision process actually is very
helpful. The Envision process is like
LEED certification except for
uh specifically for infrastructure.
Um and we estimate that that has saved
us $15 million
on our new water reclamation facility,
which is quite amazing
um when you think about it.
Um so we've We've done a lot in terms of
efficiency and cost savings.
Uh
about $40.7
million
in these cost savings
are in grants from the federal
government. So we went out and applied
for and implemented some some large
grants. The biggest for the City Creek
Water Treatment Plant at $36.7 million.
Um and then we also secured low-interest
federal loans, about $387 million worth
of low-interest federal loans uh with
$19 million of that forgivable. Um we
estimate for one of those loans, the
loan we received for the water
reclamation facility under the Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation
Act uh saves our ratepayers at least
$100 million
in financing costs over time.
Um and you know, with in addition to
financing innovation, uh we have been
working on our contracts with many of
our general contractors and just
recently realized $1.25 million in
shared savings on a City Creek Water
Treatment Plant. Um so a lot of work
going on. Um
what I have on this slide really shows
some savings on large capital projects,
but even on the smaller capital
projects, we are implementing
efficiencies and cost savings.
And then on the operational side that
ethic also extends
for instance repurposing positions
instead of hiring new positions
and then using technologies such as GIS
to help make workflows more efficient.
Next slide, please.
So before we dive into our budget, I
want to talk a little bit about our rate
drivers and our for well for the budget
on rates and we mentioned a couple of
them federal and state regulatory
requirements definitely drive our
budgets and our rates
and to a large degree in our case with
you know over a billion dollars worth of
projects that had a federal nexus a
regulatory nexus to them.
Aging infrastructure
is sort of embedded in some of those and
also out into the future.
And then debt service costs are
something that really drives our rates
this budget
and we'll talk a little bit more about
that
and then of course inflation and then
drought and water scarcity can affect
what our rates look like as well.
So for us you know balancing all of
these priorities is really important. We
want to continue to provide this high
level of service
comply with all of our regulations but
we also want to make sure our rates are
affordable.
I want to just say that we're not alone
in our sector in facing these types of
pressures and in facing the need to
balance a lot of these priorities
according to the recently published
value of water campaign
which was a national water campaign in
Utah alone there's 41 billion needed
over the next 20 years to bring water
and wastewater infrastructure to a state
of good repair.
Nationally, that number is $3.4 trillion
over the next 20 years.
Most communities have a very large delta
between what they can afford in terms of
bringing that infrastructure to a state
of good repair and and what's needed.
And so we're really working very hard to
make sure we're prioritizing what we
need while still balancing uh basic
water affordability.
So, to sum that up, there's a need to
replace aged infrastructure. There's
more of a need to replace aged
infrastructure than to replace it.
Um so we rely on a lot of different uh
asset management, condition assessment,
and risk assessment to prioritize our
capital work. Um and we also work hard
to stretch the life of our aging
infrastructure and find ways to make
that aging infrastructure more efficient
to rehabilitate such as recently
rehabilitating sewer old sewer lines um
in a new way.
Um our debt service to pay bonds and
loans that we mentioned for some of
these large projects is has is
increasing this year um and is set to
increase.
» [snorts]
» One of the changes this year um over the
last few years is that we now need to
meet a debt service coverage of two
times our operational income in order to
ensure that we maintain our good bond
ratings. And I think that just reflects
the um
that the bond rating industry has become
a lot more wise to a lot of the need
that's out there in the country of
replacing aging infrastructure.
» [snorts]
» Our rates also need to increase so that
we can plan for future regulatory and
infrastructure needs. So, for example,
um groundwater contamination at one of
our most important drinking water
resources, we've found low levels of
PFAS forever chemicals, which will
take quite an investment to clean from
that well.
» [snorts]
» Um
We also, with respect to this year's
drought and just the long-term mega
drought, we've also taken into
consideration
um anticipated reductions in water use
this this year in our operate in our
operational income.
Next slide, please.
Uh so, as Austin mentioned, we have a
44% decrease in our proposed budget this
year as compared to our amended budget
last year. So, that's um almost $428
million this year. We are not proposing
any increases in staff for this year.
Our budget reduction reflects a nearly
$350 million
decrease in capital costs,
partly because our two largest treatment
facilities, the water reclamation
facility and our City Creek Water
Treatment Plant, are winding down this
year and are scheduled to be completed
by the end of this calendar year in
2026,
which is very exciting for us. We
uh started uh construction on the
water reclamation facility in 2019. Uh
many of you've been out to that project
and understand the very large scale of
that project um and then the City Creek
Water Treatment Plant, uh we we're
actually a little bit ahead of schedule
on that one, which is a good
That's the silver lining to the winter
we had, actually, because we were able
to be out in and be in construction more
than we thought. So,
uh next slide, please.
So, summary of our utility funds
budgets, we've broken down um for fiscal
year 2027 between each of the four
utilities
um and between operations, capital, and
debt service. Um so, one thing I want to
highlight on this chart is just that our
debt service this year is is a little
over $63 million.
