Ogden council adopts 2025-26 budget 5-2 after moving $8 million in ARPA funds out of jail-building purchase plan
June 17, 2025, 6:00 p.m. · Council Chambers, Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Blvd., Ogden
The council adopted the fiscal 2025-26 budget 5-2, with Council Member Shaun Myers and Vice Chair Richard Hyer opposed, after amending Schedule A-1 to move $8 million back to the capital fund's future projects account. The money had been slated for buying and demolishing the Weber County jail building ($5 million), Union Station campus improvements and an all-abilities park. The council also voted 7-0 on a $4,689,300 budget amendment, the 2026-2030 capital plan, salary schedules and budget goals, and heard public hearings on utility fund transfers and executive officer pay.
From the approved minutes. Updated October 14, 2026.
Decisions at a glance
Agenda, item by item
Budget
Fiscal 2024-25 budget amendment of $4,689,300 (Ordinance 2025-15)
Approved · 7-0
The council raised the 2024-25 budget by $4,689,300, mostly grants: $2,123,500 recognizing New Markets Tax Credit funding for the Marshall N. White Center, RAMP grants of $162,875 for Bonneville Park ballfields and $200,000 each for Lester Park playground enhancements and pickleball courts, $491,875 for the Ogden Business Exchange surf wave project, and smaller state and federal grants. Internal service funds add $400,000 for fleet and facilities and $500,000 for IT purchases. A $11,875 donation for youth swimming lessons at the center was also recognized. No one spoke at the hearing.
- Budget$4.69 million
- Grant$2.12 million
- Grant$562,875
- Grant$491,875
Roads and utilities
Capital Improvement Plan for fiscal 2026-2030 (Ordinance 2025-16)
Approved · 7-0
The council approved the five-year plan of 92 projects, 27 of them new, totaling $249,362,741, with $13,620,300 proposed from the General Fund and $29,722,450 from other funds in FY26. The Planning Commission found a traffic signal at 1100 North and Monroe Boulevard and a community field house with no site to be inconsistent with the General Plan. Travis Pate urged more attention to historic preservation in capital projects. Staff will schedule a work session for the council to rank projects.
- Budget$249.4 million
Taxes and fees
Public hearing: transfers from utility funds to the General Fund
No action
The council held a required hearing on proposed fiscal 2025-26 transfers of $3,475,925 from water, $1,835,650 from sanitary sewer, $799,425 from storm sewer and $935,700 from refuse, equal to franchise and property taxes paid by private utilities. Executive Director Eller-Smith said a consultant study found the 5 percent administrative portion justified, that Provo's transfer equals 20 percent of its enterprise expenditures versus Ogden's 12 percent, and that ending transfers while raising property tax would cost taxpayers more because tax-exempt owners pay utility rates but not property tax. Joseph DeGraffenried and Debra Darrington said water bills are high. Kerry Wangsgard said money collected for a purpose should be used for it and called the transfers creative financing. Heath Satow said the transfer made sense to him but asked the city to look at charging nonprofits. Travis Pate asked about using the administrative fee for an infrastructure audit, which Council Member Choberka supported. No action was taken.
- Payment$7.05 million
Budget
Public hearing: executive municipal officer pay increases
No action
As required by S.B. 91, the council heard comment on a 2.97 percent cost-of-living raise and a merit increase for executive municipal officers such as department heads and chiefs. Executive Director Eller-Smith said the merit increase for general employees was raised to 2 percent, about $200,000. Kerry Wangsgard questioned across-the-board raises, and Heath Satow asked the council to examine pay for top earners. No action was taken.
Budget
Budget goals, salary schedules and final fiscal 2025-26 budget (Resolution 2025-12, Ordinances 2025-17 and 2025-19)
Approved with conditions · 5-2
The council approved budget goals and guidelines (7-0) and salary schedules (7-0), which include a 2.97 percent cost-of-living raise, a 4 percent step increase for sworn staff, a net one new position and up to a 2 percent merit increase. Council Member Myers said he would vote for them but objected to the half-point merit increase, saying it raises Ogden's average raise to about 4.97 percent versus a national average near 3.5 percent and compounds each year, and noted debt-service sources for the WonderBlock, Union Station and Marshall N. White Center bonds are not finalized. On the budget, which is about 7.8 percent above last year, Council Member Graf moved to adopt it while moving $8 million of ARPA funds from the three projects back to the future projects fund. Vice Chair Hyer asked that the $5 million for buying the Weber County jail building stay, citing ongoing negotiations that cannot be disclosed; Mayor Nadolski said he wants to acquire and demolish the aging building to open downtown space, possibly for a future Winter Olympics medals plaza. Graf, Blair, Choberka, Richey and Chair White voted yes; Myers and Hyer voted no. The county's certified tax rate arrived the same day and the budget projected about $900,000 more property tax than it will yield.
- Budget$8.00 million
- Land deal$5.00 million to Weber County
- Resolution 2025-12 and Ordinance 2025-17: 7-0
- Ordinance 2025-19 (final budget) with amended Schedule A-1: 5-2
Other
Mayor's comments on immigration enforcement
Discussed
Mayor Nadolski said the city does not enforce federal immigration law, that criminal laws will be enforced and that he will not ask police to enforce laws they lack authority to enforce. Chair White and Council Member Richey said the community feels fear and anxiety and that the role of local police should be defined.
City code
Work session: partial vacation of Stewart Drive and turf limits for new homes
Discussed
Assistant Planning Director Joe Simpson described a request by The Boyer Company to vacate a strip about 440 feet long and up to 8 feet wide (2,475 square feet) of Stewart Drive in Business Depot Ogden so a new industrial building at 398 Stewart Drive can meet a 20-foot front setback. Planning Director Barton Brierley proposed limiting turf to 35 percent of front and side yard landscaping for new single-family homes, requiring at least 50 percent living plants facing the street and barriers to keep rock and mulch from being used for parking. The change satisfies a condition of a $10 million state Department of Natural Resources grant for the Ogden Canyon waterline. Also discussed was an expected property-tax shortfall of about $900,000 and missing funding for Lester Park and a splash pad.
- Grant$10.0 million to Utah Department of Natural Resources
What residents said
Utility rates and fund transfersEmployee pay increasesWeber County jail building purchaseCrime near bus rapid transit corridor
Travis Pate praised the My Hometown Ogden program and worried about developers' impact on downtown. Debra Darrington asked the city to remember long-term residents and keep promised Lester Park improvements, and in the budget hearing raised crime along 25th Street and the bus rapid transit corridor.