Willard adopts fiscal 2027 budget; mayor and police chief discuss police budget growth

Willard's City Council adopted the city's fiscal 2026-27 budget on June 25, 2026, after the mayor raised concerns about the sustained growth of the police budget, according to the meeting minutes. ^[1]

Mote cited year-over-year increases of roughly 19%, 16%, 13.9% and 25%, and a proposed 9% this year. The minutes say he noted that these exceeded population growth of 2% to 5% a year and inflation, while acknowledging the importance of maintaining quality police services. ^[1]

The chief's response

Police Chief Theron Fielding said the increases were driven mainly by salary adjustments. No vehicles were budgeted this year, the minutes say, though two aging vehicles are expected in next year's budget. He also mentioned possible grants covering 75% of wages for new officers in their first two years. ^[1]

Councilmember Mike Braegger said the city had staffed up in anticipation of growth and that the rate of increase may need to moderate. ^[1]

The votes

Councilmember Jacob Bodily moved to adopt Resolution 2026-08 and Councilmember Rex Christensen seconded. Councilmembers Jordan Hulsey, Christensen, Braegger and Bodily voted yes. ^[1]

The council also voted 4-0 to adopt Resolution 2026-10, keeping the property tax rate unchanged, and 4-0 to adopt Resolution 2026-09 on the employer pickup of Tier 2 public safety and firefighter retirement contributions. Finance staff said retirement line items had been increased to reflect the pickup. ^[1]

Amendments to the fiscal 2025-26 budget, approved unanimously, added $35,000 for street cuts in the General Fund, moved $25,000 of professional fees from parks to administration, and increased the Capital Projects Fund's gain on sale of assets by $50,000. ^[1]

What the last audit shows

The fiscal 2025 audit reports police expenses of $793,997 on a government-wide basis, up from $634,648 in fiscal 2024. ^[2]

In the General Fund's budget comparison for fiscal 2025, the police department spent $657,411 against a final budget of $683,238, and the fire department spent $128,783 against a final budget of $122,886. ^[3]

Fraud risk assessment

At the same meeting, finance staff presented the city's annual fraud risk assessment. The city scored 325 of 395 points, placing it in the "low risk" category. The minutes list designating an audit committee and keeping governing body members' ethics training certificates on file as steps toward a "very low" rating. ^[1]