Minutes for 2004-12-21, Direct pdf link.

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: Camille T. Cain, Chair, Glen H. Burton and Kenneth A. Bischoff.

Others Present: Linda G. Lunceford, Clerk/Auditor; Mark R. DeCaria, County Attorney; and Fátima Blackford, Clerk/Auditor's Office, who took minutes.

A. Welcome by Chair Cain
B. Pledge of Allegiance was conducted by Linda Lunceford
C. Thought of the Day was offered by Chair Cain

D. Consent Items:
1. Purchase Orders in the amount of $42,070.23
2. Warrants #196471 - #196700 in the amount of $3,103,926.10
3. Minutes of the regular Commission Meeting held on December 14, 2004
4. Request to set the date of December 28, 2004 at 10:00 a..m. for a public hearing to open the 2004 Budget for amendments
Commissioner Burton moved to approve the consent items; Commissioner Bischoff seconded, all voting aye.

E. Action Items:

1. Final approval for a one lot subdivision known as Peterson Meadows, and deferral of curb, gutter and sidewalk at 3016 South 4300 West

Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, showed an area map of this 1-lot subdivision. The Planning Commission had unanimously recommended final approval with the deferral of curb, gutter and sidewalk. This subdivision is within the 1 ½ miles of the school. A letter had been received from the School District stating that children in this area were bussed to school.

The County Engineering Office had requested that the lot be graded, at least the front of the lot, to accommodate the future curb, gutter and sidewalk. Commissioner Bischoff asked who would have the responsibility to put in these improvements in the future. Mr. Hamilton said that whoever purchased the lot would have that responsibility and when the subdivision was recorded it would include language stating that curb, gutter and sidewalk would have to be put in at the county's request at a later date.

Commissioner Bischoff moved to grant final approval of the one lot subdivision known as Peterson Meadows located at 3016 South 4300 West, with deferral of curb, gutter and sidewalk, subject to the grading as recommended by County Engineering; Commissioner Burton seconded, all voting aye.

2. Final approval for a one lot subdivision known as Debra Robinson Subdivision, and deferral of curb, gutter and sidewalk at 4334 West 700 North

Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, showed an area map of this 1-lot subdivision stating that this was similar to the item above. A letter had been received from the School District stating that children in this area were bussed to school.

Commissioner Bischoff moved to grant final approval of the one lot subdivision known as Debra Robinson Subdivision located at 4334 West 700 North, with deferral of curb, gutter and sidewalk, with the grading to be done to accommodate future curb, gutter and sidewalk; Commissioner Burton seconded, all voting aye.

3. Final subdivision approval of Radford Hills No. 6A, consisting of 3 Lots, at 825 N. 5200 E., including a $27,319.00 financial guarantee for improvements

Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, showed an area map. The Planning Commission had unanimously recommended final approval. This item includes a financial guarantee for improvements.

Commissioner Burton moved to grant final subdivision approval of Radford Hills No. 6A, consisting of 3 Lots, at 825 N. 5200 E., including a financial guarantee in the amount of $27,319.00 for improvements; Commissioner Bischoff seconded, all voting aye.

F. Public Hearing will commence at 6:00 p.m.

1. Motion to adjourn the public meeting and convene the public hearing.

2. Public hearing to consider the 2005 Budget

Dan Olsen, County Comptroller, explained the reason for this second public hearing was that the Utah State Tax Commission interpreted the truth in taxation laws differently than the county. He noted the differences between the two advertised public notices: the first one included only the General Fund and the Library Fund to calculate the proposed percentage increase. The Tax Commission wanted all five county funds to be included, which made the percentage smaller, but the dollar amount did not change. A $4 million increase was originally proposed to the General Fund and $1 million to the Library Fund.

