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Davis County auditors report budget changes, opioid fund transfers and reclassifications that cut projected deficit
Summary
Auditor Curtis Koch reported adjustments that reduce the county's projected deficit (from $20M to $12.4M), including moving jail medical costs to Fund 52, transferring opioid settlement dollars to offset MAT and drug‑court shortfalls, reclassifying vehicles into a fleet fund and adjusting HR allocations; commissioners asked for more departmental outreach before final adoption.
Davis County Auditor Curtis Koch on Oct. 14 walked commissioners through a set of budget adjustments that he said reduced the county's projected deficit from roughly $20 million to about $12.4 million in the tentative budget. The discussion covered fund transfers, opioid funds, fleet reclassification and proposed changes to HR and administrative allocations.
Koch said the county transferred jail medical costs into Fund 52 (inmate services) to better align the expense with the service providing it. "We took the jail medical and we moved them to fund 52 inmate services," he said, describing that move as a significant reallocation designed to improve comparability and resolve recurring transfers into the general fund.
On opioid settlement dollars, Koch proposed using those funds to offset medically assisted treatment (MAT) and related drug‑court expenses. He cited a MAT cost in the jail contract of about $380,000 and additional drug‑court needs of roughly $268,568 (net of revenue). Koch acknowledged the approach may require legislative clarification and noted staff had been advised the county could seek a statutory change or face potential challenge under current law.
Koch also said the county moved vehicle costs out of historical departmental funds and into Fund 64 (fleet), with offsetting revenue transfers to support a centralized fleet program. "We moved all vehicles out of historical funds... and we put them into fund 64 fleet," he said, urging development of a fleet policy and maintenance program.
On administrative allocations, Koch proposed revised HR and auditor allocations that would shift administrative support costs to departments based on personnel counts; he estimated those reallocations could return about $1 million to the general fund. He recommended lagging some charges one year to avoid double charging departments.
Legal defender funding also drew attention: commissioners were briefed that one contracted legal defender recently withdrew and that the county is considering funding 50% of the legal‑defender request for the coming budget cycle. Commissioners discussed longer‑term options, including studying an in‑house public defender program over several years to address compensation disparities and sustainability concerns.
Procedural note: the meeting began by approving minutes from Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 by voice vote. No final budget adoption occurred at the meeting; commissioners asked for follow‑up meetings with department heads and additional modeling before finalizing allocations.
