The Moab City Council will vote on whether to approve the city’s fiscal year 2022-2023 budget on June 14. During their regular meeting on May 24, councilmembers discussed changes in the budget with Finance Director Ben Billingsley, and projects on the Capital Improvement Projects list with City Engineer Chuck Williams.
There are a number of new changes to the budget, one of the largest being a 6% increase in labor costs. The city plans to hire a building inspector, code enforcement officer, wastewater reclamation facility worker, transit coordinator/grant writer, vehicle maintenance worker, seasonal parks worker, and a domestic violence specialist within the police department. The total for those labor costs would be $400,000.
According to the proposed budget, the city is projecting $16.32 million in revenue in 2023, a 10.7% increase over the prior year. Almost 80% of the city’s revenue comes from taxes.
The Capital Improvement Projects list, which defines priority projects for 2022-2026, was divided into five sections: general government, sewer, stormwater, streets, and water. Each section had up to eleven projects listed and ranked by importance. The projects with the highest importance were in the streets, sewer, and stormwater categories: the reconstruction of Kane Creek Boulevard, the section between Main St. and 500 West, was deemed the most important of all projects.
“Kane Creek is in such bad shape,” Williams said. “It’s not just water, it’s the sewer and storm drain as well … and almost the entire sidewalk on the west side of the street needs to be replaced.”
Councilmember Tawny Knuteson-Boyd said she was most excited about the Kane Creek project—she lives near the street, she said, and is looking forward to improvements.
“But we still have to keep Moab funky,” she joked.
Other high-priority projects on the list include the Walnut Lane affordable housing project, updates to public works facilities, a sewer replacement in Pack Creek, and widening the bridge on 400 East.
The project list was unanimously approved.
