Utah County commissioners approve amended 2018 budget to cover sheriff medical bills, fuel and election costs; retiring officer urges action on pay and staffing

The Utah County Board of County Commissioners voted 2-0 to approve a resolution amending the county's 2018 budget, reallocating funds to cover sheriff's medical bills, rising public-works fuel and parts costs, and election expenses.

The resolution moved $40,000 for a trust/account transfer to support an incentive-pay program for public works and the sheriff's office; set aside $500,000 for anticipated fuel costs in public works and an additional $100,000 for motor-pool parts; and provided $1,000,000 for the sheriff's office (with a compromise to make $500,000 immediately available and $500,000 restricted). The commission also approved $650,000 related to elections, with roughly $250,000 available now and the remainder to be restricted as needed.

County staff told commissioners the unassigned general fund balance was adequate to support the changes while maintaining the statutory minimum reserve—staff referenced a statutory minimum of about $3.7 million and noted roughly $8.3 million in unassigned capital funds. Commissioners discussed whether to place certain amounts in restricted accounts to limit spending flexibility; a compromise was reached to place portions of the allocations in restricted accounts while allowing other portions to be drawn as needed.

During the public comment period, Darren Durfee of the Utah County Sheriff's Office urged a larger allocation for medical expenses and described outstanding pharmacy, dental and hospital bills in county accounts. Durfee cited specific balances and operational impacts, saying the office had transfers but remained in arrears because many invoices are not billed until roughly 90 days after service. "I would support a larger portion than $600,000," Durfee said, and asked the commission to make funding decisions that avoid recurring shortfalls.

Durfee later used his final public-comment appearance before retirement to deliver an extended critique of county staffing and pay, saying Utah County lags comparable jurisdictions in both employee counts and compensation and warning the commission that services could suffer without revenue changes. "You have employees in the sheriff's office that work a schedule of 84 and 85.75 hours per pay period... Utah County is obligated to make a URS contribution based on the scheduled hours," Durfee said, citing the Utah Supreme Court decision O'Keefe v. Ogden to stress the county's obligations. He added: "I plead with you and urge you to take care of your employees and to add the employees to the staffing plan that are so desperately needed."

Commissioners and staff also discussed the county's Workday payroll implementation and limits on issuing retroactive 'back pay.' County staff warned that processing retroactive payments through Workday would be labor-intensive and might require external payroll consulting; commissioners noted they were exploring alternate approaches, including non-automated bonuses, but postponed any decision until additional staff or commissioners with portfolio responsibility returned.

A county staff member also reported a potential grant of roughly $160,000 from the state to offset some election equipment costs, which the county said would reduce the net election funding the commission needed to earmark.

After discussion, Commissioner Graves moved to approve and adopt the resolution amending the 2018 budget with the stipulated changes; the motion was seconded by the presiding commissioner and carried by voice vote recorded as 2-0. The board then set a closed meeting to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation and struck several regular-agenda items from today's meeting.

The commission did not take additional immediate action on back pay; staff said the issue would require further work with payroll officials. The budget amendments will be entered into the county's fiscal records and implemented consistent with the restrictions commissioners authorized.