Weber Basin Water Conservancy District wants to issue up to $175 million in bonds to upgrade its water system and refinance existing debt. The district serves Bountiful, Woods Cross, North Salt Lake and Farmington, among other communities across Davis and Weber counties.

The district posted a public notice on Oct. 14 opening a comment period that runs through Oct. 30. A public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 29, during the board's regular meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. at district headquarters, 2837 East Highway 193, Layton.

The bonds would be classified as "water revenue and refunding bonds," according to the notice. The district would not pledge tax revenue to repay them. Instead, the bonds would be backed by revenues from the district's water system under a master resolution the board adopted on July 22, 1999.

The district said it intends to use the bond proceeds to finance water system improvements, refund certain outstanding bonds, fund debt service reserves and cover issuance costs.

The notice does not list specific projects. However, the district's board has been weighing major capital work. At its June 15 meeting, Assistant General Manager Jon Parry told trustees that several large infrastructure projects were already on the district's capital improvement list and approved for spending in coming years.

Among those projects: a $450 million Weber West Water Campus that includes a water treatment plant, a reuse plant and conveyance infrastructure. The district had already secured $14.3 million in federal Bureau of Reclamation funding for that campus, Parry said at the June meeting.

The board also approved commitment letters for two FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant applications at the same meeting. One targets the Davis Aqueduct Redundancy and Resilience Project, a $15 million effort to address seismic risk, landslide zones and drought-related pipeline stress. Parry told trustees the project benefits more than 400,000 Davis and Weber County residents by eliminating a single point of failure on the Wasatch Front.

The bond would not be repaid with tax dollars, but the district's fiscal year 2027 budget, adopted separately at the June 15 meeting, included a property tax rate increase. Finance Manager Calysta Bravo told the board the certified tax rate came in at 0.000187, adjusting ad valorem tax revenue to about $26.75 million. Trustee Logan Wilde moved to adopt the budget, Trustee Bob Stevenson seconded, and the vote was unanimous.

How much the $175 million bond could add to water rates is not spelled out in the public notice. Any rate changes would flow through the wholesale agreements cities use to buy water from Weber Basin.

Residents who want to weigh in before the hearing can send written comments to the district's Secretary/Treasurer at 2837 East Highway 193, Layton, Utah 84040. The hearing is open to the public.