Davis County Commission tentatively advances new animal care facility despite $1.7 million construction shortfall

The Davis County Commission voted in a work session in August 2025 to tentatively proceed with schematic design and the bidding process for a new county animal care facility, even as staff reported the project is roughly $1.7 million over the current construction budget.

The facility replaces an aging shelter and was planned from a 2021'2 study by CityGate Associates. That study estimated a building need of about 31,986 square feet and originally placed construction at roughly $470 per square foot. After design revisions and a move to a pre-engineered steel structure, the project team reduced the plan to 29,120 square feet but still reported the animal care building construction cost at about $13.6 million, with an additional $2.1 million estimated for site work, bringing the construction total to about $15.7 million. The county's approved construction budget is $14.0 million and the all-in project budget is $16.5 million.

Ashley Young, director of Animal Care for Davis County, told commissioners the team has removed many "nice-to-have" items but still faces a shortfall. "We are currently, 1,700,000.0 over budget just for the construction of this building," Young said. She described three specific reductions under consideration: eliminating a 599-square-foot multipurpose room (estimated savings $268,951), removing 579 square feet of dog "habitat" spaces including a get-acquainted room (estimated savings about $1,199,662), or cutting the clinic area roughly in half (estimated savings $593,803). Young said cutting the clinic has the biggest long-term operational impact because the clinic as designed can serve the county's animals and also allow future low-cost spay/neuter services for the public; a smaller clinic would serve only shelter animals.

Lane Rhodes, director of facilities, summarized construction options and tradeoffs, including the choice of a pre-engineered metal building to reduce cost and the aesthetic and functional constraints that approach can impose. The project team estimated a $1.5 million contingency (about 10 percent) built into current estimates; staff warned that contingencies are commonly consumed by tariffs and market changes during procurement.

Commissioners discussed fundraising and revisions to county policy on donations. Staff said state law permits strategy sessions in closed session under Utah Code Annotated 52-4-205(1)(d) for certain real property discussions; they also said neighboring counties solicit donations while Davis County's policy currently allows acceptance of unsolicited gifts but does not permit active solicitation. Commissioners asked staff to revisit the county's donation and sponsorship policy so targeted fundraising or named-donor opportunities could be considered for parts of the project.

Commissioners and staff flagged other project elements: the existing shelter will remain in operation during construction and be demolished after the new building is finished; the site constrained circulation and parking, and public-works items such as a water line and a second egress were noted as related costs potentially funded from separate programs (referred to in the meeting as Prop 1/public works funds and city requests). Staff estimated it could take about six to seven months to finish engineering and reach a bid-ready package.

After discussion, commissioners recorded a tentative vote to move forward with the project and to continue design work and budgeting, while directing staff to meet with the county controller on financing options and to return with a revised plan on donations and sponsorships. The commission recorded the decision as "moving forward" in the work session; staff said another meeting will be scheduled to finalize next steps.

Next steps identified in the session included finalizing schematic design with architects and engineers, revisiting the donation/sponsorship policy with the county controller, and preparing a bid package for the project. Staff cautioned that tariffs and market volatility could raise equipment and steel costs in the months before procurement ends.