Minutes for 2004-04-27, Direct pdf link.
MINUTESOF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF WEBER COUNTY
Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 10:00 a.m.
Commission Chambers, Weber Center, Ogden, Utah
Each Commission meeting is recorded on CD or audio tape, which is available to the public through the County Clerk's Office.
In accordance with the requirements of Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-7(1)(d), the County Clerk records in the minutes the names of all citizens who appear and speak at a County Commission meeting and the substance "in brief" of their comments. Such statements may include opinion or purported facts. The County does not verify the accuracy or truth of any statement but includes it as part of the record pursuant to state law.
Commissioners Present: Commissioner Camille T. Cain, Chair and Commissioner Kenneth A. Bischoff. Commissioner Glen H. Burton was excused.
Others Present: Linda G. Lunceford, Clerk/Auditor; Monette Hurtado, Deputy County Attorney. Fátima Blackford, Clerk/Auditor's Office, took minutes.
A. Welcome by Chair Cain
B. Pledge of Allegiance was conducted by Patty Burton
C. Thought of the Day was offered by Chair Cain
D. Consent Items:
1. Purchase Orders in the amount of $63,832.42
2. Warrants #187597 - #187865 in the amount of $862,776.60
3. Minutes of Regular Commission Meeting held on April 20, 2004
4. Request by the Sheriff's Office to surplus two inoperable fax machines
Commissioner Bischoff moved to approve the consent items; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
E. First Quarter Report of the Ogden/Weber Convention and Visitor's Bureau (Bureau)
Shelleice Stokes, Bureau President, presented the first quarter report per the current contract with the county for a sales and marketing program to facilitate the promotion and booking of conventions, meetings and events at the county's publicly owned tourism venues, and for booking of hotel rooms in conjunction with tours, conferences, events and general tourism.
Ms. Stokes stated that the Bureau's financial statement was cash positive and they also had a fund balance reserve for contingencies. She gave an overview of projects the Bureau was involved in and stated they had completed their staffing and had started the 2003 audit. Tanna McTee, Director of Sales, stated that the team was doing a fantastic job and was working hard to bring people to the community for potential meetings. She said they were ahead of their goals for both room nights and for the Golden Spike Event Center. She highlighted some of the upcoming events and projects.
F. Action Items:
1. Agreement between Weber County & Utah Association of Counties (UAC)Relating to Collection of Transient Room Tax - Contract C2004-47
Chair Cain explained the purpose for the use of these taxes and noted that the process for their collection (up to now done by the State) had been cumbersome and inefficient for the counties in the State. A number of counties got together and determined that it would be in the best interest of counties to collect their own tax and a mechanism would be set up to follow up, properly audit and make sure hotels were paying on time and receiving the benefit in the community of that payment. Weber County notified the Utah State Tax Commission of its intent to collect the Transient Room Tax itself from hotels in the county beginning with July 1, 2004. Those funds will remain in the county's possession and all documentation of that revenue will be forwarded immediately to a contract agent with UAC, where the records will be compiled, maintained and audited. The State and the county will have access to that information. The county will pay the 1 ½ % of the tax (currently being paid to the State) to UAC for the services.
Commissioner Bischoff moved to approve Contract C2004-47, Agreement between Weber County and the Utah Association of Counties relating to the collection of Transient Room Tax; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
2. Request for removals from tax sale as follows:
1. Weber County property - water charges, LSN 19-059-0016
2. Struck off to the county in 2003, LSN 01-051-0002
3. To be removed for further research by the attorney's office, part of DDO in the county, federal government transferred to Ogden City. It has privilege taxes and has to get a judgment from the court, LSN 12-177-0001
4. Civil case filed in the court for claims of ownership after the owners' death, Wesland Development, LSNs 01-017-0023, 01-017-0024, 01-017-0026, 06-093-0010, 06-093-0011, 06-168-0004
5. To be removed for bankruptcy filings
6. To be removed from prior years-suggested to be removed by the Recorder and/or Surveyor
7. Request for approval of tax sale extensions
1-4. Margarit Nersisian, Clerk/Auditor's Office, gave an overview of the listed items 1 through 4: (1) Ms. Nersisian had verified that the Pineview water charges were valid and said the county would pay them; (2) This property had not been sold at last year's tax sale. Monette Hurtado, Deputy County Attorney, explained that this property had remained on the tax sale list so the taxes did not have to be calculated at a future time period. It is necessary to show that the property has gone through a tax sale and that it has been struck off to the county and if the property is sold, it helps in recouping the incurred costs; (3) Ms. Hurtado said that originally this was a privilege tax which was attached to the property tax once the property acquired a land serial number when the federal government transferred it to Ogden City and the City conveyed the property. Thus the property tax was not five years delinquent, but rather the privilege tax that was attached to it and it was not appropriate to have this item go to tax sale on the privilege tax; (4) Ms. Nersisian said these six properties were in open probate cases and the County Attorney's Office requested their removal from the tax sale list. Once the litigation is settled, the taxes will need to be paid, including penalties and interest.
