EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Pony Express Days has been cut back to its bare bones.

The city’s annual two-week celebration was known throughout Utah County for its Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo, demolition derby and sold-out headliner concerts.

The changes to Pony Express Days began last summer following an analysis of the budget. City administration presented a proposal to the city council that the city no longer fund the three most expensive events — the concert, demolition derby and PRCA rodeo.

Mayor Chris Pengra is supportive of the changes and announced the news recently on his blog at mayorsvoice.com. A lack of available funds was key in scaling down the community celebration, he said.

“If we hadn’t done that we would have gone over budget,” Pengra said. “I think they budgeted for a $60,000 loss and it lost over $125,000, and we just can’t sustain that type of expense and operate at that kind of a loss.”

A large part of that loss was due to bleacher rental expenses for the rodeo and derby. The city was obligated to pay a stock contract of $61,400 for 2014, and during the discussions on budget cuts, staff recommended turning over the rodeo to a private group. Pony Express rodeo committee members expressed interest in looking at the option of forming a corporation to operate the rodeo independent of the municipality.

City leaders decided the proposal fit well with the Pony Express Days’ cuts and the city’s financial obligations, so the city has assigned the contract to the committee, currently organized as a nonprofit board.

“So they can now have the rodeo and as we go through the budget this year we are not allocating funds to the rodeo,” Pengra said.

Eagle Mountain council members approved the obligatory stock contract payment and an additional $14,000 for half the rodeo purse, $1,800 for PRCA dues and $300 for WPRA dues for 2014, and the former Pony Express rodeo committee members agreed to plan a rodeo — but it won’t occur at the same time as the city celebration.

“The committee is looking at another date later in the year, at least that is the latest I’ve heard,” said Linda Peterson, Eagle Mountain’s public relations director.

Another key factor in the cuts has to do with longtime city staff member Angie Ferre deciding the time was right for her to resign and work from her home.

“She is the one that had the institutional knowledge of the rodeo as the events director,” Pengra said. “The logistics behind the rodeo are quite daunting; the city no longer had the knowledge to do that.”

Pony Express organizers have also moved the traditional start of Pony Express Days until Alpine School District’s summer break begins, and the celebration will be condensed into one week.

Some other events previously organized for Pony Express Days, like the Movie in the Park, will be sponsored later in the summer to spread out the events over a longer time period.

“Quite simply, my goal with Pony Express Days is to serve our community and have a well-executed event at a reasonable cost and shorten it and allow more people from our community to participate,” Pengra said. “To accomplish that, we have shortened the duration and changed the schedule to after the close of the school year so that more kids can participate.”