Davis County budget panel backs exploring lease for Western Sports Park, moving tourism dollars to capital as deficit widens

Davis County budget officials spent much of their Nov. 7 meeting debating a proposed lease arrangement for the Western Sports Park and whether tourism‑related taxes should be shifted into the county’s capital reserves.

Curtis Goh, the county auditor, told commissioners that an emailed memo had incorrectly attributed 100 acres to a 1968 general obligation bond and said the accurate figure is 57 acres purchased with a general obligation bond; the remaining parcel was acquired with a separate GEO bond tied to the justice complex. "That's not correct. That's a false statement," Goh said, and added: "I can validate that 57 acres were purchased with a general obligation bond" (first raised in the meeting's review of the memo).

Goh said the budget's land‑value estimates came from the assessor and cited nearby vacant parcels with 2024 per‑acre assessor values around $377,000–$383,000 as context for fair‑market valuation. He also noted that tourism revenues, which fund some of the WSP debt service, had been rising (restaurants up roughly 8.5% year over year) and that the WSP bond payment is already budgeted. "This is going to be a net gain for the county," he said as commissioners weighed options for structuring the county's interest in the site.

Several commissioners favored a lease rather than an outright sale, saying a lease preserves flexibility for future commissions and allows revenue to be parked into capital accounts. Commissioners asked staff to convene a smaller working group with the assessor and attorneys to set a price and terms. Goh proposed, and commissioners discussed, a one‑time transfer of tourism dollars out of Fund 10 into capital reserves (Fund 45) to create a dedicated capital resource for projects.

Staff cautioned that the proposed transfer would deepen Fund 10’s projected spend‑down. Estimates discussed in the meeting put the spend‑down near $9.0 million after the transfer, up from earlier projections around $7.5 million. Commissioners said they expect to present the tentative changes at the Dec. 3 public hearing and vote on final budgets on Dec. 10, allowing one week for public comment to be considered.

The committee also agreed to begin public engagement and internal "stress tests" for departments to understand what a 10% reduction in departmental budgets would mean for services — part of a planning posture that several commissioners said should precede any decision on a future tax increase. One commissioner offered a back‑of‑envelope estimate that a $6 million package could raise the average household tax burden by about $40–$50 annually.

The work group plans to include the assessor and attorneys and to return to the commission with recommended lease terms, price considerations and documentation that explains the proposed transfer to future commissions and auditors. The commission adjourned at about 11:17 a.m.; staff confirmed the Dec. 3 evening public hearing and the Dec. 10 final vote schedule.

Next steps: staff will convene the working group, meet with the assessor and attorneys, and report back so commissioners can craft public materials ahead of the Dec. 3 public hearing.