Nephi council weighs police station funding after state denies tax increase

Nephi City Administrator Seth Atkinson told the city council on Oct. 6 that the Utah State Tax Commission denied the city's proposed property tax increase, meaning residents will not see an increase in the city's portion of their property taxes, according to the council minutes ^[1].

The increase was meant to help fund a new police station. Atkinson said the city is now looking at adjusting dividend transfers from city-owned utilities and at public safety impact fees tied to new growth. The council liked the idea of dividend transfers, and the minutes record a discussion of the pros and cons, including more control but less transparency. Atkinson also said the Community Impact Board approved a 30-year, $7.5 million loan at 2 percent interest. Council members asked whether several agencies would still rent office space in the building and whether the whole station should be built to emergency operations center standards or only parts of it. They asked Atkinson to bring more on the transfers to the next work session ^[1].

In its regular meeting, the council approved Resolution 10-06-2026 by a 5-0 roll call vote to restructure an interfund loan ^[1][2]. Atkinson explained that last year the council bought a property that the fire district was to acquire for a new Nephi fire station; that acquisition fell through, and the district decided not to build a station there. The property has been rented out and is being held for future development. Because the original interfund loan ran longer than 10 years and state law requires repayment within 10, it had to be restructured. No one spoke at the public hearing ^[1].

The council unanimously approved changes to the cemetery plot sales policy, limiting pre-need sales to four plots per household, requiring quarterly reports on sales and availability, and delegating sales decisions to the city recorder, with the council retaining oversight. A consultant told the council that the Utah Department of Transportation is installing middle-mile fiber along State Route 128 and Highway 50, and that a free public Wi-Fi hotspot is scheduled to go live near Nephi City Park as early as January 2027 ^[1].

In the work session, Atkinson presented an 11-year sewer rate plan with initial increases that taper over time to fund projects in the city's 2022 sewer master plan, and said it could be adjusted but that doing so would delay projects. He sought feedback and said the plan would return for consideration.

A representative of the regional organization R6 presented a master plan for a future agri-park near Nephi that would bring agricultural processing closer to local producers, with roads, power, water and wastewater for different lot sizes. R6 wants to retain ownership of the property to control the types of businesses. City staff recommended Pelorus Methods for new enterprise resource planning software after ten companies submitted proposals; the council will decide at a later meeting. Atkinson also said that under updated state law the city must sign its own cooperative agreement with the state Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to protect wildland-urban interface areas, or risk being held responsible for wildland fire costs. Because the law does not allow that agreement to be made with a special service district, the city proposed a separate agreement under which the Juab Special Service Fire District would perform the required services on the city's behalf. That agreement goes to the fire district's board at its next meeting; if the district agrees, the city would then adopt a WUI map and sign the state agreement ^[1].