In the fiscal year ended 30 September 2025, the audited financial statements of the City of Idaho Falls show $4,347,810 in transfers out of the Idaho Falls Power enterprise fund. The auditor's note says these transfers are used in part to "move payment in-lieu of tax amounts from the water, sanitation, electric, fiber and wastewater funds to the general fund."
That is money collected from people who buy electricity, moved to the fund that pays for police, fire, parks and the library. It does not appear on a property tax notice. It is not itemised on a power bill. It is legal, it is common among municipal utilities, and in Idaho Falls it is growing faster than the property tax.
The transfer series, on the audited gross basis
Three years of Note H, "Interfund Transfer," from three separate annual comprehensive financial reports:
| Fiscal year (ended 30 Sep) | Transfers out of the Power fund | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $3,723,372 | Audited actual (labelled "Electric") |
| FY2024 | $3,788,064 | Audited actual |
| FY2025 | $4,347,810 | Audited actual |
That is a 16.8% increase in two years. Over the same span the city's certified property tax budget rose from $42,697,326 (tax year 2023) to $47,681,429 (2025), an 11.7% increase. The invisible charge grew faster than the visible one.
For scale: that FY2025 gross transfer equals about 9.1% of the entire 2025 certified property tax budget, and about $63 per resident on the city's own reported 2025 population of 69,523.
Which basis, and why it matters
There are two published measures of "the Idaho Falls Power transfer" and they are not the same number, do not move in the same direction, and cannot be reconciled from anything the city publishes.
The audited gross figure: transfers out of the Power fund, reported in ACFR Note H. FY2023 $3,723,372, FY2024 $3,788,064, FY2025 $4,347,810. This is the series above and it is the one used throughout this article.
The budgeted net figure: a "Non Revenue Transfer" line inside the Power fund's revenue section of the budget book, which nets transfers in against transfers out. FY2024 actual $935,893, FY2025 actual $(412,051), FY2026 adopted $(1,835,754), FY2027 proposed $(1,416,688).
Anyone who puts those two series in one table is producing nonsense. The audited gross figure is the better measure of what leaves the utility, and it is stated as audited actual throughout here.
One honest limitation. Neither document isolates a Power-only payment in lieu of taxes to the general fund. Note H reports gross transfers out, which include items other than the in-lieu payment, and describes the in-lieu purpose collectively across five utilities. Some Power in-lieu money does not even reach the general fund: the Traffic Light Capital Improvement Fund's revenues are "derived from in-lieu-of tax payments from the power fund." So $4,347,810 is total Power transfers out, not a clean Power-to-general-fund figure. The clean figure is not published.
What is published: general fund transfers in from all sources totalled $6,776,515 in FY2025, up from $5,501,364 in FY2024. And the city states its policy plainly in the FY2025 letter of transmittal: "It is also the City's policy to base payment in-lieu of taxes on comparative market rates rather than negotiated rates."
Separately, and larger, the proposed FY2027 general fund books a cost allocation credit of $(15,831,814) against enterprise funds, up from $(14,476,022) in FY2026 adopted. That is enterprise funds reimbursing the general fund for administrative services. It is not the in-lieu payment, and the cost allocation plan itself is not published.
The $393 million headline is mostly a utility company
The proposed FY2027 all-funds budget is $393,483,954. City Council approved that as a tentative not-to-exceed amount on 30 July 2026 under Idaho Code section 50-1002.
Divide it by 69,523 residents and you get about $5,660 a head, which is a number that will get quoted and which describes almost nothing.
Here is the split, proposed FY2027:
| Fund type | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise funds (Power, Fiber, Water, Wastewater, Sanitation, Airport, and others) | $234,630,599 | 59.6% |
| Governmental funds (General, Special Revenue, Impact Fee, Capital Improvement) | $151,286,924 | 38.4% |
| Internal service (Risk Management) | $7,566,432 | 1.9% |
| All funds | $393,483,954 |
Idaho Falls Power alone is $98,872,927 in proposed FY2027, larger than the entire $90,647,934 proposed general fund. The general fund is 23.0% of the all-funds headline, or about $1,304 per resident. If you want a per-capita figure for city government as a taxpayer experiences it, that is the one.
