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Alta council adopts new elected-officer disclosure form after open-meetings training
Summary
At its first council meeting of 2025, the Alta Town Council adopted Resolution 2025 R1 to implement the state—s new annual elected-officer financial disclosure requirement. Council and staff also reviewed open-meetings rules and how the new form will be used locally.
At the Alta Town Council's first meeting of 2025, the council voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 2025 R1, which accepts the state-mandated elected-officer financial disclosure form and sets a local process for collecting and posting those disclosures.
Council members discussed the new disclosure requirement after a staff presentation on the Open and Public Meetings Act and related recordkeeping obligations. The council's passage of Resolution 2025 R1 follows staff advice that the state changed disclosure timing and content during the 2024 legislative session.
Cameron (staff member) explained the state change during the discussion: "the requirements were new, this last, year in the 2024 legislative session." Council members pressed staff on how the new form will interact with the town's existing ethics pledge and disclosure forms; staff said the new form applies only to elected officials and that the older, town form will remain in use for staff and appointed officials in the short term.
Council member John moved to adopt the resolution, saying, "I motion that we approve 25 r 1." The motion was seconded and then adopted by roll call. Mayor Burton and Council members Edsel, Burke, Morgan and Schilling each answered "Yes" during the roll call and the motion passed.
Under the adopted approach, elected officials will complete the new state form and the town will post and retain the disclosures. Staff said the town must keep the posted records for four years and that the form requires annual filing; officials also have an ongoing duty to disclose and, if a material change occurs during the year, to update the filing before the next annual submission. Staff noted the new form's real-property section is optional unless a council member believes a property could create a conflict.
The council also approved the December 11, 2024 meeting minutes and the January staff and finance reports by voice vote earlier in the meeting; that item passed unopposed.
Staff pledged to circulate the new forms and instructions by email so elected officers can complete them within the short timeline staff outlined. The council did not amend the state form; it adopted the resolution to accept the change and directed staff to administer the filings.
Implementation details provided during the meeting: the town will post the disclosures publicly (staff noted the state will also publish them), keep four years of records, and continue to use the existing town ethics/disclosure form for non-elected staff and appointed officials until a combined local form is prepared. Council members questioned the privacy trade-offs of broader disclosure but accepted staff—s explanation that the statutory change expands transparency for elected officials and that separate state rules (and separate laws) still require a recusal or disclosure if a concrete matter comes before the council.