Commissioner Bischoff moved to approve the removal of above items 1 through 4 from the tax sale list; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
5. Ms. Nersisian stated that item 5 dealt with ten open bankruptcy cases and these had been verified by the County Attorney's Office as valid.
Commissioner Bischoff moved to approve the removal of bankruptcy filings (item 5) from the tax sale list; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
6. Ms. Nersisian said that item 6 contained 17 parcels–some were new this year and others were from past years' tax sales and the County Recorder and Surveyor's offices had agreed that they needed to be removed from the tax sale list and from the county's system so as to not accrue taxes since they were not valid parcels. Ms. Hurtado explained these were generally surveying errors, that when a deed received by the Recorder's Office had a minor footage difference from an original deed, a new land serial number was created to accommodate that error in the description. A question mark will be reflected on plats showing there is a question as to ownership or that there is a dispute as to claim on insignificant footage which may cause owners to get an accurate survey and record that. Linda Lunceford, Clerk/Auditor, pointed out that these parcels have been on the tax sale list every year and every year they must be removed, but only after the county has spent hundreds of dollars in the process. Ms. Lunceford reiterated that the Clerk/Auditor's Office was very appreciative of the work done by the Recorder and Surveyor's Offices for this item. Some parcels are still being researched to determined if they are valid.
Commissioner Bischoff moved to approve the removal of the parcels as presented (item 6) from the tax sale list; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
7. Ms. Nersisian referred to the list of 16 owners who had requested an extension. These requests were all reviewed by the Tax Review Committee which recommended approval. The payments on these extensions were calculated to be paid off by November 30. Ms. Hurtado explained that these owners had made a showing of hardship and the county had agreed to give them an additional year to pay off their taxes. If they failed to do so per their written payment plan, then it would go to tax sale next year and would include all the additional cost associated with it.
Commissioner Bischoff moved to approve the tax sale extensions (item 7); Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
3. Request for removal of a "No-Access Line" between lots 1 & 15 of Valley Junction Subdivision & 2650 North Street
Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, stated that when this commercial subdivision was recorded, a no-access line was indicated along its north end. This prevented property owners from having access across that line to 2650 N. from their property. Mr. Hamilton said that one of the property owners (who installed a driveway onto his property from 2650 N.) had made the request to have access to 2650 N. Mr. Hamilton had researched this and had not been able to determine why that no-access line had been placed there. He said that 2650 N. was not a through street; it dead ends just to the west of these lots. Monette Hurtado, Deputy County Attorney, said that a document would be prepared to be recorded that would inform a purchaser that they would have frontage on adjacent streets.
Commissioner Bischoff moved to approve the request for removal of a no-access line along the north end of the Valley Junction Subdivision Phase I; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
4. Appointment of three (3) members to the Green Hills Water and Sewer District
Chair Cain stated that members of this District had written a letter requesting that the Commission appoint three new members to the board. This is normally done through an election but there are only 65 homes in the District which felt the cost of an election would be an extreme financial burden. Advertising was done and three applications were received.
Commissioner Bischoff moved to appoint Arthur J. Roscoe, Patricia A. Danks, and Bradley D. Nelson to the Green Hills Water and Sewer District; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
5. Approval of election judges list & satellite registration agents for the 2004 election
Scott Hogensen, Elections Administrator, presented these lists for the Commission's approval. Mr. Hogensen said that a good number of people had applied to be judges. He addressed Chair Cain's questions regarding how many judges had applied and their compensation. He stated 560 had applied, which was more than would be needed, and they received $100 to be a judge and $20 to attend training.
Commissioner Bischoff moved to approve the list of election judges and satellite registration agents for the 2004 election; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
G. Assign Pledge of Allegiance & Thought of the Day for Tuesday, May 4, 2004 at 10 a.m.
H. Public Comments:
Ben Toone congratulated the commissioners on the good job they were doing. Mr. Toone, who had been a member of the Eden Park District for a number of years, said that people in the community had been asking him questions about it. The board had been functioning with a 2-member board instead of 7 and there had been no financial accountability. He asked who had administrative authority over that Park District and Monette Hurtado, Deputy County Attorney, said that, because it was an independent district, he had the ability to address the Park District board and the district should also have legal counsel to whom he could submit a request. If they did not respond, there were remedies through the GRAMA section of Utah Code and he could contact the Attorney General's Office. Chair Cain said that the District submitted their reports to the State Auditor. She explained that the county had no oversight authority over the District.
I. Adjourn
Commissioner Bischoff moved to adjourn at 10:55 a.m.; Chair Cain seconded, both voting aye.
Camille T. Cain,
Weber County Commission
Chair Linda G. Lunceford, CPO
Weber County Clerk/Auditor