Um that's an increase from last year and
our projections moving forward is that
will increase as different bonds um
start maturing at different times.
Um
Yeah, I think we can go to the next
slide and if there's more questions
about those that breakdown, we can um
talk about that. But, we also want to
talk about our projected revenue and
sources for fiscal year 2027.
And [snorts]
uh
the couple of things that I wanted to
highlight here.
Um first, we've kept our impact fees
very static. We have not really signaled
in our budget that we will be increasing
our impact fees. Um so, they're very
conservative. We did just complete an
impact fee facility plan and an impact
fee study, which would support increases
in impact fees, but that will be come
coming through um a separate process
than our than our budget uh later this
year.
And Lisa, is there anything else you
wanted to mention about revenues? Okay.
All right.
Next slide, please.
And then expenditures for fiscal year
2027,
um there are a few things I wanted to
highlight here.
Uh you'll see on the line item for
materials and supplies and charges for
service, those two line items kind of in
the middle of the chart. Those are going
up. And that's for two reasons. Uh
for charges for services and materials
and supplies,
uh we anticipate increased costs as we
transition from operating the existing
water reclamation facility to moving to
operating the new water reclamation
facility. So, there's going to be a
point in time where we're staffed, we
have uh contractors coming in to staff
the old facility while we learn the new
facility.
Um so, that's one thing, and then the
other is our operations and maintenance
team um has added more to their uh
materials and supplies budget in order
to be more pro- proactive around asset
management. So, there's more in the
budget now to to acquire and replace
things like valves that fail and cause
water leaks um and those types of
things. And that's a that's also in
keeping with the fact that rather than
doing a lot replacement right now, we
want we need to step up stretching the
life of some of our infrastructure um
until we have the resources to replace
some of it as we prioritize different
infrastructure.
Um and then again, you'll see that that
debt service climbs uh by a little under
$7 million this year compared to last
year.
Uh next slide, please.
So, our proposed rate changes. Now, it
might
it might feel a little counterintuitive.
Our budget's going down by 44%, but we
are proposing rate increases, and the
reasons for that are um largely based on
the increased debt coverage that we need
to have to maintain our bond ratings.
Um and then we're also trying to plan
for the future because we have a lot of
deferred aging infrastructure that we
don't want to have to rely on debt to
replace over time. And so, we want to
start ensuring that we have a much more
structurally balanced
utility financial position as we move
forward.
Um, so our new rates to the minimum rate
increases we need to meet our debt
coverage requirements
for water are 25% and actually these are
revenue increases. The rate increases
are going to look different depending
on how much water you use basically.
Um, and the same as sewer at 40%
and then storm water at 20%.
Um, we also have one structural change
we are proposing and Austin spoke of
this earlier in his introduction.
Uh, but we want to change the
multi-family sewer rate structure to a
fixed rate per dwelling unit. Um, that's
$48.94
per dwelling unit which is
a little less than what a
an average single-family resident would
typically pay just accounting for the
smaller size typically of um,
many of our multi-family
developments.
» [clears throat]
» Uh, this will help both
provide some certainty every month for
what the rate would be because it's not
based on a volumetric water use and and
also will provide for less of a
increases during the summer time for
those properties that don't separate out
their outdoor use and indoor use with
different meters.
Um, so we hope that that's a good
change. We have talked to
many interested parties that represent
multi-family
developments and this seems to be a lot
more beneficial so far to them and I
think we're still having that
conversation back and forth.
For the street you street lighting
utility, I were recommending a 50%
revenue increase or rate increase.
And that's largely due to the fact that
we're impacted a lot with wire theft and
vandalism to these facilities.
And we relied more on reserves and debt
in the past and we're going to need to
start
making that utility more financially
capable in the future.
Um these are photos of our
watershed and hydrology teams out in the
field
picking invasive weeds in the mountains
and also monitoring our our stream
flows.
Next slide, please.
So we have
we have some examples
there's there may be nobody in the world
who completely fits the fits these
different profiles that we have in terms
of what monthly water and sewer rate
increases will look like. Um but we
chose these examples based on a lot of
averages. So for a residential minimum
what water use
water use and sewer use which would
largely be like a lower an average to
lower than average water user in a
single family home.
The combined monthly change would be
about $21.63.
Uh for residential low use which is
just a little bit above our average
water use indoors,
that would be around $25.37
in combined water and sewer fees.
Medium use represents
both indoor and outdoor use and that's a
$41.08
increase on this example.
And then high use is
quite a lot of outdoor watering for most
of our single-family residential
customers and that's about $88 per month
for this example.
We do have a rate calculator that will
be live on our website.
That will make it easier for people to
look back on the water that they use and
their bills and be able to see what
their new rates would be and maybe even
encourage some additional conservation
as we look forward.
And next slide, please.
Then we have our monthly stormwater
charges. These reflect a 20% increase to
stormwater.
And
that really goes toward, you know, some
additional infrastructure work that we
need for flood control and operational
work that we
regulatory requirements. Sorry, I don't
know what happened there.
» [laughter]
» And
and so we've calculated those for
single-family and duplex
homes for either less than a quarter
acre or more than a quarter acre.