Two cautions on the big number. The governmental funds total of $151,286,924 is not printed anywhere; it is the sum of four printed subtotals on page 36 of the proposed book, and those six printed column subtotals sum to $393,483,955, one dollar above the printed grand total. And appropriations are not spending: FY2025 actual all-funds expenditures were $283,643,942 against a FY2025 adopted appropriation of $372,670,680, about 76%.
Police and fire are 55.10% of the general fund
Proposed FY2027 general fund: Police $29,964,622 and Fire $19,982,676, a combined $49,947,298 against a $90,647,934 general fund. That is 55.10%. The FY2026 adopted equivalent was 54.62% ($27,765,243 plus $19,236,131 against $86,045,100). Neither percentage is printed in the budget; both are computed from printed cells.
Against audited FY2025 actuals of $25,124,031 for police and $17,419,272 for fire, the proposed FY2027 appropriations are 19.3% and 14.7% higher.
Read the police line carefully. The $29,964,622 includes $2,481,379 of debt service on the law enforcement complex and $1,378,645 of contingency, and is net of $(1,258,480) of interdepartmental charges. The fire line is net of $(1,552,599). These are appropriation totals, not payroll.
Two more public safety operations sit outside the general fund entirely. The Emergency Medical Services Fund is $13,949,190 proposed for FY2027, up from $11,813,081 adopted in FY2026. The Wildland Fire Fund is $2,702,844, up from $1,934,329. Add them and total proposed public safety appropriations are $66,599,332, but that figure must never be expressed as a share of the general fund, because those funds are not in the denominator.
One piece of arithmetic worth sitting with. The proposed FY2027 general fund allocation of property tax is $45,684,368. Police plus fire is $49,947,298. Property tax, all of it, does not cover police and fire.
Property tax: the 3% cap explains less than half of the increase
The certified property tax budget, city-wide:
| Tax year | Certified property tax | Levy rate | Taxable valuation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $42,697,326 | 0.0060540040 | $7,052,741,278 |
| 2024 | $44,838,106 | 0.0054044800 | $8,296,469,966 |
| 2025 | $47,681,429 | 0.0058839760 | $8,103,605,399 |
| 2026 | $50,560,429 | 0.0058381958 | $8,660,283,169 |
| 2027 (estimated) | $54,098,846 | 0.0060487503 | $8,943,805,451 |
The take is up 26.7% from 2023 to the 2027 estimate. The levy rate is a fraction lower than it was in 2023. Both are true because taxable valuation rose 26.8% over the same span. A rate that does not move is not evidence that a tax did not rise.
The FY2027 proposed increase is itemised on page 27 of the proposed book, applied to last year's $50,560,429:
- 3% statutory increase: $1,535,561
- Estimated new construction: $1,107,601
- Estimated new annexation: $6,900
- 1% forgone: $538,354
- Capital forgone: $350,000
Those five components total $3,538,416 and reconcile exactly to the printed $54,098,845. The statutory 3% is 43.4% of the increase. The other 56.6% comes from new construction, annexation and forgone.
Forgone is banked authority to raise taxes in a later year without a fresh justification. The current balance is $5,527,161, planned use is $(888,354), leaving an estimated ending balance of $4,638,807. The city's narrative says the 1% operating forgone funds public safety personnel, which is a permanent addition to the base, and the $350,000 capital forgone funds aquatic centre, skating rink, fire station bathroom and public safety training facility work.
City staff put the effect on a $375,000 home at $1,460 rising to $1,552, about $93 a year or $8 a month. On a $450,000 home, $1,897 to $2,011. On a $600,000 home, $2,773 to $2,930. Note the vintage: those estimates came from a 21 July 2026 council presentation that assumed a total levy of $53,145,990, not the $54,098,845 in the 31 July proposed book. They are slightly low.
The 3% limit governs the property tax budget. It has nothing to say about a transfer out of the electric fund.
