Rexburg mayor highlights growth, safety and new development in annual State of the City address
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REXBURG — Mayor Jerry Merrill used his annual State of the City address this week to highlight how Rexburg is dealing with rapid growth and development.
“Rexburg has changed a lot in the last century,” Merrill began. “Today, our population has surpassed 40,000 residents, with internal projections putting us at approximately 46,000. We are a young, vibrant city; 85% of our residents are under the age of 30 years old.”
According to Merrill, the city’s water system “churns out 2.4 billion gallons of fresh clean water annually.” City workers collect 24 million pounds of trash each year and maintain operable driving conditions on 83 miles of roadway,” he said.
During the Tuesday event at the Rexburg Senior Center, Merrill also emphasized that the city’s success as a family-friendly community is due, in large part, to the Rexburg Police Department. He said Rexburg is currently ranked the safest city in Idaho and the tenth safest city in the United States.
“Rapid growth is only successful if you maintain safety as we grow,” the mayor said. “Our top priority is keeping Rexburg safe and clean with the help of our great Rexburg Police Department.”
America’s family community
The city also has a goal of retaining students and families who pass through as part of their educational journey, calling the effort “talent retention.”
“We are transitioning Rexburg from a town you pass through to an economic hub where you can put down roots. … We want our children and our grandchildren and some BYU-Idaho students — maybe not all of them, right? — to stay here and to launch startup businesses and buy homes rather than move to Boise or Salt Lake City.”
Part of the city’s effort to encourage long-term residency is to “provide needed and wanted amenities with the smallest financial impact possible.”
Merrill said the city’s partnership with Silver Star Communications, a fiber-optic internet provider, is a prime example of strategic improvements in Rexburg.
“Unlike other cities that raised property taxes or charged large hookup fees to build their fiber networks, we partnered with a private company to build a high-quality network that will go to every resident at no cost to the taxpayer.”
Growing business and services
He also mentioned the donation of The Neutral Zone, an ice-skating rink that was recently built and privately owned until Feb. 2026, when it was donated to the City of Rexburg. Merrill says the acquisition of the skating rink is valued at around $5 million.
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New businesses coming to Rexburg include restaurants like the Olive Garden,
Cafe Zupas, Jersey Mike’s Subs, and Zeppe’s Italian Ice — all of which are currently under construction along University Boulevard and Tamana Drive.
Other stores are also opening new locations in the city. Merrill said a Home Depot will be constructed near the new Teton River temple site, along with a Winco grocery store across from Walmart, and a Shoe Barn store at the strip mall off of North 2nd East.
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The mayor also fielded questions and concerns from the audience about a new police station, set to be built on Pioneer Road. Merrill told the audience that city leaders reduced the size of the planned building by eliminating unfinished expansion space, lowering the proposed bond by about $2 million while still designing the station to meet needs for roughly 15 to 20 years.
The existing police station on Main Street will be sold and returned to the tax rolls as a private business property, with proceeds helping offset the cost of the new facility.
