Davis County moves to close $6 million gap with cuts, early-retirement plan and public hearing

Davis County Controller Scott Parke on Feb. 9 presented proposed adjustments to the county’s 2026 operating and capital budgets, telling the Board of Davis County Commissioners that roughly $7.2 million in unspent 2025 appropriations would be carried forward into 2026 and that the county still faces about a $6 million shortfall.

Parke said approximately $5 million of the rollovers are American Rescue Plan Act funds that must be used by year-end; those funds and other rollovers are earmarked for projects including Davis County Conference Center improvements, a West Point sewer project, the Switch Point Teen Center project and equipment purchases such as an excavator and replacement truck. Parke listed a range of rollovers and project amounts, including $312,396.17 for conference-center work and $627,173 for roads equipment.

The controller summarized how the county arrived at the remaining deficit: an initial $12 million gap that was reduced by roughly $6.5 million through a tax increase, leaving about $6 million to be addressed. He proposed a three-part approach to close that gap: departmental spending cuts, an early-retirement incentive to lower long-term payroll costs, and additional reductions to be considered during the 2027 budget cycle.

Parke said department heads submitted two scenarios—one with a 3% reduction and one with a 5% reduction—and county leadership met with each department to select proposed cuts. He also said some cost shifts will be implemented midyear, for example moving vehicle maintenance out of the General Fund and charging departments through the Fleet Fund to reflect usage.

Parke asked the commission for two procedural actions: permission to hold a public hearing the following Tuesday to finalize the budget changes and authorization for Human Resources and the Budget Committee to execute staffing adjustments (such as combining or splitting positions) without separate Commission approval; and permission to lift the county’s hiring freeze so replacements can be hired to allow knowledge transfer before senior staff retire. The commission agreed to both requests.

Parke also said opioid-settlement funds will be used to offset some cuts and to expand services where eligible, rather than supplanting existing county funds. Todd Utzinger, Legal Defender Coordinator, noted the amounts shown were lower than he expected; Parke responded that the funds can be used to supplement services and cited a forthcoming new position in the Sheriff’s Office that would qualify for coverage under the opioid funding allocations.

Vice Chair Bob Stevenson asked how much the early-retirement incentive might save; Parke said the goal is roughly $2 million. HR Director Shawn Choate said about 91 employees may be eligible for the incentive, subject to verification of service credits through Utah Retirement Systems, which HR staff are obtaining.

The clerk’s office confirmed it was not included in the current round of proposed reductions because it had already implemented roughly $142,332 (about 5.09%) in cuts prior to the 2026 budget issuance. Controller Parke noted other departments also had preexisting reductions.

The board adjourned at 3:18 p.m. The county will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes the following Tuesday to finalize adjustments and staff-execution authority; any formal budget adoption or subsequent votes will be recorded at that hearing.