Triplex and fourplex homes and
commercial and all other parcels. These
charges are not based on any kind of
volumetric charge. It's based on the
size of a parcel or what we call an
equivalent residential unit or ERU.
Next slide, please.
And then our monthly street lighting
charges,
those that this reflects the 50%
increase. Most of our customers are in
the base lighting group, which would be
a $2.60
increase per month.
And then we have two different
residential groupings that have enhanced
lighting. Enhanced lighting sometimes
means that there's more
uh light poles per block or they look a
lot different and are fancier lights.
Um and depending on which enhanced
lighting area you're in, there's
different increases based on the cost.
And then group group three is our
commercial district lighting.
So that's downtown and Sugar House
lighting primarily.
And I think
the only other thing I wanted to add, I
think the next slide is my last slide or
is yes, we're done. The only other thing
I wanted to add
is you know, the rates that we see on
our water and sewer
bills,
those go directly towards a lot of
really important and critical
infrastructure
and operations to meet our regulatory
obligations.
So everything that's on our bills goes
to things like maintaining the three
city-owned water treatment plants,
um making sure and you know, paying
Metro for the water resources and the
infrastructure that they're maintaining,
uh replacing and rehabilitating water
mains and hydrants,
our lead service line replacement
program,
reservoirs and dams, uh sewer treatment,
sewer lines, emergency response and
operations.
Um so there's a lot that we do. A lot of
our infrastructure and a lot of our
operations are out of sight and out of
mind and so they're not always thought
about until something goes wrong and we
don't want things to go wrong and so
we're trying to be very proactive in how
we select and prioritize
um the needed work to do here and we
really appreciate the support that
you've provided in the past and
would love to get your feedback right
now and address any questions you may
have.
Council members.
Council member Young.
Yeah, thank you.
So,
I want to make sure we start off by
recognizing that this is a long-standing
historical
debt that we have been carrying as a
city that is not at the feet of you or
our current administration, but that we
can look back over years and decades in
terms of the fact that these were needs
that were always kind of pushed off to
the future and that now we sit here
together as a collective group kind of
holding that bag and saying, "What do we
do?"
Um, because we can't not have clean
water going to our residents across the
city. And so, we need to find a solution
on the way forward. I really want to
call out and appreciate the
um
slide that you had that highlighted all
the various grants that you and your
team and the administration have brought
in to be able to defray these costs
related to that historical debt that
we've been carrying because it could be
worse. And I think it's important to
recognize that as we're talking about it
that we're we're pulling every lever,
you're looking at every possible
opportunity to be able to say, "How do
we come up with the resources necessary
to continuing to deliver the A+ services
that our residents have come to expect
from all the individuals in this space.
With that, I think there's also a
balance to kind of shifting the
conversation
to the fact that these are debts that
are not able to be addressed by a single
budgetary action over a single fiscal
year.
And I think that that's been one of my
ah-has as part of this process, that
when we've previously been speaking to,
you know, at least my neighbors,
personally, about some of these needs
and underlying infrastructure issues, I
think there was a hope that kind of each
year we were taking a step that would
put us back on track. And we'd be like,
"Okay, so we have an issue, but we're
going to take this step this fiscal
year, and that's going to help us in the
long run."
Without necessarily really recognizing
that this is going to be a multi-year
effort, not just by the individuals who
sit in this room today, but looking
ahead to our future about what those
needs are, and also helping to educate
and communicate to our residents
how that historical debt came to be, and
what the future looks like, not just
this year, but also moving forward.
It is a steep climb. And I don't look at
the budget and think to myself, "Oh, you
know what? We don't need that. We don't
need that, you know, water reclamation,
you know, center." Like, I've been in
the buildings with your team, you know,
to see the '60s infrastructure.
I've had the opportunity to be educated
about what does it look like to leave,
you know, a pipe that has was installed
in in 1950s and hope for the best you
know in terms of you know potentially
leading us as a city to have water
issues not that last a couple of days or
a couple of weeks but into the years of
what it would take in an emergency
situation to fix it.
Um
I appreciate that this is an ongoing
dialogue and an ongoing effort that you
along with your team and the
comprehensive city have been working on.
I want to reflect that I'm invested in
being able to figure out what that
long-term solution looks like and
appreciate the lens of how are we
communicating this comprehensively to
our city so that they don't expect that
this rate increase is the final rate
increase when we know we have a longer
term situation that we need to address.
So thank you for being here today and
again thank you for all of your work to
be able to help address an issue that
you certainly did not create nor did
anyone else in this room but that we're
responsible for in terms of next steps.
Thank you. May I um just I wanted to say
one thing too so that
um people don't come away with a feeling
that the people before us weren't
investing.
So in the 70s and 80s uh we actually we
and everyone else in the nation were the
beneficiary of the federal government
picking up the tab of 50 to 60%
of a lot of these water infrastructure
needs.
Um in Utah last year the estimate is
that the federal government picked up
3%.
