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Utah County commissioners debate splitting Clerk and Auditor offices; staff outline up-to-$1M cost and recommend glide path
Summary
In a work session, county legal and HR staff outlined the ordinance and timing to separate the combined Clerk/Auditor office and presented cost estimates (roughly $400,000–$661,000 annually; up to about $1 million including IT and space). Clerk/Auditor Amelia Powers Gardner urged a multi‑year glide path rather than an immediate split.
County officials discussed whether to separate Utah County’s combined Clerk and Auditor offices during a work session at the commission meeting. Dave Schaucroft, county legal counsel, told commissioners that state law (see Section 17-16-3) requires adoption of an ordinance before Feb. 1 of the year an election would occur in order to place separated offices on the ballot.
Human resources presented comparative data showing most Utah counties keep the offices combined. HR and finance staff said the immediate cost of adding a second elected official and leadership could be roughly $400,000 a year but that fully separating staff functions could raise recurring costs to about $661,000; with added IT, office space and other support the total could approach $1 million depending on implementation choices.
Amelia Powers Gardner, the county’s Clerk/Auditor, called the office “busy” and urged a staged approach. She said the lower estimates are “probably closer” to reality for salary and benefits but cautioned that doubling roles would add IT and space expenses. Gardner proposed a glide-path approach—aligning job descriptions, using attrition and phased changes over several years—so that separation would not be driven by personalities and would limit immediate disruption.
Commissioners and staff discussed alternatives to creating a separate elected office, including hiring credentialed professional staff, contracting outside auditors or swapping audit duties with another county. Staff noted the county has already hired CPAs and a director of financial services to professionalize accounting and budgeting functions, and that outside auditors perform annual compliance reviews.
A written public comment read into the record by staff from Martha Rasmussen asked about costs and timing, asked whether splitting now could produce an appointed position before an election, and urged postponing any structural change until the public could elect new officeholders. Lisa Shepherd, policy adviser to Commissioner Sacovich, clarified the discussion was a preliminary work session and not an effort to appoint someone mid‑cycle.
No ordinance or formal action was taken at the meeting. Staff said they would share the presentation slides and follow up with additional information if the commission wishes to pursue formal steps toward separation.
The work session served as an initial fact‑finding discussion; commissioners indicated they wanted more information on costs, alternatives and timing before considering an ordinance or ballot placement.
