Weber County’s $324.1M budget, focus of hearing, is still to be approved
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- Weber County Sheriff Ryan Arbon stands in the new sheriff’s office warehouse in Ogden on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022.
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- James Retallick, who heads the Weber Public Defender Group, in an undated photo.
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- The David Eccles Conference Center glows along Washington Boulevard in Ogden on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
OGDEN — Weber County’s proposed spending plan for 2023 further solidifies creation of the new county public defender’s office.
Given continuing difficulties in filling vacancies in the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, it also calls for the elimination of 12 vacant posts, with the funding earmarked for those positions to be used instead to raise the pay of actual sworn officers. That, officials hope, will help with employee retention.
The first of some $50 million in spending of federal American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, money is contemplated in 2023, according to the budget, while the county-owned Eccles Conference Center is on tap for around $8.8 million in upgrades.
The proposed budget calls for spending of $324.1 million all, a big jump from $274.7 million for 2022, with the boost stemming mainly from the ARPA funding, to be used in 2023 and 2024. It’s been in the works since August, Weber County commissioners held a public hearing on the plan on Tuesday and County Commissioner Gage Froerer expects it’ll be put to commissioners for formal approval in early December. No one commented on the budget at Tuesday’s public hearing.
Here are some of the highlights of the budget:
Weber Public Defender Group: It calls for creation of 13 public defender posts as the Weber Public Defender Group solidifies into a formal county office and public defenders become official county employees. Weber County’s public defenders had largely been contract workers, but county officials earlier this year turned it into an in-house operation.
As is, the office has 10 full-time employees, including nine attorneys and an administrative assistant, said James Retallick, who directs the office and serves as one of the lawyers. Additional contracted attorneys also serve the office.
Weber County Comptroller Scott Parke said the attorneys for 2023 are to be funded with a mix of grant funds and county revenue.
“Given the rapid and ever-increasing caseload, we will need more and more staff to meet the demand. At present, we have fewer public defenders than Davis County while having twice the caseload,” Retallick said.
He said he’s trying to emphasize the import of focusing “more on the individual rather than the case.” He hopes the office’s creation makes a difference for those who seek court representation from public defenders.
“We hope to reduce individual caseloads so more attention can be devoted to the individual. We hope that with the careful addition of specialized staff, we can provide our clients with the greatest chance of success, which will ultimately result in reduced recidivism rates,” Retallick said.
Froerer said he hopes the new arrangement reduces the number of lawsuits filed against Weber County by defendants stemming from dissatisfaction with the representation they receive from public defenders. He foresees a dip in county legal expenses by $1 million to $2 million a year with the expected decline in legal action against Weber County.
Sheriff’s Office: Law enforcement agencies across the state, including the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, have struggled with recruitment and retention of officers, prompting many agencies to boost pay.
Parke said the sheriff’s office has around 30 vacancies and 12 of those will be eliminated to create a pool of revenue to raise the pay of actual officers and corrections officials.
As is, the sheriff’s office currently employs 269 sworn officers, a figure that doesn’t include civilian employees, according to Sheriff Ryan Arbon. Boosting pay, he hopes, keeps that figure from slipping.
“We wanted to get everybody up where they don’t want to go to another agency for more money,” Arbon said.
Though not at full staffing, Arbon and Parke said the sheriff’s office is managing.
“We’ve been operating short-handed for such a long time that we’re kind of used to it. We need to get a few extra bodies in there, though, or we’re going to burn people out,” Parke said.
ARPA: The ARPA funding, pushed by the administration of President Joe Biden and distributed around the country, is to be used on sewer, water and broadband projects, according to Froerer.
“It will allow the county to do a lot of good,” said Parke. The $50 million or so coming to Weber County was collected last year and this year and is to be spent in 2023 and 2024.
Eccles Conference Center: Some $5.8 million is earmarked in the 2023 budget for improvements to the facility at 2415 Washington Blvd. with another $3 million to be included in the 2024 spending plan.
Parke told county officials the plans are proceeding. “We’re doing a design. We’ve got some architects. We’re doing a bid,” he said, labeling the proposed work a “fairly significant overhaul.”
Commissioner Scott Jenkins said funding for the planned improvements comes in part from savings stemming from paying off unrelated bonds early. The county, Parke added, has also been setting aside funds for the project.
Property taxes: Weber County commissioners approved a 4.5% property tax hike in late 2021 that is generating funds for 2023.
Froerer doesn’t foresee the need for hikes in the near term but said a small boost may be needed in 2024 or 2025 to keep pace with expected needs and expenses.
Weber Center: Another $25 million in capital spending is earmarked in the proposed budget for a new seat of county operations, currently housed in the Weber Center in central Ogden. The money, though, would only be tapped if an unnamed “large company” interested in potentially acquiring the Weber Center follows through on that proposal, forcing county officials to seek new digs, according to Froerer.
He didn’t name the company, part of the aerospace sector, and suspects odds are less than even that it actually pursues the Weber Center plans. He hopes for more definitive information in early 2023.
Independent of the unnamed company’s apparent interest, county officials have discussed the possibility of moving from the Weber Center in recent years.