The letter, approved by the commission Wednesday, said it was in “strong opposition” to UTA’s budget proposal, which would allocate $43 million in state and local dollars to projects in Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties, but none in Utah County.

Commissioner Skyler Beltran said he wrote the letter because a pair of projects in northern Utah County originally promised to be completed by next April’s UTA change date were not included in UTA’s tentative budget, despite the county accounting for 43% of the state’s growth last year.

“This letter is not a rebuke of UTA; it is us saying, ‘Hey, we’re the fastest-growing county, and we need to see some projects in 2026,'” Beltran said.

Those projects include a fixed-route bus service into Eagle Mountain’s City Center and an innovation on-demand service around Thanksgiving Point. Beltran said he understood if they were not ready by UTA’s April change date but said their absence from the budget means they won’t happen at all next year.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

“And we can maybe wait two to three months, but to not give us a single project in the entire year is just too frustrating,” he said.

The county has pledged fifth-fifth sales tax dollars to help get the two projects online sooner, according to Beltran, who said UTA should respond to those pledges “more effectively.” Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner added that the county passed the fifth-fifth tax to put local dollars toward expanding transit.

“So we have done our part here,” she said. “We have money available. We want to partner with UTA, and this is us elevating that message.”

Beltran called traffic the county’s No. 1 issue, pointing to a recent instance when a traffic light went out at Pony Express and it took some Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs commuters three hours to reach the freeway.

The state has started to address the issue, approving $1.4 billion in funding last year for new UDOT projects in northern Utah County, including extending the Mountain View Corridor and adding flex lanes to Pioneer Crossing.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

However, the county is hoping UTA can be more involved in providing public transit opportunities.

“It’s a small piece to the traffic puzzle, but it’s a needed piece. We have to look at all the pieces. We’re in this mess because years ago, we didn’t do these kinds of things,” Beltran said.