During a lengthy Payson City Council meeting last week, council members approved over 20 adjustments to the 2021-2022 fiscal year budget during their regular Wednesday meeting.

Several of the adjustments were for the Payson Police Department. PPD turned in a leased vehicle and got a redemption on it which will fund several budget items.

One item covered was a $31,000 increase in fuel costs. Another was $2,600 in “various expenses,” according to the adjustment presentation.

The department wants to add cameras to the drug box and front office for a total of $10,000. The drug box is required to have a camera monitoring it. Another camera was requested by employees in the PPD office who wanted additional security due to a rise in aggressive customers.

The city will be getting a new officer in the next fiscal year and another police vehicle will be needed. The vehicle cost would be $60,500.

The department received an $8,500 grant for police overtime, and a donation of $550 went to the city’s K-9 program.

The recreational department requested $25,000 for pool repairs and $10,000 for pool supplies, most of which is chlorine.

A grand total of $100,000 was listed as an expense for youth and adult sports within the city.

Also during the meeting, council members approved a resolution allowing City Treasurer Audrey Camp to authorize writing off uncollectible debts from fiscal year 2021-2022

“Every year we go through our uncollectible accounts through our utility billing and we come up with accounts that either need to go to collections, are deceased or bankrupt,” Camp said.

During the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the city wrote off approximately $20,000 in debt. According to the presentation, about $15,000 was paid through arrangements instead of accounts being sent to collections, and another $15,000 was collected by collection agencies.

For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the city can write off approximately $28,000. An additional $7,000 was paid through payment agreements and $19,000 through collection agencies.

Camp said there was a 41% increase from the year prior due to city growth.

Council members said they suspect a reason this year was so much higher than before is due to COVID-19 and the aid people were receiving during the pandemic.

In other business, City Planner Jill Spencer gave a presentation on the Payson Canyon Trail feasibility study that was recently completed by Project Engineering Consultants.

Part of the study included purpose and need, safety deficiencies and traffic data, environmental resources and more. The study was done from a technical standpoint and property owners were not involved yet.

The study looked at the trail beginning at Hollow Park in Payson Canyon and connecting it to Nebo Loop Road up to Camp Maple Dell. It would be approximately 4.5 miles long.

The study also considered possibly connecting the trail to other cities. Elk Ridge was the only one mentioned at this time.

The trail would need some safety improvements, according to Spencer. Many areas through Payson Canyon have blind corners, no shoulders and poor drainage. These issues would have to be addressed to provide safety to trail users.

The engineers gave a $6.5 million estimate just for the trail. The city could look into partnerships, grants and other funding sources to help alleviate the costs.

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