OCR Text |
Show ‘wx west "THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 3 June 15, 2006 The Diebold Controversy A successful businessman once stated that he would avoid a public real estate auction here in the Valley because it was a nondisclosed, sealed-bid event. Rigging a bid is easy when there is no accountability to the public. Should the public also question involvement in an election where new electronic voting machines will be generating a non-transparent and non-verifiable outcome? Last month it was revealed that Bruce Funk, a 23 year veteran county clerk of d an independent touch-screen voting machine under his supervision. The inspectors found that the new voting system could be completely compromised easily, quickly, and undetectably. Other deficiencies of these machines have raised many other reliability concerns in their use on Election Day in this year’s primary election in Utah. t. Governor’s spokesman was quick to dispute the whee s damaging criticisms, “We don’t believe there is a quoteunquote ‘back door’ [problem]. Sure, you could set the system on fire and ruin the vote. Each county clerk is in place to keep that from happening.” Extending the governor’s logic, bank robbers could come into a bank in full daylight and rob the bank, but that’s why we have tellers and a bank CEOs, right? Except, election rigging can also take place at the computer software level of the machine through “back-doors” that can be entered and concealed with no fingerprints. State officials state they don’t believe in “back doors.” They also deny that many of the new machines shipped to Utah at a cost of $25 million may be, in fact, rejected voting machines from other states. Funk’ s investigation uncovered numerous differences in his inventory, and when he was locked out, Diebold was allowed in. Are Utahns getting the new machines that the state contracted Diebold to deliver? Diebold corruptly sold uncertified software to California for their 2004 election and set- tled out of court for $2.6 million. Diebold has received immense contracts because of the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA). Diebold officials paid Jack Abramoff’s corrupt lobbying firm $275,000 for the service of inclusion of special text in the HAVA bill that establishes voting machine specifications, and mandates implementation. The lobbyists used a corrupt Congressman, Bob Ney, the author of HAVA. Congressman Ney is now under investigation for ethics violations in the Jack Abramoff influence pedaling scandal. It turns out that Diebold went to this great effort to insert an absurd standard into HAVA that eliminated any requirement that voting machines incorporate a voter-verifiable paper trail. Thus, county clerks, voters, or candidates will have no verifiable method to check election results. Diebold machines do generate a paper tape for each vote, although the printout is encoded by Diebold software. This is simply a case of the wolf guarding the henhouse. Linda Lunsford and her staff are in place to ry our local election, but who ensures that each of the hundreds of machines in Weber County has certified software that is operating without a programmable political bias? Sure, let the trusted election officials do their work, but their scope isn’t to question Diebold upgrades and system checks that could be the source of corruption. Oil refineries and other complex systems are routinely operated using non-transparent, proprietary software where stable operation is the goal of management, staff, and vendor. The difference in a political election is the adverse nature of control of power. Usually in critical industry control systems you never specify a computer system; you use a human operator instead. Elections are the only absolute feedback citizens have to correct the political system, let’s not manage them in a black box. You are invited to apply for a Fine Art or Craft Vendor Booth for the 12th Annual | Ogden Valley Balloon Festival Aug. 18-20 Assessing Your Property—An overview of the how and whys of value assessment Your property valuation is not the same as property tax. Assessors determine the market value of your property, but do not control the rate at which it is taxes. The taxable value of a property is 100% of its fair market value, less any legislativepermitted exemptions. The current state exemption is 45% so if your primary residence is given a fair market value of $100,000 it would be valued for property tax purposes at $55,000. n reality, the value of property is determined by buyers and sellers in the market. The Assessor’s office studies the market and collects information about properties to estimate market value. The office discovers, identifies, and values prope The assessor’s primary Se is to establish market value and taxable value. rket value is an appraisal issue. Taxable value is an administrative issue that includes applying the residential exemption. Utah law requires an annual update of values based on a systematic review of market data. Over time, a property’s value can vary for many reasons based on changes to the property. The value is affected if the property owner adds a bedroom, garage, or swimming pool. If part of the property is destroyed or damaged by fire or flood, the value would naturally be affected as well. A Change in Marketplace Means a Change in Value The most customary cause of an increase or decrease in value is a change in the marASSESSOR cont. from page 1 If you want to check your value before “Valuation Notices’ are sent out in July, you can access the Weber County website at <wwwl.co.weber.ut.us> Click on “property tax information” toward the bottom of the site LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR ketplace. Here are several possible scenarios that might affect the value of your property. ¢ Ifa major industry in Weber County were to leave, property values might decrease. Young home buyers purchase homes or condos in less-trendy Beighborhoods at lower prices. dwellings are remodeled or “other: wise improved, causing market values to then increase in the area. The neighborhoodmay become more “fashionable,” thus causing ¢ ¢ prices and valuations to rise. Inflation can increase property value in a stable neighborhood even without extraordinary pressure from the real estate market. ¢ So ‘00 3 Assessed Values Rise, Do Taxes Rise a year taxing authorities such as city governments and school districts decide how much money they need from property rate. PROPERTY Cheryl Madson Weber County Assessor NEEDS! COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL ° Sprinkder installation & Rapair o Licensed Partiization Serving All of Weber & Davis Counties i YS Trea retire or own a second home in Ogden Valley...1 hour from Salt Lake meta tN oer truly unspoiled... nestled between Snowbasin and eNielig Neer AEH RY snowbasin A SUN VALLEY RESORT PATH ERS DAY BRU AT NEEDLES LODGE SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 2006 10 AM-3 PM Adults Seniors ........... $23 Children.......... $18 (12 and under) Prices include Gondola Ride to Needles Lodge. Make your reservations now for Father’s Day Brunch. micrsy Ave Ute) Alom tare [6] [cole m Please call 801-620-1021. To learn more call Leigh Ann Fincher 801-430-5122 or Spring Bengtzen 801-641-1431 Visit our MLS listings #552085, #587894, #573898 and #562554 Wf www.utahrealestate.com eB Geek ayNE cont. on page 8 I hope this information helps. for the opportunity to serve you. number is 399-8572 If you have booth or vendor questions, sles contact Kris Wilkerson at 801-745-9557or email her at kris@ogdenv.vallyballoonfestival.com Weekiy Lawn Maintenance Landscape & Rockwork Ponds & Water Features An increase in increases during the same time period. ctually, if total assessed value of all taxable properties rises and the demand for services is stable, taxes should go down Reappraisal can help equalize values. No one likes to pay taxes, but if your taxes are fair and equitable, they’re easier to bear. Treat Dad and yourself to a Gondola ride and enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery. = fy Thank you Our office |