And um
when you know our predecessors were in
these positions, I think there was
investment made, but we're also coming
to this infrastructure cliff where the
investments that were made
were helpful in keeping the facilities
running, but, you know, for instance, in
our treatment plants, which are very
expensive, as Anna Lee
talked about with the 1960 Little
Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant, they
weren't built to seismic standards, yet
most of them are on fault lines. Um the
foundational parts of the structure can
no longer be band-aided.
And we are pushing off, you know, the
replacement of Big Cottonwood Water
Treatment Plant until after Little
Cottonwood. That's partly what why we're
building that Cottonwood Connection
project so that we can bring that source
of water to Little Cottonwood in the
case of failure. Um we're also putting
pushing off Parleys Water Treatment
Plant for some time after 2034, but
we've got to start thinking about how
we're going to how we're going to afford
that in the future because those those
plants, that infrastructure, is what
keeps our community running, not just in
Salt Lake City, but the other
communities that we serve.
Um so
unfortunately, we're not in a position
where the federal government is I mean,
we were lucky to get some grants, but
those are very few and far between, and
that was under the IIJA,
you know, and bipartisan infrastructure
law
process. We're not seeing those types of
investments right now, and we may not
that we can't guarantee that. Um but
yeah, every local [clears throat]
government and community is now tasked
with making sure that they can meet the
needs that they have with the little
resources they have on in with respect
to rates and revenue sources. So, I
really appreciate those observations.
Okay. Councilmember Wharton.
Thank you. Um so
um
agree with everything that that Council
Member Young said um in terms of thanks
and and that recognizing this isn't
um
something that one budget or even a
couple budgets can alleviate.
Um,
but I think people where I hear from
residents and their frustration is
uh you you know, you read about maybe
other communities that haven't raised
their water rates in
this long and
I don't think anybody n- knowing that
I've spoken to is advocating for that
either [snorts] because I think that
also comes with um
it's own costs.
Um, but if we could just how would you
explain
that it's even possible
to do that in some communities where
in our
system it's it's really not. Yeah. So,
so with respect to keeping rates lower
in some communities and Yeah, or just
saying you know, we have it priding
themselves on how they haven't raised
rates in Yeah.
our many years. I mean, every community
is very different in the way it when and
how it developed first of all. So,
in Salt Lake City, we are if not the
oldest water system west of the
Mississippi, we're one of the oldest.
We're celebrating 150 years and I think
parts of our water system may have been
developed before that.
Um,
and uh and so some communities have
newer infrastructure.
Um, some many communities don't have all
parts of the system that Salt Lake City
has where we're diverting the water,
treating the water, and then
distributing it um to our customers. And
on the waste water side, the collection
system and the treatment system,
um they may get contract water say from
Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District
which is then delivered to those cities
and they're just dealing with the
distribution pipes.
There are also
many communities are supported by water
districts and sewer districts in which
portion of the revenue that's generated
is from property tax so the rates might
look lower cuz they're not reflecting
what's being paid in those property
taxes.
So it's very hard to compare. We do try
to compare with other similarly situated
cities and in our in our budget book
towards the end in one of the appendices
we do compare with places like Denver
and Phoenix and Flagstaff and others and
we're all around the same range so we're
not really that far from each other with
some of those more comparably sized
cities.
And we do also compare with sewer
with with other cities on sewer but
again it's a hard comparison because
many other cities rely on districts to
provide their treatment and that
property tax.
Okay.
Can you talk a little bit about the
I mean
obviously I
being on the council 9 years I've
supported the other increases.
Can you talk about like the costs so I I
I feel that we're making the right
decision when we've done those things.
What is the alternative?
If I let's say that
that you have residents that are saying
you know vote for the alternative. What
does that look like?
The alternative to not raising rates
well this year one of the consequences
could be
um
potentially undermining our high bond
rating.
Um so we have a double A1 Moody's rating
and which is which is a very high rating
and helps us afford lower interest costs
on the money we do borrow.
Um if that bond rating is is threatened
or downgraded, that could potentially
cost more in the long term
um not just for our department, but also
for other city needs as well.
Um but I think the bigger question there
is, you know, if we continue to defer um
the needs that we have and we
continue to signal that
um
we don't need to plan for those future
needs. I think that sets itself for
uh
reducing our resiliency and reducing our
water security in the long term. Um and
it sets us up for potential
unreliability in what I think, you know,
water and wastewater kind of the
underpinnings of
not only our public health and our
environmental health, but our economy.
And we want to make sure that we're
ahead of it. We're not there yet. If we
as we continue to plan for sound
financial
health as well as making sure that we're
addressing what we need to address.
We're not addressing everything that we
need that we've identified, but we're
addressing the key critical points.
Um you know, then then I think there's
confidence in the system. Um
there are examples across the nation of
and they're
albeit quite extreme that we've heard,
but some examples where
the the communities were not able to
uh
make those investments for a lot of
different reasons and that has resulted
in some very
difficult conditions in those
communities.
Um, I'm not saying we're anywhere near
that.
Um, but we don't want to we want to make
sure that we're we continue to be
proactive.
Okay, I also hear
um
I also hear from a lot of constituents
um that
uh one of their biggest concerns is
um Great Salt Lake and you know, what is
the what can the council do
to help Great Salt Lake and are we doing
everything that we can?
