Council reviews proposed midyear budget openings recognizing grants and bond proceeds totaling roughly $4.69 million

Ogden City staff presented a midyear "budget opening" in the council work session on June 10, 2025, proposing a series of year-end adjustments to recognize new revenues, grants and bond proceeds and to move contingency funds into departmental accounts.

Staff described proposed changes across the general fund, capital-improvement program (CIP) fund, water and storm-utility funds, internal service funds and miscellaneous grants. The net total staff cited for the budget opening was $4,689,300 in additional appropriations to close the fiscal year.

Key general fund proposals included moving $7,000 from contingency to a management-services professional-technical account for contract-management software and $30,000 to legal professional-technical for replacement of a discontinued document-management system. Community and economic development staff requested a $13,000 revenue-and-expense increase to recognize funds from the Accelerate Wasatch event.

Public services staff proposed recognizing $11,008.75 in donations tied to youth swimming lessons and increasing related expenditures; staff described $81,008.75 in supplies and $10,000 for temporary wages associated with those programs. Justin Sorensen, Staff member, summarized the numbers and the rationale for each adjustment.

In the CIP fund, staff proposed recognizing county-awarded RAMP grants and other project funds including $162,008.75 for Bonneville Park backstops/ballfields improvements, $200,000 for Lester Park playground enhancements and $200,000 for Lester Park pickleball courts. UDOT-funded geotechnical work on Valley Drive also was included.

Staff said the city will recognize $2,123,500 in New Markets Tax Credit proceeds intended to help complete exterior landscaping at the Marshall White Center; the total CIP increase cited by staff was $2,711,003.75.

For enterprise funds, the water fund was increased to cover extra chemical costs incurred while the Canyon Pipeline project required additional treatment-plant runs; staff said those costs will draw on retained earnings and may require further action next fiscal year. The storm-utility budget will be increased by $666,008.75 to reflect a county RAMP award of $491,000 plus federal and state OSG hardship grant amounts of $140,000 and $35,000, respectively.

Internal service funds for facilities and IT were each increased to capture actual purchasing and chargebacks, $400,000 and $500,000 respectively. Staff also proposed recognizing smaller grants including a $8,350 per-capita grant in the medical fund and multiple miscellaneous grants for historic-preservation work, homeless services and fire prevention.

Council members asked clarifying questions about the Accelerate Wasatch sponsorships, the treatment-plant costs tied to the Canyon Pipeline schedule, and grant-tracking practices. Staff said grants are tracked through a separate grants fund for accounting transparency.

One contested item was a National Park Service certified-local-government (CLG) grant intended to fund preparation of a national-registration nomination for the Maryland Drive Historic District. Several council members said some residents on Maryland Drive had not been engaged and raised concerns about public understanding of the program. "I'm concerned that we're if we put it in there and don't use it... what do we do different with that money then?" one council member said, urging staff to confirm outreach and how unused grant funds would be handled.

Staff said they would follow up with planning staff to clarify community engagement done to date, the grant's allowable uses (preparation for a national-registration nomination), and whether funds would need to be returned if not used.

Council was briefed that the RDA would present a related action next week to recognize bond proceeds tied to the purchase of a Forest Service building; staff said an earnest payment and reimbursement agreement for $360,000 had already been recognized and that the remainder of the bond proceeds would be recognized in the proposed opening. Those RDA items will return to the council for consideration next week.

The midyear package was presented as a staff proposal and briefing; council did not adopt these openings during the work session and directed staff to return with any requested clarifications at the next regular meeting.