Deseret News
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall unveils budget proposal for 2021-2022
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Steve Griffin, Deseret News
As Utah turns a corner on the COVID-19 pandemic, now the fastest growing state in the nation, the capital city faces a “new frontier, a historic and critical” turning point, with the chance to invest millions into needs including racial equity, affordable housing and homelessness.
That’s what Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall told the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday night as she unveiled her second budget proposal, which includes nearly $350 million in general fund revenue for the city’s 2021-2022 fiscal year. In total, including the airport and other enterprise and capital improvement funds, Mendenhall’s recommended budget expenditures exceed $1.7 billion, an increase of $512.4 million from last year, or a 28.6% increase.
| Updated: 4:25 a.m.
As Salt Lake City emerges from a year marked by economic uncertainty, a reckoning with racial injustice and an ongoing public health crisis, Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the community now confronts a turning point.
Itâs time, she said, to âblaze a new trail.â
The mayor presented her recommended budget, which includes a general fund of just under $350 million, for fiscal 2021-22 on Tuesday night to the City Council.
Mendenhall said a big infusion of federal cash coming from the American Rescue Plan, coupled with the cityâs relatively strong economic position, presents an opportunity. She plans to pump more money into affordable housing, greater public safety, cleaner air and improved quality of life for west-siders.
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