Utah Geological Survey director outlines budget shortfall, staff changes and a request for $1 million in permanent funding

The Utah Geological Survey Board heard a detailed finance and operations briefing on Aug. 20, 2025, and voted unanimously to approve minutes from April 16 and to formally ratify contract proposals carried over since the last meeting.

In a directors report, Darlene Battaglia, director of the Utah Geological Survey, told the board the agency had grown staff and taken on federal grants that required state match, and that those match obligations had eroded the surveys reserves. Battaglia said the survey is asking the Legislature to provide roughly $1,000,000 in ongoing funding to stabilize operations and maintain current staffing levels.

Battaglia said the agency had added staff to execute federal grants in recent years, increasing from about 70 positions in 2020 to roughly 92 in 2024; that headcount has been reduced to about 85 through retirements and a small reduction in force. She told the board, "We applied for a number of grants, and some of those grants have a match that UGS pays. . . . Those match funds really grew over the years." Battaglia added that the surveys practice of taking on grants without asking the Legislature for matching support contributed to the deterioration of carryover funds.

Why it matters: Battaglia told the board the UGS performs mapping, hazards, groundwater and energy-and-minerals work used by state and local agencies. She said the agencys statutory mission is to collect and distribute geologic information to aid state and local decision-makers, and that ongoing staffing and funding are necessary to meet those responsibilities.

Key details from the director and finance report - FY25 revenue collections and expenditures: Russell Moore, financial manager for the survey, reported roughly $4.4 million in collections for FY25 and total expenditures near $13.6 million. Moore said the survey ended FY25 with an unspent balance of about $1.5 million; of that sum, the Legislature allows the survey to carry forward up to roughly $1.2 million. Moore said the survey carried forward about $717,000 into FY26.

- Grant-match and reserve history: Battaglia and Moore said the survey spent increasing amounts on grant matches, from about $600,000 in 2020 to about $1.2 million in 202223, with a peak above $1.6 million in later years. Battaglia stated that, aggregated over the five-year period, UGS spent roughly $7.3 million on match costs that had not been funded by the Legislature.

- Staffing changes and immediate corrections: Battaglia described managerial and time-sheet oversight changes implemented in January that she said immediately improved grant billing. She also described a small reduction-in-force of two positions, title adjustments (for example, changing a bookstore position to a geotech classification), and voluntary separations such as retirements that reduced projected personnel expense.

- State map and federal grants: Battaglia said the national state-map awards were released after the survey engaged federal contacts; Utah received about 70% of the state's requested state-map funding this cycle (a reduced scope from the prior year). She said the survey was also working with the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) and Utahs federal delegation to advocate for approximately $3.7 million in outside federal awards that remained stalled or not yet obligated.

- Legislative strategy and severance tax option: Battaglia told the board she has discussed the situation with Joel Perry, executive director of the Department of Natural Resources, and that Perry had offered to "go to bat" for the survey. Two possible paths are being pursued: (1) a request to adjust the statutory distribution of severance-tax-derived funds (the survey currently receives roughly 1.5% from severance-related distributions) in consultation with industry; or (2) a building-block legislative request for additional ongoing general funds. Battaglia said she had submitted a building-block request for permanent funding and that the governors proposed budget process in December would be a key milestone.

- Financial outcome and next steps: Moore and Battaglia said an increased focus on grant billing and contract performance produced $700,000 to $1,000,000 in additional revenue in the past six months, which, combined with staffing adjustments, produced a positive FY25 closeout. Battaglia said the survey now expects to finish FY26 with a balanced operating forecast but still must rebuild restricted-account reserves and secure permanent additional funding for FY27 and beyond.

Votes at a glance - Motion to approve minutes from April 16, 2025: passed unanimously. The board members listed in attendance (Lisa Richards; Ken Fleck; Becky Hammond; Neil Burke; Riley Bragerhoff; Michael Hansen; Rich Gordon; Annie Bedingfield) voted to approve the minutes. - Motion to formally approve contract proposals received since the last meeting: passed unanimously (same board attendance as above).

Other board business and operational notes - Appointments and introductions: Lisa Richards, board chair, introduced two prospective new board members attending the meeting: Michael Hansen (prospective mineral/geotechnical representative; employed at RB&G Engineering) and Richard "Rich" Gordon (prospective mineral-industry representative). Battaglia said both nominees have confirmation hearings scheduled for Sept. 17, 2025; the survey will notify nominees through the Utah Boards and Commissions process.

- Personnel and core center: Battaglia announced Stefan Kirby as the new deputy director (Kirby was previously geologic mapping program manager and has worked at UGS for more than two decades) and said the Utah Core Research Center hired an assistant curator, Madeline Green, who started recently. Battaglia noted long-serving employees who retired or received service awards, including Janae Wallace (retired after ~29.5 years) and Hugh Herla (30-year service award).

- Field trip and calendar: The board discussed moving the field trip to October and tentatively considered geology/critical-minerals stops (Gold Hill area) or a geothermal-focused trip in southwestern Utah. The board set tentative 2026 meeting dates for planning purposes (Jan. 21, Apr. 15, Aug. 12 and a September/October field trip) and asked staff to circulate firm calendar invites.

What the board asked of members: Battaglia asked the board to help with outreach to the Legislature and to industry contacts. She said staff will prepare short materials summarizing UGS value and work that board members can use in meetings with legislators and stakeholders.

Ending Battaglia framed the recent actions as a course correction: improved grant invoicing and tighter project oversight, paired with a narrowly targeted staffing reduction and outreach to the governors office and federal delegation, moved the survey from a potential multi-hundred-thousand-dollar deficit to a projected balanced FY26 operating budget. She asked the board to support the agency's request for ongoing funding and to help communicate UGSs role to state and industry stakeholders.

Sources and attribution All quoted material and paraphrased reporting above are drawn from remarks recorded at the Utah Geological Survey Board meeting, Aug. 20, 2025. Direct quotes are attributed to named speakers as identified in the meeting transcript.