The Utah Permanent Community Impact Board awarded a $3.1 million 20-year, zero percent interest local to the Carbon County building authority on March 2.
The announcement came on the heels of the county’s growing list of funding for projects.
The CIB approved the award for the county toward the construction of a 33,000 square foot building to be used by the department of natural resources.
Once completed, the facility will be leased to the Utah Department of Natural Resources for regional offices for various divisions.
Agencies under the umbrella of the DNR include wildlife and water services; oil, gas and mining; forestry, fire and state lands; state parks and recreation; water rights; and the Utah Geological Survey.
Not all divisions are expected to be housed in the facility. But agencies already located in Price such as wildlife services and DOGM are likely to move to the building.
Carbon government will operate the facility in a similar manner to the 7th District Court complex, which is owned by the county and leased to the state.
On March 1, the county building authority reviewed different projects currently in the works, many of which are funded with CIB monies.
The county projects include the ambulance garage under construction on Airport Road; the road shop, also to be constructed on Airport Road, the North Springs Shooting Sports Complex, near the ghost town of Wattis; and the expansion of the exhibition building at the county fairgrounds. All of those buildings will be built on land owned by the county building authority, which will be used as security on bonds issued on the projects. A fifth project, the reconstruction of Carbonville Road is already underway. The road reconstruction project
The total bonded value of the five projects is more than $6.25 million. The county building authority authorized the issuance and sale of bonds to pay for the projects.
And while the county is bonding for well over half of the cost of the projects, an additional $3.46 million has been awarded by the CIB in the form of grants, with an additional $500,000 coming from the Carbon County Recreation and Transportation Special Service District.
Both the CIB and the special service district receive their funding through mineral leases in the state. When an energy company pays royalties to the federal government on mineral leases, the federal government gets a 50 percent cut, with the state receiving the other half. Under Utah law, the state’s portion is split 60-40 with the counties in which the money is generated.
While the actual formulas used are more complicated than en even split, in the end, the federal government keeps 50 percent, the state keeps 30 percent and counties receive 20 percent.
The county’s special service district funds come from the 20 percent kicked back to counties and CIB funding comes from the 30 percent retained by the state.
Carbon County is well-represented on the Community Impact Board and as a result, receives a substantial portion of funding allocated by the CIB. In the most recent funding cycle for example, the county received the largest portion.
In addition to the $3.1 million for Carbon County, other finds were awarded to Manilla, receiving a $74,000 grant and $74,000, zero interest, 15 year loan; College of Eastern Utah, receiving a $25,000 supplemental grant for preservation and protection of historical ancestral pueblo ruins in San Juan County; Daggett County, receiving a $66,436 grant to replace a front-end loader; and $33,250 for Cleveland to replace a 20-year-old lawnmower.
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