The Carbon County Commissioners met on Wednesday, Nov. 20 for the regularly scheduled meeting of the county board of commissioners. This meeting featured several items regarding county development, but the biggest item by far was the presentation of the tentative 2025 budget, which took over half the meeting time.
Opening up the meeting, the Commissioner looked to sign off on two agreements for the Carbon County Office of Tourism. The first was between the office and the Greenwell Inn, and the other was for the office and the Holiday Inn, both for a Digital Kiosk. These kiosks are a part of the county’s tourism initiative that connects tourists to the Carbon Corridor website which offers a look at things to do and upcoming events. Currently, there are five kiosks, and these items would take underperforming kiosks and move them to the Holiday Inn and Greenwell Inn to hopefully entice more use. These moves were approved by the Commissioners.
Next on the agenda was a potential update to the County’s zoning map, changing two parcels from mining and grazing land to residential land. These two parcels are located by Miller Creek, and combined have a land total of around 220 acres. In addition to matching the surrounding parcels, this move also received a favorable recommendation from the planning and zoning committee. Some citizens surrounding the parcels were concerned that any development on the property may cause additional runoff, but the development code addresses this. After hearing this, the Commissioners adopted the ordinance approving the change.
After this, the Commissioners looked at a proposed agreement between the county and Wellington Microtech. “As of today the county owns 307 acres that were sold by the Cantwell family,” spoke Commissioner Larry Jensen,” Wellington Microtech owns a piece of property on the south end of that property we purchased, and he needs rail service.” Commissioner Jensen explained that this item would be a memorandum of understanding allowing the business rail access. The deal would be nonexclusive, this agreement would allow every property owner who buys land in that area to gain access to rail service if they need it. When put to a vote, the Commissioners approved it unanimously.
Following the previous discussion, the Commissioners moved on to an agreement between the Utah Department of Transportation and the county to improve Fairgrounds Road. This grant is worth $1.6 million with the county only having to match seven percent of that total. The project is currently engineered and is scheduled to be built in 2025. With rumors that the recently announced Price temple would be built on Fairgrounds Road, the Commissioners agreed this was a necessary project and ratified the agreement.
Next, the Commissioner approved a lease agreement between the county and John Houston to build an airport hangar for his jet. Minimal discussion was had and the Commissioners approved the lease.
After this discussion, the commissioners looked at a proposal for engineering services, specifically rail work, on the previously mentioned Cantwell property. Horrocks Engineering based out of Salt Lake City provided a list of services they could offer in terms of rail development in the area, and all three Commissioners seemed eager to accept the proposal. They would do just that in a 3-0 vote.
Rounding out the commission agenda was the presentation of the 2025 tentative budget by county Clerk/Auditor Seth Marsing. Starting with the general fund, which funds a majority of the county operations and is funded primarily by property tax dollars, sees a $510,740 increase from this year. Due to the low amount of claims, the county sees a five percent decrease in health insurance costs. The indigent defense fund which provides public defense services to cities across the county as well as the county itself saw its yearly increase of $150,000 to $200,000. And finally, a cost of living adjustment was made of eight to 10% to aid county workers combat rising costs.
Some other major increases seen across the board include tourism, which continues to see an uptick in transient room and restaurant tax revenue, raising the budget to $1.1 million from $735,850. The recreation department sees a nearly $100,000 budget increase, this is due to plans to purchase equipment to help maintain facilities. Municipal services jumped from $8.99 million to $9.79 million, this being due to the increase in the cost of road repair materials. The fairgrounds received a one hundred thousand dollar boost to $804,900. This is accounting for new equipment purchases and an increased fair budget. And finally, the economic development fund raised from $288,800 to $310,900.
The full tentative budget can be viewed at the Carbon County Administration building in the Clerk/Auditor office. A public hearing will be held in December to receive feedback on the proposed budget.
Following the presentation the Board of Commissioners adjourned.
The Carbon County Commissioners meet biweekly in the Carbon County Administration Building, with the next scheduled meeting set for Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 4:30 p.m. For those unable to attend in person, a livestream of the meeting is available on YouTube and Facebook.