Um
how does something like our water rates
um relate to the Great Salt Lake? Do
those have anything to do with each
other?
Yeah, um that has to do with the design
of our rate structures. So, in Salt Lake
City, we have a a four block or four
tiered rate structure
and we send a price signal through those
higher blocks of rates for conservation.
And so, um that's one way in which we
account for that. Um, and then also with
respect to Great Salt Lake um the
investments for instance into the water
reclamation facility ensures that the
quality of the water that we're
discharging into Great Salt Lake is
meets all of the Clean Water Act
requirements that it needs to meet. Um,
but it also means that we have 35
million gallons of water on average a
day going to Farmington Bay.
Um, and you know, I think that's really
important as well. So, there's
definitely a nexus between
water conservation, Great Salt Lake, and
and the rates that we charge.
Okay. And my last question is
um just can you talk a little bit more
about the change to like apartments,
condos, um that portion of the pre- and
the, you know, um
culinary water versus um
um the water that's going to
landscaping. Mhm.
Um
I think
you know, not not
to I don't mean this as a criticism, but
like I think we found last year that we
could have communicated that better. Um
and that we've probably learned a lot. I
know that that and I appreciate the time
that you have spent and and your team
has spent with
the residents and um and landlords,
property owners in my district,
you know, walking them through the
process,
um correcting where we have made
mistakes, um and maybe we weren't
charging them the right amount or
something like that, you know, or or
there were other factors that we weren't
considering. Can you speak to
So, I think those individuals might feel
nervous Right.
» Um when I talk to them about them there
being another change in that area. Yeah.
Um can you you know, can you speak to
that issue and and how would you speak
to some of those constituents that you
and I have met with
that were really upset last year um and
might be nervous this year.
With the new a multi-family rate
structure being fixed per dwelling unit,
those multi-family properties are not
going to see the wild swings that they
saw last summer. Um particularly those
properties where the the meter that they
had was both for indoor use and outdoor
use. Um if they shared a meter, then
their sewer charges were based on their
total use. Um and in some cases that
resulted in a very large summer sewer
bill that they were not accustomed to
seeing.
Um that actually was not a situation we
were aware of during the rate study and
implementation. So we did as you said we
did learn quite a lot.
Uh that led to some really
important and and informative meetings
with the trade organizations that
represent multi-family housing.
Um and uh we walked through the new rate
structure
with them. We're still waiting to hear
back from them on
the their calculations of you know what
what the new rates would look like for
them.
Um but our preliminary calculations do
indicate that it'll be a lot better for
those many of those multi-family homes.
Um
we've also worked with uh the commercial
entities that were on that same sewer
rate structure and had a similar
situation. We're We're working with
them. It's not a rate structure change
but we're working with them to separate
their
outdoor use from their indoor use so
that we have a better idea of what's
going on what they're putting on their
landscapes outside and what's going
inside and we can charge them
appropriately for that. Um and then
finally one of the things we all learned
um both the trade association
representatives that we met with uh and
some of the residents
um and some of the commercial properties
is
uh there's a great opportunity for
conser- outdoor
conservation.
Um and I believe that Stephanie Duer,
our water conservation manager,
um is actually doing a water
conservation presentation uh with the
rental housing association
um and and other stakeholders who are
really interested in this.
Um so that could also help Great Salt
Lake in the long term, [clears throat]
too.
Okay.
Thank you. Councilman Carson.
Um I I My comments will be similar to
Council member Young's, but I just want
to, you know, start by saying that I
believe leadership means making hard
decisions.
It means not passing the buck,
» [snorts]
» And it means managing expectations over
the long term. And
I I I feel confident in
public utilities doing those things
and recognize how
critically important water is to all of
us
and the management of this very, very
precious resource that we all depend on
every single day.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness with
which you're approaching these decisions
and these proposals and the comment that
you shared in regards to the declining
federal investment in
water infrastructure.
I'm curious are there any ways we can
change that
» [laughter]
» Declining interest in helping us
carry the burden of our infrastructure?
And even you mentioned that it seems
like some of those um
grants that we were able to apply to
seem to be few and far between. Is there
anything else we can do,
um any other grants or other
opportunities to really balance that
affordability that I think all of us are
also keeping in mind, too.
Yeah, I mean I I think this is a real
generational question because those
initial investments in the '70s and
'80s, you know, we're we're now
moving forward another one or two
generations from then, and our
infrastructure is doing the same.
And we also, especially in the West,
have a lot of
water challenges, scarcity, drought, the
Colorado River challenges. So, I think
there's a great opportunity for
a renewed partnership with federal
investments or federal agencies. So,
sometimes we talk about unfunded
mandates. For instance, I showed the
slide where a lead service line
replacement um regulations is a hundred
to a hundred and fifty million dollars
um over the course of the next ten
years. That's a huge amount um of
investment and it's an important
investment, but it's from a regulation
that came with
really no funding. Although we did
secure a low-interest loan for that,
that's not always available.