Chair Cain invited public comments and following is a summary:
Ron Bingham, had been present at the last public hearing and wished to recap some comments made by Mr. Jerman, Vice President, Utah Tax Payers Association, regarding the proposed tax increase including the comparison of budgets for Weber and Davis Counties, which difference was significant, and that Davis County probably did more than Weber County. Commissioner Bischoff asked for specifics on this last statement and Mr. Bingham said he was simply basing his comments on Mr. Jerman's. Mr. Bingham urged the Commission to be as cautious as possible about raising taxes any more than they absolutely had to. He expressed concern with Chair Cain's comment at the first hearing about it not being a 30% increase but 21% and that it was just a matter of semantics.

Chair Cain explained that the important issue to the taxpayers at the advertising stage was that the county had been very specific and honest in advertising the maximum amount of the proposed increase. The county had taken the two lines that were being increased on the valuation notice and allocated the increases to only those two lines, however, it was still the same dollar amount that was advertised, the difference was in the denominator which made the ratio smaller. The Tax Commission did not have a clear policy stating how this issue is to be handled and the county did not understand how they wanted it done. The Tax Commission wanted the county to use every single line on the tax notice that involved Weber County, which included a lot of areas such as Mosquito District, Paramedics, Health, etc. Commissioner Burton noted why it is difficult to compare Davis County and Weber County, pointing out some differences including that Davis consists of about 300 sq. miles and Weber 644 sq. miles; Weber has 212 miles of county roads and Davis about 20 miles; both counties have 15 cities; Weber does much more patrolling such as boat, snowmobile and back country patrolling, and search and rescue; and regular highway patrolling. Lamar Sayer, Utah State Tax Commission, stated that the State Tax Commission administered truth in taxation laws and had required this second public hearing after being alerted by the Utah Tax Payers Association about Weber County's first advertisement. Mr. Sayer stated that every year some entity was required to readvertize and explained that the Tax Commission required the advertisements to contain aggregate taxes–to include all county funds. The county had not made a mistake, it was simply the difference in interpretation of the law. Mr. Sayer and the commissioners addressed questions from the audience, explaining the issue in greater detail and showing Weber County's two publications. Commissioner Burton said that if pending legislation passed next year, the State would be drafting the advertisements and the entities would fill in the figures. The commissioners noted the difficulty in comparing counties and outlined some of the differences that affect county budgets.

John Bradley, South Ogden City Council, who had spoken in favor of the proposed library two weeks ago, stated that he tried to represent the wishes of the majority of the people and since 1998 the vast majority of those with whom he had spoken had favored a library in the southeast area.

Chuck Eddy, unincorporated Weber County resident, stated that Davis County had 50,000 more people than Weber County, yet their budget was less. He was concerned with the commissioners' income. He asked if a comment he had heard was correct that Chair Cain wanted all the unincorporated area into cities and Chair Cain stated it was not and clarified the comment. He asked if the county's budget included the B Road Funds and the commissioners replied the funds were considered a revenue source. Mr. Eddy asked if it would be possible to cut the Road Department budget when a city annexed an area in because the county would be doing less work. Commissioner Burton noted that county roads increased when subdivisions expanded in unincorporated areas of Weber County, where Chair Cain pointed out, the largest growth was occurring. Gary Laird, County Operations Director, also addressed Mr. Eddy's questions stating that the county was collecting a fee for those who connected to sewer–a portion of that fee went to Central Weber Sewer for the service and a portion was held in reserves for maintenance of the system. Dan Olsen, County Comptroller, said there was an estimated $32,700 in sewer fees and $41,500 in expenses.

Ned Malan, senior citizen from North Ogden, said that the power to tax was the power to destroy and some of the people were being destroyed. His take home pay had not increased, yet annually there were various annual tax increases and the insidious taxing needed to stop. He suggested the county cut services and employees.

