Council baseline

Growth, tax and housing votes at a glance

Recorded roll calls while in office. Wasatch County Council: Jan 2023 – Sep 2, 2026. Heber City Council / CRA: Jan 2020 – Sep 1, 2026 (Rachel Kahler left office Dec 2023). Growth = votes this site labels Development or PID. Tax = votes labeled Tax. Affordable housing = 45 hand-reviewed votes whose recorded subject is affordable or attainable housing (14 housing-only items) or that set housing units, fees or obligations as a stated term of a larger item (31 items, such as development agreements, zoning codes and general plans). Housing overlaps the other areas: 41 of the 45 housing votes also count in Growth and 1 in Tax.

Each of the six officials voted yes on at least 88% of the growth votes and at least 93% of the tax votes they cast. On housing, Rowland, Johnston and Ostergaard cast no nay votes, Searle cast one, and Kahler cast five. Morgan Murdock has no housing roll calls in the record.

Key housing votes, by candidate

Erik Rowland: 10 housing roll calls, all aye; 8 were larger items with a housing term.

• Feb 1, 2023: aye on the second amendment to the Skyridge/Marina moderate income housing agreement, 7-0. Minutes, p. 5)
• Aug 16, 2023: seconded and voted aye on the Strawberry Ranch plat amendment, which raised the project's affordable-housing obligation from 0.65 to 1 AUE and required the added fee in lieu before recording, 5-2. Minutes, p. 28; housing terms pp. 22-23)
• Nov 6, 2024: aye on the Jordanelle View master plan; staff findings show an affordable-housing fee in lieu of $28,000 per AUE ($201,600), 7-0. Minutes, p. 40; housing terms p. 38)
• Nov 19, 2025: seconded and voted aye on the SK Hart zone map amendment, whose condition says a moderate-income housing fee may be required, 4-1. Minutes, p. 7)
• Jul 15, 2026: aye on the new county General Plan (Ordinance 26-11), 6-0. Planning Commission findings say it meets the moderate-income housing requirement with ten housing strategies. Council minutes, p. 7); Planning Commission minutes, packet p. 7

Luke Searle: 10 housing roll calls, 9 aye and 1 nay. He voted on the same items as Rowland.

• Nov 19, 2025: nay on the SK Hart zone map amendment (passed 4-1). The minutes record that he supported requesting a moderate-income housing fee in lieu, so this nay is not on the record as a vote against housing. Minutes, p. 7)
• Aye on the Skyridge/Marina moderate income housing agreement amendment (Feb 1, 2023), Strawberry Ranch (Aug 16, 2023), Jordanelle View (Nov 6, 2024) and the General Plan (Jul 15, 2026), with the same sources as above.

Mike Johnston: 35 housing roll calls, 34 aye and 0 nay, with 1 recusal.

• Sep 1, 2020: moved a 50% building permit fee cut (about $44,000) for Mountainlands Community Housing Trust's Parkview Place affordable project; it failed 2-3. Minutes, p. 6
• Dec 15, 2020 and Mar 2, 2021: moved the Old Mill Village concept (at least 15% deed-restricted affordable units) and its master development agreement, both 3-2. Minutes, p. 12; Minutes, p. 6
• Moderate Income Housing Plan and reports: aye on Nov 17, 2020 (p. 9), Nov 16, 2021 (p. 6), Sep 6, 2022 (p. 13) and Feb 7, 2023 (p. 9).
• Feb 7, 2023: recused on the Parkview Place amendment that would have let 10 affordable homes sell at market rate. Minutes, p. 8
• Sep 2023: moved the rewrite of the Affordable Housing chapter, Ordinance 2023-20, 5-0 (the minutes date the vote Sep 19 and the signed ordinance says Sep 25). Ordinance, p. 7; Sep 19, 2023 minutes, p. 10)
• May 20, 2025: moved Ordinance 2025-09, which lets the City keep affordable-housing fee-in-lieu money instead of passing it to the Wasatch County Housing Authority, 4-0. Ordinance, p. 1; Minutes, p. 8
• Dec 16, 2025: aye on negotiating a City loan (up to $3.1 million at 4%) to cover impact fees for Celebration Workforce Housing, a 100% deed-restricted project, 5-0. Minutes, p. 7

Sid Ostergaard: 7 housing roll calls, all aye.

• Feb 20, 2024: seconded the Jordanelle Ridge (Fitzgerald) preliminary approval with 18 affordable units and affordable-housing phasing, 3-0. Minutes, p. 7
• Mar 19, 2024: aye on adding a 10% affordable-housing dedication in the C-2 and C-3 zones, 4-1. Minutes, p. 7
• Jan 21, 2025: seconded the North Village Crossings and Harvest Village development agreements, which require the affordable housing to be built before the hotel, 4-1. Minutes, p. 8; housing terms p. 7
• May 20, 2025: aye on Ordinance 2025-09 (City keeps fee-in-lieu money). Ordinance, p. 1
• Dec 16, 2025: aye on the Celebration Workforce Housing impact-fee loan, 5-0. Minutes, p. 7

Morgan Murdock: no housing roll calls in the record (Jan 6 – Sep 1, 2026). The council discussed the Celebration Housing development agreement on Jun 16, Jul 7 and Aug 4, 2026 without taking a vote. Jun 16 minutes, p. 3; Jul 7 minutes, p. 2; Aug 4 minutes, p. 2

Rachel Kahler: 28 housing roll calls, 21 aye, 5 nay and 2 absent.

