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County staff review internal service funds, lease rates, fleet and radio costs ahead of FY26
Summary
Presenters explained how Utah County allocates internal service fund (ISF) charges for HR, finance, legal, equipment replacement, buildings, communications and fleet; staff outlined inventory checks, work-order procedures, and vehicle and radio replacement policies.
Utah County department leaders used a Sept. 4 work session to review the scope and cost drivers for the county—s internal service funds, including finance, human resources, legal, internal audit, buildings, communications (telephone/Wi-Fi/radio) and the motor pool.
Patrick of Financial Services explained the county allocates several ISF charges differently depending on the service. He said human resources ISF charges are allocated pro rata based on total county wages and benefits; finance, legal and administration ISF charges are allocated on total budget dollars across funds (with pass-through dollars backed out); and equipment replacement costs are assigned to the specific department that uses an asset based on depreciation.
Public Works leader Glenn reviewed building lease rates and what the rates do and do not include. "It's a full service lease where it covers the building itself, it covers the utilities, the maintenance of the building," Glenn said, adding that the fee also pays for grounds, snow removal and emergency 24/7 on-call services. Glenn urged departments to submit repair requests through the county work-order email (workorder@utahcounty.gov) so public-works staff can assign and track requests rather than relying on ad hoc reports.
Glenn said the county bills building charges on a per-square-foot basis and provided example rates presented for FY26: $16.31 per square foot for the Administration Building and $22.78 per square foot for the historic courthouse as presented to commissioners. He said the higher courthouse rate reflects older infrastructure and higher utility needs.
Communications and radio costs are charged differently. Glenn said the county is moving the communications cost-driver from a per-telephone fee toward a per-square-foot model to better account for Wi-Fi, building backbone equipment, camera systems and access-control infrastructure that supports modern operations. He said portable public-safety radios cost roughly $5,500 each and radio/backbone maintenance is a significant ISF expense.
On fleet and equipment, Glenn described the county—s approach to owning and replacing vehicles: the county operates a county-owned fleet with two county fuel stations (which he said saves about $0.40 per gallon compared with commercial stations) and aims to replace light vehicles after roughly 60,000 miles (about four years), a lifecycle Glenn said balances resale value and maintenance costs.
Internal-audit representatives said the audit ISF is small (two staff at present) but plays a risk-reduction role through annual risk assessments and rotating audit coverage. HR presenters described improvements to hiring and Workday processes, pay-scale adjustments for part-time employees, and ongoing efforts to reduce vacancies and turnover.
No formal action or vote was taken on ISF policy changes at the session; staff described planned next steps, including meetings to finalize service-level agreements and departmental allocations during the upcoming budget cycle.
