Murray plans $5.46 million in utility-fund transfers to its General Fund this year

Murray's 2026-27 budget plans to move $5,456,080 from three city-owned utilities into the General Fund, which pays for police, fire, streets and other city services. ^[1]

The General Fund revenue schedule lists $865,920 from the Water Fund, $770,560 from the Wastewater Fund and $3,819,600 from the Power Fund. The total is up from $5,235,567 in the amended fiscal 2026 budget. ^[1]

In fiscal 2025, the actual transfers were $577,520 from water, $685,600 from wastewater and $3,479,209 from power. ^[1]

How the amounts are set

The budget says the transfer is calculated on each utility's budgeted revenues, at 8% of total revenues for 2026-27. It says the actual transfer is calculated at the end of each month from the utility's actual revenue. ^[3]

The budget describes the transfer as a return to residents on the city's utilities, "intended to subsidize services which would otherwise require an increase in property taxes." ^[3]

State law requires the city to report each transfer as a percentage of the utility's total expenditures. The budget's transfer notice lists 13.96% for water, 9.33% for wastewater and 8.55% for power. The individual fund pages list 13.87%, 9.31% and 8.46%. ^[2][3][5][6]

How the transfers were approved

The budget says the council held a public hearing on June 2, 2026, and approved Ordinance 26-36 adopting the transfers. ^[2]

A city presentation on the transfers lists notice in utility bills in April, the tentative budget's adoption on May 19, the June 2 hearing and ordinance, and the final budget's adoption on Aug. 11. ^[7]

Reserves and capital projects

The budget's fund summary projects the Power Fund's reserve balance falling from $27,808,082 to $20,098,421, a decrease of $7,709,661. It projects the Wastewater Fund's falling from $6,262,219 to $2,761,993, a decrease of $3,500,226. It projects the Water Fund's rising from $4,484,807 to $5,859,512. ^[4]

The budget message says the power reserve use is "all of which is due to capital projects, and most of which was bond funded." It says the wastewater fund is using $3.5 million for a project it has been saving for. ^[10]

The Wastewater Fund's net transfer line is $402,898 because the fund also receives $367,662 from the Redevelopment Agency's Fireclay area, which offsets part of its $770,560 transfer to the General Fund. ^[4][11]

An earlier city presentation on the transfers showed Power Fund expenses of $56,684,661 and a reserve decrease of $8,069,661. The signed budget ordinance sets the Power Fund at $56,324,661, matching the final budget's $7,709,661 decrease. ^[8][12][4]

The September amendment

On Sept. 15, 2026, the council adopted Ordinance 26-30. It appropriates $5,750,817 from Power Fund reserves for infrastructure improvements, $81,113 from Wastewater Fund reserves for line rehabilitation projects and $279,608 from Water Fund reserves. It also appropriates a $780,000 federal EPA grant in the Water Fund to increase reserves. ^[9]

These are spending authorizations, not records of money spent. The records reviewed do not include updated year-end reserve projections after the amendment. ^[9]