Nephi sets Nov. 3 hearing on utility transfers for a new public safety building

The Nephi City Council will hold a public hearing Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. on a budget amendment that moves additional money from five city-owned utility funds to the general fund to pay debt service on a bond for a new public safety building, according to a notice the city posted Oct. 26. The proposed transfers are $10,182 from water, $2,589 from sewer, $54,662 from electric, $34,392 from natural gas and $3,515 from solid waste, which add up to $105,340 for the 2027 fiscal year. The notice puts each transfer at 0.1% to 0.6% of that fund's expenditures. ^[2]

The council discussed the approach at its Oct. 13 work session. According to the minutes, because the state denied the city's request to raise property taxes, the city looked at another general fund source the council controls: dividend transfers from the utility funds, which have been set at 8% of gross revenues for many years. A change in those transfers could do what the property tax was meant to do, which was pay for bonds to build the station, the minutes say. ^[1]

The city has approval for a $7.5 million, 2% loan from the Community Impact Board that would fund about half of the station's cost, according to the minutes. Making the bond payment on it would take roughly a 2% increase in the dividend transfers, which the minutes put at about a $9.97-a-month increase. The minutes say the item was to come back for council action the following week. ^[1]

Council members said state partners that would occupy the building should pay their share of the interior build-out and any higher standards tenants require. Council Member Travis Worwood said agencies renting space should help pay in proportion to their use and that only the part of the building serving as an emergency operations center should be built to those standards. ^[1]

Separately, the council's Oct. 20 agenda listed adoption of a long-term sewer rate plan, and the city's ordinance summary says the council adopted Ordinance 10-20-2026 that day, establishing a schedule of sewer fees. The ordinance summary does not list the rates, and minutes of the Oct. 20 meeting were not yet posted when this story was written. At the work session, City Administrator Seth Atkinson had presented an 11-year sewer rate plan built with new modeling software to fund capital projects while keeping a positive fund balance. ^[1][3][4]

Atkinson also updated the council on the city's golf course expansion. Heavy rain contributed to upgrading the drainage system from 12-inch pipe to 36- and 48-inch pipes, and finding a well site is the other source of delay, he said. Golf Director Mike Booth gave an early fall 2027 target for opening. Council Member JD Parady said he attended a data center informational meeting along with about 120 other county residents and wants more meetings to educate the community; Worwood said safeguards are needed. Mayor Justin Seely, who also attended, said he wants more meetings to inform the public. ^[1]