Davis County hears Utah State Extension budget request, funding split with USU and program updates

Emma Parkhurst, a representative of the Davis County extension operated through Utah State University, presented the extension’s fiscal request and program update Tuesday during the Davis County Budget Committee’s budget hearing.

Parkhurst said the county contribution being requested for the extension is $293,919, an increase she described as about $6,395 (roughly a 2% increase) over the prior year’s approved funding. “There is a 3% increase… and this is a COLA increase request,” she said, and added a separate 4.88% request was included to adjust a single county-funded staff assistant’s salary after a compensation review.

The request and why it matters

The extension’s funding request covers the county portion of the extension’s operating budget and a share of building operating and maintenance costs at the USU Kaysville facility where Davis County’s extension is housed. Parkhurst explained the office and USU split those facility costs: extension pays 45% of the operating and maintenance billings from USU Kaysville, and the extension budget includes an additional contingency of about 5% (Parkhurst said that contingency translates to roughly $1,600 for unexpected repairs).

Parkhurst also described the county contribution in context of the extension’s broader funding: she said USU faculty and grants brought in about $2,520,000 to the Davis County area so far for 2025, including about $1,180,000 in grant funding obtained by USU faculty located in Davis County. She said nine USU faculty are housed in the Davis County extension and two 4-H program coordinators are paid through USU rather than the county.

Program highlights and local activity

Parkhurst highlighted recent and expanded programming. She said the extension’s watershed faculty, Sarah Erwin, has reached more than 6,000 youth and 1,500 adults with watershed education since her hire, and that volunteers have contributed over 1,000 hours to watershed efforts between September 2024 and September 2025. Parkhurst said Erwin also has brought in grant funding for those efforts.

Parkhurst also highlighted a new equine-assisted services faculty member, identified in the transcript as Allison Garlic, who was hired last year and has launched programs including a horses-and-reading literacy program and resiliency programming for middle-school–age youth. Parkhurst said the equine reading program has worked with about 43 children so far and the resiliency program has served about eight youths; she said adult programming and veteran outreach are planned. She described a recent statewide event, “Connecting Hearts and Hooves,” which brought more than 100 attendees and representatives from nine organizations.

Arena operations and revenue

Parkhurst described activity at the arena and equine facilities affiliated with the extension. She said the arena is booked most weekends, bringing events such as team roping (about 20 team-roping events with roughly 100 contestants each), barrel races and open horse shows; revenues cited in the hearing included approximately $4,000 in rent from facility rentals, more than $2,000 from stall usage and about 50 stalls rented during the Fourth of July rodeo. Parkhurst said about 80 stalls were rented overnight for events she discussed.

Budget mechanics and earlier funding

Parkhurst said the extension’s FY request reflected two kinds of changes: a small increase tied to cost-of-living adjustments and a salary adjustment for one county-funded staff assistant whose pay fell below comparable positions in a compensation review conducted by USU. She told the committee she had requested about $292,000 in the prior year and that actual county-funded receipts were just under $288,000.

Separately, committee members clarified that the agricultural heritage center is a distinct USU-operated program with its own county contribution formula. Parkhurst said the base county contribution to the agricultural heritage center is $65,000 with additional payments tied to a spending threshold and a percentage beyond that amount; she said some of that money is sourced from tourism funds.

What the committee discussed and did not decide

Committee members asked clarifying questions about the stress test referenced in a prior presentation and whether stress-testing at the university level flowed to county extensions; Parkhurst and commissioners indicated they were unsure whether a university-wide stress test applied directly to extension budgets. No formal motions or votes on the extension budget were recorded on the transcript provided.

Ending

Parkhurst closed by thanking committee members for their time and highlighting that the extension’s county contribution supports programming that leverages large amounts of grant funding and paid USU faculty to serve Davis County residents.