Davis County officials outline personnel cuts, benefit changes to close $13 million budget gap

Davis County Controller Scott Park and Human Resources Director Chris Cohen told the Budget Committee on Sept. 15 that the county faces an estimated $13 million shortfall in its 2026 general fund and must consider changes to payroll and benefits to balance the budget.

Park said two-thirds of general fund spending is personnel-related and presented a package of proposals to reduce budget risk and tighten payroll estimates. "We need to come up with $13,000,000 either in revenue or in cut spending," Park said. He recommended measures including lowering the assumed cost of vacant positions, budget-contingent overtime reductions for the sheriff's office, and creation of a centralized termination pool to cover retiree health and leave payouts.

Why it matters: personnel costs drive the county budget, and officials said the county has limited non-personnel savings to meet the shortfall. Park told the committee that without changes the county would either have to raise revenue or reduce staff-level services.

Key proposals and context - Tighten vacant-position budgeting: Park said the controller's office will бюджет vacant positions at 25% of midpoint (with benefits at 75% of typical loading) instead of the higher historical assumptions, producing roughly $775,000 countywide in lower budgeted payroll demand and allowing some of that money to be pooled for contingency. Park described this as a change in methodology, not new cash savings. - Overtime budgeting for the sheriff's office: Park proposed budgeting only 25% of historical overtime (rather than full historical overtime plus salary) and using payroll savings from vacancies to fund actual overtime needs, reducing the papered budget by about $1.1 million. He said the sheriff historically turns back unused overtime dollars each year. - Termination pool funded from one-time interest and a payroll levy: Park proposed using roughly $1,000,000 of one-time interest income from the county's slough-rough/fleet-related funds and levying a 1.5% charge on payroll to create a termination pool that would pay retiree health insurance and leave payouts centrally. "The benefit of this is it makes department budgets more precise and evens the risk across departments," Park said. - Hiring and vacancy approach: Park and commissioners discussed targeted hiring freezes for noncritical vacancies while allowing essential replacements (example discussed: a fleet manager vacancy that department heads want filled). Several commissioners favored reviewing position requests case-by-case during department budget hearings rather than a blanket freeze.

Benefits and compensation proposals Park and Cohen offered draft recommendations to manage long-term personnel costs and rebalance compensation: - Grandfather existing sick-leave payout and create a new accrual category after Dec. 31, 2025, which would not be paid out on separation going forward; a transitional rule would let employees draw a limited negative balance in the first year. - Phase out other postemployment benefits (OPEB) for employees who retire after a chosen cutoff (Park illustrated a 2036 example), subject to attorney review and policy design. - Reduce annual merit from 3.5% to 2.5% and cut the county 401(k) match from 4% to 2%, using part of the savings to fund a one-time 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2026. Park said this approach moves pay-grade midpoints (the "grade") up and reduces the number of job classifications below market. - Offer 2–3 days of nonaccruing paid time off (PTO/personal leave) to partly offset reductions in future cash payouts to employees.

Committee reaction and next steps Commissioners asked HR and the controller to return with implementation details and legal review. Commissioner Lorraine Kamalu noted constitutional limits on county responsibilities for indigent defense while supporting tighter budgeting; a different commissioner emphasized not balancing budgets on employees' backs. Park and Cohen said policy changes would require counsel review, detailed transition plans and further committee discussion before adoption.

Ending Committee members agreed to include the personnel and benefits items in the fall budget process and return with draft policy language, financial models and counsel analysis before any final action.