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Facilities manager details utility reallocation and modest capital requests to budget committee
Summary
Lane Rose told the Davis County Budget Committee that utilities have been moved back into departmental accounts and presented modest increases and capital requests — including $50,000 for landscape replacement, $10,000 for egress lights, $20,000 in tourism-funded building maintenance, and elevator service contracts — and committee members discussed returning $8 million to capital projects for transparency.
Davis County facilities manager Lane Rose told the Davis County Budget Committee on an unspecified date that the county has shifted utility costs back into departmental accounts and used 12 months of actual billing to recalibrate allocations.
"This is the first year we started this...from 10 on, this is just holding up our projections on utilities for all the departments," Lane said, explaining that the office used August-to-August actuals because heating, gas and cooling costs fluctuate.
Rose said the change means departments now see actual utility bills in their accounts and must approve expenses even though facilities continues to pay the invoices. He said the shift is intended to make charges fairer across departments and to allow managers to spot problems such as water leaks.
Beyond utilities, Rose asked the committee for a small set of operational increases and several capital or maintenance items. He requested $1,900 to cover rising uniform and linen costs and an increase in custodial operational supplies, citing five-year price growth for soap, paper and other consumables. For landscaping, Rose requested an additional $50,000 to begin replacing aging plantings countywide as part of a five-year plan focused on sustainable plantings and water savings.
The presentation included a $10,000 request to replace corroded egress lighting on the west side of a building between the library and the cabin building, and a $20,000 increase tied to tourism funds to cover maintenance on a recently completed 120,000-square-foot facility (filters, belts, motors and related equipment). Rose also said three elevators at the Western Sports Park must be placed on annual service contracts to remain code-compliant and to enable communications in entrapment events.
On amenities, Rose described three aging ice machines that have exceeded typical 8–10 year service lives (some approaching 15 years) and suggested prioritizing a single replacement on the first floor if budget constraints require it.
A committee member noted last year’s transfer of $8,000,000 from capital projects into the animal care operating fund to build the animal care facility and proposed transferring that money back into capital projects so facilities staff would have clearer transparency over construction expenditures. The member said the total authorized expense would not change — only the fund source.
Committee members also discussed setting a consistent 12-month actuals period (for example July–June) as the basis for future utility allocations so departments have predictability in charges; Rose said he would meet with department staff in the first year to implement the approach.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the requests during the presentation; members described the presentation as straightforward and thanked Rose for the overview. The meeting moved on after several procedural items and closing remarks.
