Uintah County unveils $92.6 million tentative 2026 budget at public hearing

Clerk/Monitor Mike Wilkins presented the Uintah County tentative budget for fiscal year 2026 at a public hearing on Nov. 18, 2025 in Vernal, proposing balanced revenues and expenditures of $92,627,300 and scheduling formal adoption for Dec. 16, 2025.

Wilkins told the commission the proposed total represents a $14,627,500 decrease from the 2025 approved budget, which he attributed primarily to lower expected external grant funding. "This decrease [is] attributable to a significant reduction in external grant funding," he said, noting 2025 included approximately $20,000,000 in grants while the 2026 proposal anticipates roughly $6,300,000.

The presentation outlined general-fund proposed expenditures of $39,426,900 and said the general fund is balanced without using the existing fund balance. Personnel changes in the proposal include a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for all employees and an additional 2% (5% total) for sworn law-enforcement staff. Wilkins also listed nine proposed new full-time positions for 2026 and identified major equipment requests including an estimated $771,400 for 11 patrol trucks and several road-department purchases.

Wilkins summarized departmental revenue and expenditures, reporting items such as taxes ($14,392,200), intergovernmental revenue ($6,253,600), jail revenues ($5,852,300) and grant funds ($6,349,200). He said municipal-service funds would use $570,800 of existing fund balance to balance a proposed $8,814,700 municipal-service budget.

Sheriff Labrum used the public-comment portion to ask that the county's wage-maintenance chart be updated to reflect current percentages for hiring and promotions so the sheriff's office can remain consistent in pay decisions. "I would just request in this that my wage maintenance chart be updated to show the current percentages so that I can stay consistent with my hiring and my promotions," Labrum said.

Wilkins said the commission will accept comments during the public comment period and planned to bring the budget back for adoption at the Dec. 16 regular meeting. No formal adoption occurred at the Nov. 18 hearing.

The hearing record includes the budget packet and departmental summaries presented at the meeting; commissioners took public questions and asked staff to provide additional detail to any members of the public who requested it.