Um so, there is a lot of work happening
on the national level with uh
my sector with the water and wastewater
sector around
uh trying to work with federal agencies
to see what kinds of policy shifts could
happen on that level if it's even
possible. Um there may be other ways
this this year uh Lisa and and the team
our executive team will be sitting down
uh doing a long-range strategic plan
around financial health and and um
resiliency
as well as what needs to be done and
we'll be coming up with some good ideas
there, too, I hope.
Commissioner Petro.
Thank you. Um
ditto to everything. Nothing is
unnecessary. We are not growing as one
of my predecessors used to say, "Unicorn
farms." Everything is necessary. And you
definitely proved your value in District
1 um this year. We know well that it is
City Public Utilities that shows up. It
wasn't county flood, it was you all who
showed up to make things right when they
went awry. So, all of that said and I'm
really deeply grateful, Laura, that you
like tutored me because I am not
intuitive about water policy or rates or
anything. So, I'm so thankful for the
time that you've spent with me.
I think um
part of the crisis here is that you are
doing an amazing job of being a steward
and making sure that we have money set
aside for future maintenance. But in
order for us to do that as a collective
entity we have to raise rates on people
who aren't able to do that for
themselves. We're doing it for people
whose car will stop running and they
will not have had the benefit of setting
aside a down payment for a new one. Um
and that is the nature of the beast. But
it does lend a little bit of gravity and
difference to how we approach this. Um
one question of clarification under
street lighting utility here in my staff
report under revenue
um
there's a line there that says general
fund contributions.
We are incredibly fantastic about making
sure that things generated within
enterprise funds only go back into the
enterprise fund. Can you explain to me
what the $20,000 that comes in as a
revenue from the general fund is?
Yeah, that's actually I believe a
contribution from the general fund to
the enterprise um and that is for the
private lighting program. Is that right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah. Thank you. That's a good
clarification. My other request would
just be
any if we can't provide stability and no
increases to our to our neighbors
the next best thing is we can provide
anticipatory guidance so they can
prepare to absorb them.
And I'm struggling because even as much
in information as I have, admittedly I
am not bright when it comes to this. I
need help and hit lots of hand-holding.
But for instance, my storm water total
already now on my April bill reflects
what a rate increase should be. I don't
understand why that is. When I look at
my cubic feet, it looks like I'm a low
water user, but then my sewer rate
already reflects a medium user.
You know, these are things that I'm sure
there are really, really great reasons
for I don't need you to explain my water
bill on the public record, but I would
love the opportunity for us to work to
make sure that our neighbors it if you
ask us, we're all going to say we're low
users.
Um, and so
I I think that sort of education to help
our neighbors, you know, as I looked as
I looked here,
um, the average
complete bill for a low user in my
district with our enhanced lighting
should be increasing $29.93
to $33.67
per month.
That is significant when our gas in our
vehicles have doubled in the past 2
weeks.
Um, and so, you know, while people might
consolidate trips or ride their bike to
Smith's instead of driving and things,
it really is feeling increasingly and
maybe this is the nature of us living in
a high desert and we had a false
precedent set for us before
there isn't very much that you can do
to conserve on your water bill even when
you are doing the right thing and
conserving water.
So, as we move forward, um, you know,
I'm I'm having people say things to me
like we feel like we did everything
right, we did the natural plants, we put
in a low waste irrigation system and I'm
still seeing my water bill go up. Um,
I'm having people say that they're
nervous about being able to grow their
own food this year and to be able to
afford the water that goes into that in
a time where people are worried about
the price of goods being trucked to them
because of fuel increases. So, this is a
double whammy. So, as we're moving
through this, I just would like to work
with you to get to we are asking people,
like I said, who can't do the kind of
planning for their own lives that we are
doing as a city. And that's a really,
really great thing that we're asking for
them to contribute to. And so, if we
can't provide stability, we have to
provide predictability. And I
Thank you for Thank you for being
possibly the best experts in the region,
not just the state, and for offering
this guidance. But as we move through
this, um
our responsibility for communicating
clearly and concisely only goes up as
our rates do.
We agree totally. I agree totally. Um
This is a really hard
budget and year in a a lot of ways with
our department and you know, just the
compounding impacts of
everything going on in that's affecting
what it costs to live with a good
quality of life. And
um and so, this this is not a budget or
a proposal we take lightly at all. And
we've been talking about you know, ways
in which we could
improve our customer assistance
uh programs
uh that make them a little less
restrictive than they were in the past.
Um we're more modeling the
uh
the energy assistance programs that is
funded by the federal government.
We don't have that same thing for water,
but uh
we're trying to do that. But But we we
could we could potentially replicate
that ourselves.
Um
but also, as you said, the education is
really important. Um how to read the
water bill. So,
like the rate calculator is going to be
only so good as how someone might be
able to read their water bill, right?
And um and so, we'd be happy to work
with you and your constituents,
everybody's constituents on
any of any of that. And um
maybe we'll talk more about that as
well. Thank you.
» Councilmember Dugan.
Yeah, thank you. And I thank you for the
discussion and and the comments. I think
they're all spot on and uh it is a
you know, the perfect storm here to use
that old
line.
