Iron County commissioners approved a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Southern Utah University (SUU) and adopted 2025 budget amendments at Monday’s meeting.

Finance staff told the commission the county received unexpected geothermal lease payments (staff reported a single one‑time payment of over $600,000) and recommended using a portion of those receipts for capital planning and as a set‑aside for a future flood‑mitigation project. The staff memo proposed transferring $335,000 to municipal services to pay for a capital facilities plan and transferring $350,000 into the capital projects fund toward a multi‑year flood project for which the county’s match will be approximately $1.8 million.

Separately, the MOA with SUU memorializes staged county contributions to the America First Events Center project and other eligible uses consistent with the statutory uses of tourism and restaurant/tourism taxes. The agreement includes county recognition (plaque/pedestal), priority scheduling for county events, two fee‑waived events per academic year, semiannual accounting meetings and jointly agreed stewardship terms. John Oglesby and SUU representatives described the economic rationale; SUU and county leaders said sports and events tourism produce measurable economic impacts for the county.

During the meeting a commissioner moved to approve the memorandum of agreement; the motion referenced a total contribution of $2,750,000 over three years. The commission approved the MOA and then adopted Resolution 2025‑11 (2025 budget amendments) and Resolution 2025‑12 (2026 final budget) by voice votes.

What to watch: the MOA ties county funds (TRT/restaurant tax‑eligible uses) to SUU event capacity and scheduling; the county’s use of the geothermal funds has been described as one‑time transfers to capital planning and to a flood fund. Staff said ongoing geothermal rent revenue would be approximately $30,000 per year going forward. The county will hold semiannual meetings with SUU to review accounting and project progress.