The Emery County Commission held its first meeting of 2025 on Tuesday. Jan. 7. This meeting featured the first appearance of newly elected commissioner Dennis Worwood, who filled the vacancy left by Lynn Sitterud who didn’t run for reelection in 2024, ending his tenure which began in 2016.
On the agenda to open the year was the honoring of several county employees, a memorandum of understanding between the Emery County Economic Development Advisory Board, Emery County and the Emery County Business Chamber and a tough tax decision regarding a commission adjustment on a property being taxed at 100% of its fair market value.
Opening the meeting was a ceremony from the commissioners to honor several employees for their years of service to the county. Tracy Clark, Jannetta Young, Micheal Van Wagoner, Arianna Downard, Kyler Farley, Richard Ryan and Desiree Malley were presented with a certificate of appreciation from the County for their dedication to their work within Emery.
Next on the agenda was the approval of an agreement between the county and the company Bouncin’ Bins for the 2025 rendition of the Emery County Fair. This agreement would provide bouncy houses and other rides for attendees at the fair, which is currently scheduled for July 30 through Aug. 2. These services will cost the county $27,513.70, with the Commissioners voting unanimously to approve the agreement.
After this was the creation of a memorandum of understanding between the Emery County Economic Development Advisory Board, Emery County and the Emery County Business Chamber to administer the business Improvement matching grant program. This grant looks to provide funds to small businesses in the area looking to expand or improve on what they already offer. This MOU was approved unanimously by the board.
The penultimate agenda item was the allocation of mineral lease money to the Fire Protection Special Service District, which serves every municipality within the county. These funds in the amount of $40,000 will go mainly toward buying new hoses for the firehouses. The trio approved the motion to approve this allocation unopposed.
Rounding out the business items was a discussion regarding a potential commission adjustment in property tax for Quinn Montgomery. Montgomery purchased a house in 2024 which was classified as a second home due to its previous owner, therefore, Montgomery paid 100% of the property’s fair market value in taxes despite the home being his sole residence.
This is due to state code which mandates that to change a property classification, the owner must live in it for 183 consecutive days. “laws aren’t perfect people get messed over because they’re not perfect,” spoke Commissioner Keven Jensen. Jensen alongside County Assessor Kris Bell reiterated that this isn’t a local or county law, but rather a state-level code that provides these definitions. In most cases to seek relief or adjustment must meet with the Board of Equalization to present why you need relief.
Ultimately, it was recommended that with the issue being state code, Montgomery go and speak to a state legislature to work on revising the code for a less strict time frame to qualify for reclassification.
During elected official reports, Commissioner Jensen wanted to clarify the County’s support for the Inland Port Project due to rumors circulating that the county was forced into accepting the project,” Emery County voluntarily entered into the Inland Port. We had Commission meetings and minutes to prove that. It was needed to help open up mine and it’s been very clear and we took a long time to approve that Inland Port Authority. I just wanted to put that out there on record that we were not forced with that.
This stance was repeated by Commissioner Jordan Leonard the following day in an interview with Castle Country Radio.
Following elected official reports, the meeting was adjourned.
The next meeting of the Emery County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. in the County Administration Building.