Tooele County Council debates COLA, dozens of new positions and tradeoffs; several items deferred to Dec. 2

Tooele County Council spent much of its Nov. 18 meeting on a detailed review of the manager’s proposed 2026 budget, including a recommended 3.25% cost‑of‑living adjustment (COLA), a merit pool and dozens of new or altered staff positions spread across county departments.

County budget staff and department heads walked the council through requests that, if fully approved, would add about $1.3 million in recurring salary and benefit costs across multiple funds. Auditing and manager’s office staff emphasized that some proposed hires are grant‑funded or come from special/restricted funds while others would be recurring general fund costs that would draw down available balances over time.

On compensation, the manager’s recommendation included a 3.25% COLA and a 1.25% merit baseline; county HR/audit staff said a 2% budgeting assumption for merit might be more realistic based on last year’s evaluations. Councilmembers expressed mixed views — some preferring a smaller COLA — but generally signalled support for including a COLA recommendation in the budget for further action.

Several department position requests were discussed and acted on by consensus:

- Assessor/Tax Administration: Assessor Joy and staff outlined staffing gaps that resulted from earlier unfilled positions and argued for four priority hires (clerical support, appraiser, greenbelt specialist and a data manager). After debate over metrics and fund balance impacts, council agreed to fund two positions now and asked the taxation committee to return a multi‑year staffing/revenue plan that could include an assessing/collecting levy as one option.

- Sheriff’s Office: Sheriff’s staff reported the county received a COPS Hiring Program award from the U.S. Department of Justice for $250,000 spread over three years intended to help fund two additional road deputies. The sheriff said the grant reimburses up to roughly one‑third of the positions annually and must be accepted within a short window; council expressed support for accepting the grant and for hiring the two road deputies, and also gave conditional support to one or two additional jailer positions subject to a staffing study and timing caveats.

- Roads, Solid Waste and Human Services: The council approved an office manager in the Roads special revenue fund, an administrative associate in the Solid Waste enterprise fund, and a Human Services financial specialist intended to recoup federal match revenue (the human services role will require software and implementation costs; staff said it will become partially self‑funding over time).

- Parks & Recreation: Council approved upgrading an aquatics supervisor from part time to full time to reflect an expanded season and programming; the proposed events program coordinator (to support motocross and other events) was held for additional information and will be revisited in December.

Council members repeatedly flagged long‑term affordability concerns. One councilor noted that approving all requested positions would quickly erode the assessing/collecting fund balance; others urged a staffing study to develop a deliberate multi‑year plan rather than approving all hires at once. Several items — including some positions and tourism projects — were postponed for the Dec. 2 meeting so council can complete the budget by the statutory adoption deadline.

What the council approved by consensus or voice during the evening: budget minutes and check register approvals; two assessor positions to be selected by the assessor; acceptance of the COPS grant and two road deputies; an office manager for Roads; an administrative associate for Solid Waste; a Human Services financial specialist (with software to be approved); and the aquatics supervisor upgrade. Several other position requests were held for Dec. 2 or further study.

The meeting produced no final salary schedule adoption; staff were directed to refine position funding sources, provide the taxation committee’s recommendations, and return with final numbers to allow adoption at the end of the budget cycle.