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Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner speaks during a meeting at the Utah County Administration Building in Provo on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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A FrontRunner train heads south Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, in Orem. 

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

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High flows in the Spanish Fork River are shown on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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Earlier than in years past, the Utah County Commission on Wednesday heard 2023’s first proposed mid-year amendment to the county budget.

“Normally, our practice has been to wait until July for our first mid-year adjustment, but there have been some things that have happened this year, some things that have come up that we felt it was probably prudent that we would have an earlier opening of the budget, but we’ll also plan on coming back probably in July or August,” said Rudy Livingston, Utah County budget manager.

Changes to the budget at this point in the year would be made mostly off estimates as only two sales tax reports have been completed.

According to the amendment summary, just over $2.8 million will be spent from the Use of Fund Balance including $2 million for emergency management (flood mitigation), $641,800 for an increase in the public defender contract, $104,000 to “correct formula area” on the elections division final budget and $120,000 for pilot training at the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

The summary notes that the pilot training was agreed to by the commission in 2022 and funded from an early year plane sale. The two departmental changes combined cost significantly less than the nondepartmental expenditures, Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner noted.

The commission unanimously supported the amended county budget. Also added, via amendment, was $250,000 for motor pool costs and $10,000 for emergency notification systems.

Work session

During the meeting’s work session, the commission heard a presentation on potentially instituting a local sales tax. The power to create a dedicated sales tax is given to the county government by the Utah Legislature and this year, according to Jeff Acerson, a full “fifth-fifith” can be dedicated purely to transportation.

Acerson is a Utah Transit Authority trustee over Utah County and former mayor of Lindon. If a fifth-penny sales tax, not on groceries, were instituted, the county would receive an additional $28 million to $30 million annually.

Under the plan, there would be an additional one penny added to sales tax for every $5 spent, split between cities, counties, UTA (for three years) and future transit project funding in Utah County.

“Utah County’s growing. It’s growing faster than most people want, but the reality of it is, it is. And we need to put the infrastructure in and we need to have funding sources to do that,” Acerson said. “From UTA’s perspective, we want transit down to south county, as far as FrontRunner, we want it up (in) the northwest, we want it here in the local area with UVX. There are many things a funding source can help move forward.”

A presentation on the proposal was originally given in November 2022. According to Acerson, the sales tax could be used for operating and capital expenses as various governmental agencies deem necessary.

As flood risks continue throughout Utah County and the northern half of the state, commissioners were also briefed on a host of mitigation possibilities, including the possible creation of a flooding protection district.

Dale Eyre, a Utah County Attorney’s Office deputy, gave commissioners three options on possible legal bodies that could focus on flooding year-round: an interlocal agency bonding the county and various cities funded by the budget and grants; a special service district supervised and created by the commission focusing on a certain geographic area; and a special district, which is an independent entity that could be created through public vote.

“We could probably mitigate and protect ourselves without infrastructure, without another entity. Utah County’s doing well this year compared to northern counties, but there are some reasons you might want to look at a legal entity,” Eyre said. “Flooding’s everyone’s problem. It’s a long-term commitment.”

The creation of an interlocal district would allow for constant work on a single issue, like flooding, rather than focusing on it whenever the problem arises. As abnormally high snowfall hit Utah in the early part of the year, state, county and local governments began work to prepare for what would become record-breaking snowmelt and subsequent flooding.

This has been a topic of discussion for decades in Utah County. Richard Nielsen, public works director for the county, recalled Spanish Fork officials pushing for a flood-focused district over 25 years ago.

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