My question is the rates that we have
going on here
there was an assumption on on us saving
water throughout the year. And what is
what is your projection for the budget
as far as what the city is saving so
that we keep water in the reservoir and
that we feed water to the Great Salt
Lake cuz both are necessary during
drought season. We We don't want to just
have everything go to the Great Salt
Lake and drain our reservoir and vice
versa. So, how do you uh
what's your projections on the on our
savings rate to the budget because that
that impacts our our rates.
Um in our in our budgeted revenues in
the water utility, we made an assumption
of an 8% decrease over last year.
Um
but it's also a larger, if you look
it's hard to look at our
water demand year over year cuz there's
so much variability. So, we also look at
the average last the average 3 years.
So, we're budgeting lower than we ever
have in our
projected water demand in this in this
budget. Um and that includes a lower
uh anticipating lower water demand than
our historically lowest years.
Um
so so that is embedded in in our budget.
Um we are in stage two of our water
shortage contingency plan that has
mainly voluntary
uh participation. We'd like people to
save somewhere around 10 million gallons
a day.
Uh so far this spring, we haven't seen
that. We're just around where we were
last year.
Uh but as we get into the summer, I
think we'll probably be saving a lot
more water. Um and as we move forward
into this year, we're going to be
evaluating just what you said, you know,
storage versus stream flow, what do we
what do we want to hold over in storage
uh for next year in case we have another
drought year. Um so that's something
we'll be working with Anna Lee and and
Metro and um
and our other stakeholders on as well
this year.
Thank you.
Thank you
uh for for the time. I, you know,
the public utilities in our city
uh is is just a gem
uh
for the work that you have done to bring
us up to speed and to
uh make us um resilience resilient to
the changing uh environment that we
have. And
um and you know, it it is actually
something to celebrate that we have a
billion dollars of infrastructure in
motion right now
um and that we are making it in time,
that we're making it in some of those
ahead of time and that we are building a
system that is going to
uh outlast many of us here, uh which is
how we're supposed to be making those
decisions. So it's it's huge. Um I, you
know, I have
I'm very proud of the work that you do.
I always proud of of our public
utilities department uh and and how you
see the problem and you tackle it. Um I
am
uh certainly have opinions about water
usage
uh and about how, you know,
multi-family, you know, um
you know, uh units use water um and I
wish we could do more to curve the use
of water and some of those feel like
many of them are not realizing how much
how much waste waste water that is
happening in in within our city.
Um
But I I would like to focus a little bit
on a on a question that I don't think
that we probably have the time to to
chat about, but I would love to have the
opportunity to chat a little more
through
a couple weeks ahead through the budget
discussions and it relates to street
lighting.
Um and
I'm still, you know, hyper focused on
the the issue of equity related to to
street lighting
and you know, past decisions this
council
or a different iteration of this council
made to you know, to absorb some debts
that I felt like it, you know, bring
back the question of equity
representing the West Side and the
service that we would receive from from
public lighting
and I would love to hash out some of
those numbers and try to get to a maybe
potentially a better outcome.
And I believe that we're doing a great
job right now
as a whole in the city. I just want to
bring the the service levels maybe
closer to what other neighborhoods are
seeing. So that's my my hope.
I don't know if there's anything. Yeah,
we would like to do that too and our
street lighting master plan that we
updated now six years ago
really changed what that lighting looks
like. So instead of base lighting it
anticipates more pedestrian level
lighting or a greater density of
lighting in different areas. Part of the
reason why we're looking at our street
lighting rates this year
so closely and why we have this increase
is so that we can start to be able to
implement that street lighting plan so
that we can bring greater equity uh to
different parts of our community.
Um so we we completely agree with that.
No, I mean I think that's a valid
proposition that I would love to to make
to my neighbors if I'm going to say
you're going to have to pay more, but
this is what you're getting. Uh
and and I would love to explain to my
neighbors why this is important.
Um but I hope that we have more time in
in future weeks if uh I appreciate you
and your work that the administration
does to to bring transparency to this
budget. So
um any anything else council members?
Okay, thank you so much for the time.
Thank you.
» Council members, we
uh we're uh we have a few board
appointments and I believe they're both
online uh and available for us. Both
appointments
uh are for the Housing Authority of Salt
Lake City. Uh we have a an item number
six, Devra Chiquito
uh will join us uh online. Are you
there?
Devra?
Yes.
Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you.
Can you tell us um briefly why do you
want to join this board?
Yes, uh my career I'm a social worker by
career and I worked 20 years in the
Utah State Prison, retired 3 years ago.
Um and one of the main things
um I worked with the women
um
in a treatment program for substance use
and we would have them in a residential
program. They'd do well, but they'd get
out, they wouldn't have safe housing,
they wouldn't have stable housing, they
wouldn't have, you know, any
um transitional supports that and they'd
be right back in prison. So I really
have a
um an interest in um seeing um
kind of that transitional support
re-entry stuff for especially women uh
for people coming out of the the uh
correctional system as well as
homelessness and and everything that
goes with it. And I really like what you
what the Housing Board of Salt Lake City
is doing and what the mayor
um is doing as well as far as the
funding and the housing and the you
know, multi-faceted. It's it's not um
just, you know, well,
good luck, you know, it needs to be
sustainable. It needs to be
multi-faceted. There's mental health,
trauma informed stuff, training,
um ongoing, you know, um
issues that um we need to address within
Salt Lake City, within the state, within
other communities, um within
you know, um and get the support and
funding [clears throat] and the
legislature, you know, the uh the state,
local communities working together, the
prison, um you know, other entities, the
community partners, that type of thing.