• Sep 1, 2020: nay on the 50% building permit fee cut for Mountainlands' Parkview Place affordable project (failed 2-3). Minutes, p. 6
• Old Mill Village: nay on the concept (Dec 15, 2020), the master development agreement (Mar 2, 2021) and its first amendment rewriting the owner-occupancy rules for the deed-restricted homes (Dec 21, 2021), all passed 3-2. Minutes, p. 12; Minutes, p. 6; Minutes, p. 7, terms p. 6
• Feb 7, 2023: nay on letting 10 Parkview Place affordable homes sell at market rate; she said she wanted the builder to go to the Housing Authority first. The motion failed. Minutes, p. 8
• Moved the 2020 Moderate Income Housing Report and plan update (Nov 17, 2020), the 2022 plan update (Sep 6, 2022) and the 2023 plan update (Feb 7, 2023), all unanimous. p. 9; p. 13; p. 9

What the record does not show. Morgan Murdock has no housing roll call. A yes is not always a pro-housing vote and a no is not always an anti-housing vote: for example, a yes on the Feb 7, 2023 Parkview Place item would have converted affordable homes to market rate. Not counted as housing: accessory dwelling unit (ADU) rules, such as the Jul 20, 2021 ADU ordinance (Kahler nay) (p. 9); procedural votes (continuances, consent pulls, calls of the question); and the Nov 20, 2024 county vote to join Heber's downtown CRA, because the motion does not state the housing set-aside presented earlier (it tied 3-3 with Rowland and Searle voting aye, so participation was not approved; p. 20)). On Sep 2, 2026 the county council continued its discussion of affordable housing structure and funding without a decision (draft minutes, p. 5)). No county council roll call on a county moderate-income housing report was found. Votes Rowland and Searle cast on special service district boards are not in these counts; see Water rates / district billing.

How to read this. Yes % of cast = Aye ÷ (Aye + Nay). Abstentions, recusals, absences and unrecorded votes are left out of the percentage but shown in the counts. Growth, Tax, Development, PID and Affordable housing are this site's research labels, not official categories. The Tax label includes routine items such as Board of Equalization decisions, so a nay there is not automatically a vote against a tax increase. The county and city councils have different agendas, and these officials served different terms, so raw counts are not directly comparable.

Each vote, with its source minutes and page number, is listed on the candidate pages: Erik Rowland · Luke Searle · Mike Johnston · Sid Ostergaard · Morgan Murdock · Rachel Kahler

Source: council minutes compiled by Wasatch Accountability. Not an official county publication.

Water rates / district billing

Erik Rowland votes on Jordanelle Special Service District (JSSD) and Twin Creeks Special Service District (TCSSD) water rates, reservation fees, impact fees, and water dedication because the Wasatch County Council sits as the governing board of both districts. He has been on the county council since January 2023. He previously served on the Heber City Council from 2012 through 2015. This page covers his recorded district-board votes on those items, and what is and is not documented about water rates from his city term.

These are district-board roll calls, not ordinary county-council agenda votes. They do not appear in the Wasatch totals on the council-baseline table. Every vote below is from posted district minutes. No nays were found on these items.

Documented votes

Context, not votes he cast

These figures describe schedules and studies. They are not roll calls that name Rowland.

What is safe to say

• On May 12, 2026, as a JSSD board member, he voted aye on Resolution 2026-02 (new wholesale water and sewer rates) and Resolution 2026-03 (water shortage management plan). Both passed with ayes from Bonner, Rowland, Crittenden, Searle and Park, and no nays. (Minutes, May 12 2026, pp. 2–3; hearing notice.)
• On Nov 12, 2024, as a TCSSD board member, he made the motion to approve Resolution 2024-03 (2024 Water Reservation Fee Analysis); Farrell seconded; the vote was unanimous. The same night he moved to accept the quarterly financials and preliminary 2025 budget and to set the Dec 10, 2024 public hearing; staff said already-approved rate-study increases were figured into that budget. (Minutes, Nov 12 2024, pp. 2–3 and 5–6.)
• On Apr 8, 2025, he made the motion for JSSD Resolution 2025-03 amending the water dedication policy; it passed unanimously among members present. (Minutes, Apr 8 2025, pp. 2–3.)
• On Nov 5, 2025, he made the motion for JSSD Resolution 2025-05 adopting the sewer impact-fee facilities plan and analysis; it passed unanimously among members present. That plan is the tool that charges growth rather than the monthly bill. (Minutes, Nov 5 2025, pp. 1–3.)
• The culinary tier schedule residents are paying was adopted January 10, 2023, per the district's adopted rate study; the prior schedule dated to 2015; the study's 2026 figures for a 1-inch-and-smaller meter are a $92.09 base, $7.70/kgal tier 2, and $21.65/kgal tier 4. (Rate study, pp. 4 and 6.)
• Heber's CAFR rate table for his city years shows base $13 (2012, first 7,000 gallons free), $12.50 (2013, free block ended), and $16.25 (2015). (2021 CAFR, p. 102.)

What the record does not show

• No nays were found on the district votes listed above.
• No January 10, 2023 JSSD board minutes were found that show a roll call on the culinary rate adoption, so this page does not attribute that adoption vote to Rowland.
• No named roll call was found for Rowland on a 2012–2015 Heber City water-rate ordinance.
• A specific claim that the city adopted a 12% culinary increase on January 7, 2016 is not used here: the CAFR schedule shows the residential base moving from $16.25 (2015) to $19.50 (2016), after his term, but the posted CAFRs checked do not name a January 7, 2016 12% culinary ordinance. A later CAFR MD&A line about "5% for Culinary Water, 12% for Waste Water" refers to a different fiscal year.
• These district-board votes are not counted in the Wasatch "every recorded roll call" totals on his member page.

Compiled from public JSSD and TCSSD minutes, district rate studies, and Heber City CAFRs. Not an official county, city, or district publication.