Davis County proposes new community services division to manage 'code blue' winter overflow

Davis County leaders on Aug. 12 reviewed a proposal to reorganize how the county manages winter overflow and related homelessness functions, recommending creation of a Community Services division inside the Community and Economic Development (CED) department and changes to three staff positions to run the program.

Kent Anderson, director of Community and Economic Development, described the plan as a phased response that begins by moving existing responsibilities into a new structure and could expand later if the county needs a facility or other permanent resources. "This is a follow-up for our May conversation," Anderson said, describing the effort as meant to keep economic development focused on its core mission while giving homelessness and winter-overflow responsibilities a clearer home.

The proposal would create one new position — a community services manager — and retool two existing posts: upgrading the housing coordinator into a housing-and-homeless coordinator and adjusting the grant administrator’s grade and duties. County staff said those three personnel changes are the core of phase 1 and would remain adaptable as needs evolve.

Why it matters: the county is operating under an ongoing state requirement for winter-overflow response (commonly called "code blue"), and officials said the county’s current structure forces small CED teams and other staff to divert time from their primary duties. Staff told commissioners the state provides limited funding for code-blue operations — roughly $110,000 a year — and that the county would combine federal and local funding sources to cover the new positions.

County staff outlined likely funding sources—including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) activity-delivery funds, HOME program funds, Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) money, an internal home-ownership-assistance 1% fund, and existing one-time grant resources. Staff estimated a 2025 cost of roughly $35,000 and said ongoing personnel and related costs could leave an approximate $165,000 annual gap by 2027 unless additional revenue is secured. Staff characterized that $165,000 figure as the personnel gap only; facility and operations costs would be additional and were described as significant.

Officials discussed which department should house the new division. Anderson said the county considered the health department and commission office but recommended placing the Community Services division in CED because of crossover with housing, land acquisition and economic development activities. The health department would continue to host Davis Links, an online resource portal, and could house certain records such as indigent-burial files.

Commissioners and staff emphasized the difference between a temporary winter response and permanent supportive housing. County staff and multiple commissioners pointed to Davis Behavioral Health’s existing and planned permanent supportive housing as part of the local continuum of care, while stressing that a code-blue site is a short-term warming/overflow response rather than a homeless shelter.

Board members asked about timing and budget integration. Staff said the new structure could be implemented administratively in 2025 with no immediate full-year personnel cost, but the ongoing funding shortfall would need to be addressed in the next budget cycle. Staff proposed making some reclassifications and the new hire effective Jan. 1 and aimed to have a housing-and-homeless coordinator in place by December to prepare for winter operations.

Officials repeatedly cautioned against "chasing" grants without strategy; staff described an intent to pursue targeted grants (they cited an application labeled "OLDCC" for a Hill Air Force Base–adjacent road project as an example of successful grant work). Several commissioners urged that the county use community partners to operate services and avoid taking on full building-ownership or day-to-day facility maintenance unless necessary.

No formal motion or vote was recorded at the Aug. 12 special work session; commissioners broadly expressed support for moving forward with the staffing and organizational changes while asking staff to return with budget details and specific revenue sources.

For reference, county staff said the state has accepted the county’s code-blue plan and reiterated that deadlines for some one-time funding sources fall in 2026. Further steps identified at the meeting included finalizing job descriptions through Human Resources, confirming where existing contracts and records would transfer, and returning to the commission with a funding plan for the ongoing gap.

The commission adjourned at 11:42 a.m.