Um and so I would I would be honored to
kind of rejoin uh
the
um fight to I guess is fight the wrong
word, but
the um
join the team to help, you know, work
hard and and get things
um
going and support the goals that you
guys have
been working on so hard. So, it would be
an honor. Anyway, is that
Does that help?
That's fantastic. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Um I you know, we we
are really thankful uh for you you know,
volunteering your time um and uh
wanting to join this board Council
member Dugan. I do appreciate you
retiring from this work and then going
right back into it and that your
advocacy for it.
Uh
we need people like you
uh
standing on the uh
stool and and and uh
really advocating for all this great
work. So, I appreciate that and thank
you for stepping up to the plate.
You're welcome. I've had 3 years to
go
travel and do my own thing, so
I've um
think I have the energy again
to get back in and work hard, so thank
you for considering me and for the
opportunity. I appreciate that. Thank
you. We uh as you know, the process goes
your name is going to be put on the
consent agenda on the formal meeting
tonight.
You don't need to attend
to
to be appointed to this board. The
administration will reach out to you
with more information soon after.
Okay, sounds good. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Now looking into a board appointment for
the Housing Authority again of Salt Lake
City. Turner Bitten, are you online?
Um can someone reach out to Turner and
see if he will be joining shortly cuz I
think it will inform whether or not we
reschedule this board appointment. I
think we'll have
a sort of longer close session. We could
go to
report of the chair and announcements to
just maybe buy a few minutes.
» Yes, let's do that.
Um Report of the chair and vice chair.
» Yes,
moving on to
there is no report from ours. Now
standing items report and announcements
from the executive director Jen. Yep,
and this one we just wanted to make sure
that you guys know that agenda packets
will shift to Fridays during the the
just to give our staff a little extra
time to
get that information together and thanks
in advance to the administration for all
of the questions we're about to send.
Um, meetings are also going to adjust
starting at 1:00 p.m. Um, unless
otherwise noted, we will adjust if we
can avoid starting at 1:00, but
we're kind of just holding that space
while we can. Um, we're also starting
Thursday meetings maybe a little bit
earlier than some of you who've been
around for a while um are used to. So,
our first Thursday meeting will actually
be next week. Um, Thursday the 14th. We
will um
we will um
be in touch with you guys about the
timing of those Thursday meetings. It's
possible that they'll be shorter and so
hopefully wrapped up either, you know,
if they start if they have to start
after 5:00 in order for everyone to get
here, hopefully they won't go too late.
Or if we need to be done by 5:00, we'll
just kind of be in touch
um about that.
Uh, the goal there is to get as much
information kind of into the council's
um minds so that as you figure through
what um budgets you're comfortable with
both with and without a property tax
increase, you have kind of as much
information as possible as early as
possible.
Just confirming all of these will have a
virtual option.
All of these will have a virtual option.
Yes, absolutely.
Um, and so then
uh, this list of this is the list of
dates. So, um feel free to read through
them and um let staff know if you have
any questions.
Um, the CRA budget will be discussed on
Tuesday, May 19th. So, that's why we're
having a CRA meeting on that night.
We've kind of reaffirmed with CRA that
if the council or board has more
questions, we can add, you know, brief
CRA meetings as needed um after that.
Okay, that's it. I don't know if Turner
is here yet.
» [laughter]
» Um
thank you. Um, we we're going to you're
embarking on a on the budget. We're
excited to to ask some questions and to
receive some answers and to get to the
bottom of it.
Um
Uh,
let
let's see if Councillor Bitten
is online.
No?
Okay. We can reschedule his interview
for another day
and just will have to remember to pull
it from the consent agenda. So. Yes, we
need to pull it from today's consent
agenda, but we can
we can
add it to a different agenda in the
future.
Okay, so that brings us to
potential closed meeting.
Council members.
» [snorts]
» Mr. Chair, I move that we go into
closed meeting to discuss
um
uh, yeah. Okay, thank you. Um
character, professional competence, or
physical or mental health of an
individual
and attorney-client matters. And then
can we add labor negotiations as well?
» An update on yes, labor negotiations.
Second.
I have a motion by Councillor Warden and
a and a second by Councillor Duggan. I
Councillor Member Petro.
Aye. Councillor Member Warden. Aye.
Councillor Member Carlson. Aye.
Councillor Member Young. Aye. Councillor
Member Duggan. Yes. And I may
Yes,
that passes unanimously with one
Councillor missing from the meeting. Six
uh,
passes unanimously. Thank you.
Yeah, we are adjourned after that and
then we're going to join into a formal
meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Thank you.
» [music and bell]
[music]