Commissioners adopt ordinance 2026-12 to add small sales/use tax; discuss West Weber infrastructure investments

The Weber County Board of Commissioners on June 30 adopted ordinance 2026-12, authorizing a small sales and use tax increase and including newly added intent language spelling out public-safety and transportation priorities. The ordinance, introduced by county counsel Courtland Ericson and amended to add the word “diversion” to subsection 34-10-6B, passed unanimously by roll call vote.

Commissioners said they intend to program the new revenue during the regular budget process rather than leave spending open-ended. Commissioner Sharon Bolos moved to approve the ordinance with the revised language; the motion was seconded and the roll call vote recorded Bolos — yes; Jim Harvey — yes; Chair Gage Fer — yes.

Debate during the final-reading discussion focused on how the new revenue would be used in the near term, with commissioners naming priorities that include the paramedic fund (to add an ambulance unit), addressing staffing and resource needs in the county attorney’s office, and capital work already funded (including a jail medical and mental-health wing discussed elsewhere). Commissioners described the levy repeatedly in colloquial terms during debate—characterizations included “one-fifth of a penny” and “two cents on every $100”—and staff gave rough revenue illustrations during discussion.

Separately, the commission heard an annual report from Stephanie Pack on the West Weber project area (the county’s partnership with the Utah Inland Port Authority). Pack said the project-area team deployed about $10 million in infrastructure investment in the past year, including ARPA funds and an Authority Infrastructure Bank loan that supported a new regional wastewater lift station (roughly a 6-million-gallon-per-day facility). Pack also said a $25 million special assessment bond with Promontory Commerce Center will fund continued buildout of roads, water and sewer upgrades, and other horizontal infrastructure.

Pack told commissioners the Authority and partners have updated wetland-protection policies, are pursuing bird-friendly and dark-sky lighting in the project area, and are working with short-line rail operators and Class I railroads to reuse underutilized rail assets. She explicitly stated that the Authority is not incentivizing data centers in the project area and that decisions about land use remain local.

Other formal actions recorded at the meeting included approval of Resolution 27-2026 (an employer pickup covering a portion of increased public-safety employee URS contributions), approval of a memorandum of understanding with the Utah Attorney General’s Secure Task Force on human trafficking investigations, an extension of law enforcement services contracts for Ogden Valley City, an agreement for county-conducted civil parking hearings in that city, and a 20-year lease with the Friends of the Weber Morgan Children’s Justice Center. The commission also approved Resolution 28-2026 authorizing staff to give six months’ notice to explore withdrawal from the county workers-compensation fund program while it evaluates alternatives.

Commissioners said they view the sales/use tax as a consumption-based alternative to additional property-tax increases and committed to programming the receipts into public-safety and infrastructure priorities during the upcoming budget work sessions.