Ernie Schneider preferred not to have a 22% tax increase all at once and referred to the hardship for those on fixed incomes. He noted that property taxes on his golf course had risen 80% this year. Commissioner Burton noted that the last time there had been a tax increase had been in 1998 when the jail bond had passed and the time period should be considered. Mr. Schneider asked if Weber County contributed to UTA because for years he had been observing the expensive buses riding empty. Chair Cain said that the county participated but the decisions for how UTA was run were not done by the county. Commissioner Burton said that it depended on the time of day and that Utah had the highest rider ship both in buses and light rail in the nation.

Erin Holley of Marriott-Slaterville asked about the 10/12/2004 Standard Examiner article that stated county revenues had increased 108% since 1998. Chair Cain clarified that was not all due to property tax increase; it included the $6.5 million tax increase, utilizing a $4 million increase for this year, $7.1 million in jail revenues, $1.5 million in city contracts that go to the Sheriff's Department in revenues allowing efficiently serving the citizens while off-setting some the costs, $250,000 the State pays the county to run the Children's Justice Center, and $500,000 in road funds acquired from outside sources. Ms. Holley said she would cut the new library. She visited the library regularly once a week and it was under utilized. She requested that the Commission remember the comments made tonight, that several people had asked that the Commission be careful in what they do because someday they too would be in a retired situation where their income would not increase but the taxes always would.  Commissioner Burton said that 90% of the input received was in favor of the new library branch. Other elected officials and department heads present worked on this budget and it was not an easy job, and the other two commissioners were also very conservative. Commissioner Bischoff indicated that the commissioners looked at this issue not only as commissioners but as taxpayers. Chair Cain noted that significant reductions had been made over the past couple of years both in benefits to the employees and to the number of employees in every department, and the decision to move forward with the tax increase was done by all ten elected officials.

George Garwood, South Ogden City Mayor, speaking as a citizen and not as mayor, said that promises had been made in 1964 when the people of Weber County had come together and formed a unified library system. The people in South Ogden and southeast Weber County had been waiting for years for a library and paying taxes and he hoped this would be the year.

Beverly Dalley spoke in favor of the proposed library stating it had been promised for many years and the site had been donated, which was a tremendous discount towards the total cost of the library. The facility would also provide meeting rooms and be a benefit to the community.

The commissioners addressed Connie Chandler's questions. Chair Cain pointed out that the maximum increase that could be taken had been advertised, which was 22.4%. Dan Olsen, County Comptroller, reiterated that the advertisement for the public hearing had to include all five lines of the county assessed taxes. The original advertisement had only included the lines for the General and the Library Funds. Commissioner Bischoff outlined the health plans. The commissioners pointed out they did not know of another county that paid as little per family as Weber County for health insurance. Brad Dee, Human Resources Director, outlined current monthly costs paid for health insurance by surrounding counties and Ogden City, which were all higher. With this year's 14% increase, Weber County is still one of the lowest. Weber county was fortunate several years ago to have negotiated a multi-year program and saved the taxpayers $2.5 million. Mr. Dee said that in the last few years Weber County had increased the out of pocket maximum to its employees, the prescription drug co-pays had been increased and had a $50 deductible. This helped keep the costs down and the employees were paying more each year. Mr. Dee addressed questions from the audience.

Sharon Holley, of Marriott-Slaterville, noted that many people did not have any health insurance. She said that Weber County was antagonistic particularly to smaller businesses and drove them out with higher taxes, that more taxes could be received if there were more businesses. Commissioner Burton pointed out the difference between county taxes and city taxes stating the county did not have any control over the city taxes. Ms. Holley said that it was important to think of future generations and to budget.

Rulon Yorgason, of Ogden City, asked about the problem with government having to spend money in a fiscal year so as not to lose it and Commissioner Burton said that towards the end of the year Weber County put a closure on purchasing without approval of the Commission so as to scrutinize those purchases. Mr. Yorgason asked if Weber County was in competition with any businesses and Commissioner Bischoff responded that Weber County privatized some things that it did not do very well and that government should be as small as it could be. Mr. Yorgason felt that other ways to save money included attrition, going without some things, and vigilance.

