TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Business leaders and public servants gathered over breakfast at 2nd South Food Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 4 for the annual State of the City Address. Each of the city's seven councilors gave an overview of an area they've been working in, from the budget, to parks, to public safety, transportation, water, even the library. Hosted by the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, the State of the City comes at the end of the city's fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30th
- Council adopted the $103 million budget for 2025 on Aug. 19th.
- City council meets every Monday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, and can be streamed live or recorded from the city's website.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"This is a great time for business leaders to get together, and citizens in the community, before you start your big day, having a breakfast seems to be the best option," Twin Falls Mayor Ruth Pierce told Idaho News 6.
It has been something of a tradition to hold the state of the city address over breakfast.
Hosted by the Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Pierce and city councilors shared successes of the last year, as they look ahead to the future.
"We know (the city is) growing. We want to make sure that we manage that growth," Mayor Pierce said. "I think the citizens are very happy with the way the city's been run.
Growth has played a big part in city planning since 2020, also reflected in the recently adopted city budget.
"It was a big one, it's $103 million," Mayor Pierce said.
And while nobody loves paying property tax, Mayor Pierce emphasized the portion paid by landowners is just a fraction of the overall budget.
"Thirty million represents property tax collections which is, really, less than 30%. So, the balance of the budget is funded through other tax, supported funds and non-supported funds," Mayor Pierce added.
Councilor Chris Reid used his time to talk about the airport, which has survived some post-pandemic turbulence, with clear skies ahead.
"What happened to the airline industry during the pandemic, Twin Falls airport was right in the mix with that," said Reid.
In 2019, Twin Falls had three flights a day, which dropped down to a single flight by SkyWest.
After two years of guaranteeing revenues to SkyWest to maintain the single daily flight, the airport regained two daily flights from Delta, improving travel options as the Magic Valley continues to grow.
"We have some things that we've been talking about for years. Today are realities," Reid said. "So, starting that process just putting our airport in a place for the future making sure that we are able to handle what the future is going to bring. It's exciting."