Pensions and debt, in one paragraph each
Every active city employee is in the PERSI Base Plan. Employer contributions were $8,243,310 required and $8,238,566 paid in FY2025, against $7,272,796 in FY2024, up 13.3%. The city's proportionate share of the PERSI Base Plan net pension liability was $23,544,125 at the 30 June 2025 measurement date, on covered payroll of $62,659,749, down from $35,642,255 a year earlier. The plan-wide Base Plan fiduciary net position was 90.89% of total pension liability at that date. There is no Idaho Falls-specific funded ratio; PERSI is a cost-sharing plan. The city's two legacy plans, the Firefighters Retirement Fund and the Idaho Falls Policeman's Retirement Fund, have no active members and are in surplus.
Long-term governmental debt is Series 2020 certificates of participation for the law enforcement complex, $20,865,000 principal outstanding at 30 September 2025. FY2025 payments were $1,225,000 principal plus $879,400 interest, and the debt service rides inside the police appropriation. Headcount goes from 785.00 FTE budgeted in FY2025 to 808.25 adopted in FY2026 to 819.25 proposed in FY2027, of which 225.00 sit in enterprise funds and are paid by ratepayers.
Fact-check notes and sources
FY2027 is proposed, not adopted. Council approved a tentative not-to-exceed amount of $393,483,954 on 30 July 2026 under Idaho Code section 50-1002. Notice was published 1 and 8 August 2026, the public hearing was set for 6:30 pm on 13 August 2026, and adoption was scheduled for 27 August 2026, after the date of this post. Every FY2027 figure here is proposed and can change.
The city's own book says "adopted" in places. Page 29 of the proposed book reads "The total adopted budget for Fiscal Year 2026/2027 is $393.5 million." Every page of that document is watermarked DRAFT, the file is named "2026-07-31 Draft Proposed Annual Budget Book," and the column headers read "FY 2027 Proposed Budget." That is template carryover in a draft, not evidence of adoption.
Documents used. City of Idaho Falls Proposed Annual Budget 2027 (draft dated 31 July 2026), pages 26 to 39, 85, 93, 161 and 169. City of Idaho Falls Adopted Annual Budget 2026, pages 30 and 37 to 39. Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports for the fiscal years ended 30 September 2023, 2024 and 2025, Notes H, I and O, the pension required supplementary information, and Exhibit N of the statistical section. City Council agenda and packet, 30 July 2026. Municipal Services finance presentation to Council, 21 July 2026, slides 5 through 8 and 23.
Known discrepancies in the sources, disclosed rather than smoothed. The FY2027 book prints $54,098,845 on page 27 and $54,098,846 on page 28 for the same estimated property tax total. The FY2026 adopted book prints a FY2026 certified tax of $50,560,447 against the FY2027 book's restated $50,560,429, an $18 difference, with materially different valuation and levy rate figures; the restated numbers are used here. Several FY2026 adopted dollar figures differ between the two books by amounts under $10. The FY2025 ACFR narrative states remaining certificate of participation interest of $6,691,400 while the schedule immediately below totals $6,891,400; principal is consistent at $20,865,000. Derived percentages in this article are computed from printed cells and are labelled as such.
Not published, and therefore not claimed here. A Power-only payment in lieu of taxes to the general fund. The city's cost allocation plan. Employee health insurance cost as a separate line. Sworn officer and firefighter counts separate from departmental FTE. A household count for per-household arithmetic.
Related reading
- Colorado and Idaho state budgets, what taxpayers actually fund: the state-level appropriations behind the city numbers, on an enacted-to-enacted basis.
- Colorado and Idaho city budgets and public safety: how police and fire shares compare across cities, and why the denominators are not the same in kind.
- Colorado and Idaho local taxes: levy rates, valuations and the gap between a flat rate and a rising bill.
- Public money programs index: the running index of budget and program breakdowns on this site.
This post is informational, not legal, financial or municipal advisory advice. Budget figures are appropriations as adopted or proposed and change through the year. Mentions of named municipalities, districts and retirement systems are nominative fair use. No affiliation is implied.