Marilyn Holley, of Marriott-Slaterville, recognized that the Commission was in a difficult position. She asked what were the anticipated ongoing costs for the proposed library and Commissioner Burton said that the $1 million increase included the operation costs. She suggested putting health care back in the hands of employees so they would be more responsible, and if South Ogden wanted a library it would be a great opportunity for them to come together as a community and invest in it themselves.

 Chuck Eddy had heard that Weber County was making donations to IHC and Chair Cain assured him it was not true. He asked if any county employees were receiving charitable hospital service because their insurance was not sufficient and if any were being sued because they could not pay, and he would like to help them with IHC. Mr. Dee replied there were some that, because of catastrophic circumstances, were receiving charitable care through other entities but because of the law he could not discuss who they were.

Wayne Clasen, of Marriott-Slaterville, asked if the Commission's mind was already made up about this 22% tax increase. Chair Cain said they had concluded that there were some deeper cuts that could be done. He said that Utah was not friendly to retirees, that the tax rate was quite high, and asked that cuts be made wherever possible. Commissioner Bischoff said that the Commission had gone back and looked at deeper cuts but it had not been easy because they had spent a couple years getting to that point. Mr. Clasen stated that every library he had visited had been underutilized and asked if it would be possible to cut the library budget by closing libraries on a rotating basis a few days a week. Lynnda Wangsgard, Weber County Library Director, stated that library usage was up not only in Weber County but throughout the State and across the country. The library's last tax increase had been in 1993. She said that as a means to cut costs they moved staff around to cover library services and cut full-time employees to part-time wherever possible.

Parlena Covington, a school teacher and resident of Plain City, questioned the need for another library. She stated her property taxes had more than quadrupled since purchasing her home but its value had not gone up near that much nor the value of services she received. There is no library close to her but she would not ask for a tax increase for one. She did not feel she should be asked to pay a tax increase to fund one for South Ogden residents who actually had a shorter drive to a library nor to help county employees with medical insurance or to get raises. She said Utah had one of the highest State and local tax burdens in the U.S., with Weber County having one of the highest in Utah and it was no wonder there was difficulty attracting businesses or keeping them here. She suggested the county divest itself of some of underutilized facilities and money losing events such as the County Fair, even though these decisions were difficult.

Chair Cain said that several people had mentioned tonight the cost of taxes for businesses and the ability to attract businesses to Weber County. The Commission had looked at all these issues. Prior to considering the tax increase, the Commission looked at the cost of doing business in the county as it compared with other counties. The Commission continually works with the State on this issue. A recently completed strategic plan by Weber Economic Development concluded that the taxing level in the county was not an impediment to attracting new business. She thanked those present for their input and to answer their questions.

3. Commissioner Bischoff moved to adjourn the public hearing and reconvene the public meeting; Commissioner Burton seconded, all voting aye.

4. Action on public hearing:
F.2. - Public hearing to consider the 2005 Budget - Resolution 26-2004

Chair Cain noted that the budget process was ongoing during the year with a lot of focus being put into it. The Commission had continued in this process, taking into consideration the preponderance of comments received since the last public hearing.

Dan Olsen, County Comptroller, stated that no final decision had been made. Options had been discussed since the first public hearing based on the Commission's comments and those from both public hearings. He said that there had been no department requests that had not been a need. Those requests had been reviewed, such as for equipment. Some had been put off (i.e., replacing a 30-year transport trailer, 9-year old lawnmowers, copiers). Perhaps next year these could be financed or the money found through other department savings. Money had been set aside to replace asphalt at the Gold Spike Event Center (the first phase was done this year) but the county will wait to see if the tourism revenues come in a little better and use it. A couple of positions initially proposed as full-time were suggested as part-time with no benefits. He said the 2% COLA was still in the budget. With all the reductions, if the $4 million was reduced to $3 million, it would balance the 2005 budget–a combination of a lower tax increase and lower costs. Instead of the 22.4% increase proposed on the truth in taxation notice, on a residence the increase would be 17.93%. This maintains the $1 million increase for the library ($600,000 for debt service on a bond to build the facility and $400,000 for operations), a $400,000 revenue decrease in the Paramedic Fund and $140,000 in the G.O. Bond.

