County Council Budget Meeting - Dec 12 6 PM

Thanks to the Summit County Tea Party, the tax increases for Service Area 6 and the County Municipal Services area have been placed on hold until the next general election in 2014. This puts the County in a tough position and the Council is looking at 3 alternatives:

1. Cut several Deputy Sheriff and Road crew positions.
2. Do some "Budget Magic" and transfer funds between the County General Fund and these 2 service districts.
3. re-institute the tax increases for the service districts.

#1 would result in increased police response time in most of the county, decreased road maintenance (more pot holes and deferred and increased long term maintenance costs) and poor snow removal.
Delays in snow removal will result in residents being late for work and tourists unable to access the resorts.

#2 will result in cuts in county wide programs and inequities in who pays for which services. Is there any reason why residents of Park City or Kamas should pay for Sheriff response to the Snyderville Basin, or pay for road maintenance or plowing there? Do residents of the unincorporated areas pay for PCPD service or snow plowing in incorporated areas?

#3 This is the only fair and efficient response. Taxes in these districts have not increased in 25-35 years. The property taxation system in Utah does NOT generate increases due to inflation. Does any one believe that it costs the same amount to pay Deputies, and road crews, buy gas and diesel and asphalt as it did 30 years ago. It is interesting to note, that no one at the last "Truth in Taxation" hearing on this subject actually wanted to cut these services, they just want them paid for by someone else.  This Tea Party crowd is just a bunch of moochers.

It is important to show up at the Budget meeting, Wednesday Dec 12, 6 PM to make our voices heard. If only the Tea Party is there, that is all the Council will hear.

FOL (Friends of the Legislature) 1 – Park City 0

It seems that the Quinns Junction saga is approaching its conclusion. The combination of a potentially damaging law suit (with possible damages on the order of magnitude of the annual County budget) and pressure from a Legislature threatening to spot zone the parcel caused our elected officials to reach agreement with Mr. Erickson. I respect their judgment on this issue. At some point when the entire power structure of the state is against you, it wise to follow the advice in the Kenny Rodger’s song,           “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ‘em” .

This entire episode in bad government is another example of Utah crony capitalism at its worst. The moral of the story is that if you have friends in high places in this state, you can get anything you want.

When I was running for House District 53 in 2010, while knocking on doors in Jeremy Ranch, I met a man who told me his story of crony capitalism. He had bid on series of installation contracts for state facilities and was consistently the low bidder.  After another losing bid, he approached the responsible party in the state agency and asked why he was unsuccessful, even with the low bid. He was told that he did not understand the system and that he did not have the right friends. When he got irate and said he would sue, he was told that if he did that, he would never get a state contract.

Until we break the power of the establishment in the state government we are doomed to more of the same.  In November you will get a chance to start to change state government. Chris Robinson has a great chance to win the House District 54 race. The Democratic Party is likely to nominate retired Major General Peter Cooke for Governor. We will also have a very competitive race in Senate District 19, representing the northern part of Summit County.

In November, when you go to the polls – Remember Quinns Junction. Let’s bring honest government back to Utah.