The Alpine City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the city budget for the 2023 fiscal year.

According to the budget presentation given by Shane Sorensen, Alpine city administrator, the budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year addresses:

• Wage adjustments and increased project costs to compensate for inflation.
• An 8.7% cost of living adjustment on the city’s garbage removal contract.
• Increased costs in the Lone Peak Public Safety Department to account for improved employee recruitment and retention.
• Alpine’s capital projects for this year include new pickleball courts, an additional fire station or remodel, the Grove Drive crossing and realignment, public infrastructure improvements and water system improvements.
• Additional capital projects, including poppy restoration and improvements to the Grove Drive Bonneville Shoreline Trail, will be funded using 50% matching grants.

Sales tax in Alpine is up 13.5%, year over year, as of June 2022.

“Our sales tax just keeps getting better, and that’s how we’ve been able to survive with really minimal property tax increases,” Sorensen said.

This year’s budget comes with a proposed property tax increase creating an additional $730,000 in revenue. Of that money, $267,000 would go to an increase in the Lone Peak Public Safety Department budget, $250,000 would replace sales tax revenue for the fire station sales tax bond and the remainder would help to fund larger capital projects not covered by enterprise funds.

“Without a property tax increase this year, we would have received an additional almost $45,000 in all,” Sorensen said. “Looking at the inflation and costs and everything, it doesn’t go very far.”

A public hearing on the proposed property tax increase is set for Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. at Alpine City Hall.

Changes were made from Alpine’s tentative budget before final approval. According to Sorensen, most of these changes were due to the city not receiving certain grants it had applied for.

“The three ARPA grants we applied to Utah County for — we were not successful on any of those,” he said. “They chose some large projects kind of scattered throughout the county, their explanation was that these projects will benefit everyone, even if your specific city didn’t get funded.”

The 2023 fiscal year is set to begin on July 1.

Newsletter