Commissioner Burton addressed the importance of keeping the cost of living adjustment, stating that county employees had not received a cost of living adjustment in three years. He noted the high costs of retraining and gave an example of a new computer tech hired this week, who after one day had left for better pay because the county could not match the market. Mr. Olsen said that the county built in turn over savings in the budget, and work was spread out among employees as best as possible. Chair Cain said that originally the county had $200,000 in the budget for next year to support the possible changes in the Help America Vote Act but that amount was taken out and it is hoped the State will support the changes that will be required. Commissioner Bischoff thanked the public for their input stating that the Commission had gone back and done all it knew to do at this time, cutting a significant dollar amount. The commissioners addressed a couple of questions from the audience stating that they had not made a decision prior to this meeting on the increase and had given some alternatives to the comptroller. Chair Cain pointed out that there was a balance between being fiscally responsible and cutting the budget so far that it would be detrimental in case of an emergency or disaster. Commissioner Burton felt that this increase was not high enough to get the county by on a long term basis, but this was the most that could be done at this time.

Commissioner Burton moved to adopt Resolution 26-2004 adopting the 2005 Weber County Budget, going forward with the recommendations of the Comptroller for a 17.93% property tax increase for a $3 million General Fund increase, a $1 million Library Fund increase, the reductions to the Paramedic and G.O. Bond as originally proposed, with no other tax increases; Commissioner Bischoff seconded.
Roll Call Vote:
Commissioner Bischoff aye
Commissioner Burton aye
Chair Cain aye

G. Assign Pledge of Allegiance & Thought of the Day for Tuesday, December 28,2004, 10 a.m.

H. Public Comments:

Ned Malan disagreed with Weber County being a member of UAC, which he felt was illegal, redundant and not needed in county government, that the county could save some money by not participating. Mr. Malan was opposed to the new library until there were funds for it and asked that the Commission not borrow any more. He also spoke against the location of the Transfer Station and stated more landfills were needed. Commissioner Burton said that a transition team was working on landfill locations.

Parlena Covington said that the people had wasted their time by coming today because the commissioners had previously made up their minds, that it was unfortunate that the truth in taxation meetings had been scheduled at 6 p.m., that it might have been to decrease attendance by the public, and that the Commission had rejected every suggestion made to reduce costs, such as building the new library. Chair Cain noted that 90% of the feedback showed that people wanted the library. Ms. Covington said that people were scrambling to make a living and did not have time to be here or to write the Commission. When parents were forced out of their home trying to pay horrendous taxes, serious problems were created with children, which she saw daily. She suggested the county get rid of some extremely expensive facilities such as the Fair and the Golden Spike Event Center, which did not pay their way. Commissioner Bischoff said that the Commission took raising taxes very seriously.

If reference to the commissioners having previously made their minds up on the issue, Dan Olsen, County Comptroller, said that no one knew better than himself that this was not true. He had been trying to get a final answer from the Commission for two weeks and it had not happened until two minutes ago.

Sheriff Brad Slater stated he had a turnover of 27% and to keep qualified employees was important to him not only as the Sheriff but as a citizen. He stated his support of the Commission's decision. The Sheriff addressed the comment about law enforcement not being friendly to truckers stating that he was in favor of the small businessman being successful but that trucks needed to be inspected for various safety reasons. He added that they had looked at privatization and had been successful with the food contracts at the jail, however, privatizing medical was not financially feasible.

I. Adjourn
Commissioner Burton moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:47 p.m.; Commissioner Bischoff seconded, all voting aye.

Camille T. Cain, Chair
Weber County Commission

Linda G. Lunceford, CPO
Weber County Clerk/Auditor