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Public‑works worker requests commuter allowance or city vehicle; council weighs liability and policy options
Summary
A Midway public‑works employee asked the council to consider alternatives to the existing $200 per‑paycheck housing stipend for staff who live outside the county, including a commuter vehicle or mileage fringe benefit. Councilors asked staff to research legal, tax and liability implications before any change is made.
Gage Anderson, a Midway public‑works employee, asked the council to consider options to ease long commutes for staff who live outside Wasatch County. Anderson proposed either permitting a city commuter vehicle for shared daily use or changing the $200 per‑paycheck housing stipend into a fringe‑benefit mileage payment so employees farther away would be compensated without altering the city’s policy for in‑county staff.
Anderson described a roughly 45‑ to 50‑minute commute from Fruitland (Duchesne/Price area) and said the commute can complicate on‑call expectations. “When you're on call, you have to be within 30 minutes … I have to either get a hotel,” he told the council. He proposed sharing a city commuter vehicle with a co‑worker and explained how a mileage fringe benefit (about $0.70 per mile) would be handled on payroll.
Why it matters: The stipend and on‑call rules affect employee retention, response times for public‑works calls and the city’s payroll and liability exposures. The transcript notes the current stipend equates to about $200 per paycheck (roughly $5,200 annually for a full‑time employee), which staff converted to hourly as roughly $2.50 per hour in the meeting discussion.
Council members raised liability, tax and operational questions. A councilor warned that allowing employees to take a city vehicle home could expose the city to liability if an employee were in an accident while commuting: “If they're behind the wheel of a Midway car, no matter what, if whatever happens, it's our liability,” the councilor said. The meeting clarified the city currently pays on‑call compensation (an eight‑hour block and overtime for calls) and has considered a Public Works sleeping room at the shop as an option for staff who must remain close while on call.
Next steps: Staff and council asked for research and options to be prepared for the budget cycle. The mayor asked Anderson to provide his proposal in writing and for staff to look into liability, payroll/tax treatments for a fringe benefit or commuter vehicle policy, and whether the stipend rule should change at the start of a new fiscal year. The council signaled any policy change would likely be considered as part of the 2026 budget process.
