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Show V lage 12A, Lakeside ff Heiew, September 11, 1980 toy Mayor Operofes Family Orchards, Farm by DAVE HORNER Staff Writer ROY Joseph Dawson, mayor of Roy City and a farmer, is best known for the orchards he has cultivated most of his life. The mayor also has one of the largest fields of melons and cantaloupes in the county. Ogden City bought his fathers farm in 1941 to build the Ogden Municipal Airport. His parents then bought orchards in Roy. At age 25, Dawson married Verla Simpson. They have five sons and a daughter. Besides being mayor, he serves on four different water boards. Dawson is the vice president of the Weber-Davi- s Canal Company, director of Weber River Water Users Association and director of Weber which determines the River Rights Committee and he has distribution of water from the river been chairman of Roy Water Conservancy District since it was formed. I enjoy working with water and crops and have been involved with that to some degree all of my life, he said. t "We had to have water or Roy could not have grown, and we solved that need with the secondary water system. We even have a surplus now. And we have three holding reservoirs to help the people below us to keep from being washed out when big surges of water come through, Dawson said. We also have a good sewer system. These are two of the basic things needed to build from and we have them, he said. He said that Roy has one of the finest water systems in the state. People here keep their lawns watered and manicured, but,, sure there are some exceptions, Dawson commented. Roys not as condensed as other cities, which makes it a challenge to service it. The city will always be a challenge and will take more of an effort to maintain in the future than now, he said. My philosophy is that we must keep Roy the best as far as residential living is concerned. We have been aggressive in maintaining the finest parks in the state. Our streets and utilities are as good or better than anywhere else, he said. If you look at our town, in general, youd have to agree that we just do not have slums. In my opinion, it has a clean, fresh appearance. We do and always will have a very wholesome place to raise a family, the mayor said. We have our share of vandalism, but our citizens can feel safe walking the streets at night. I think the police are doing an excellent job. The total city structure is rated among the top as far as efficiency and quality of work performed, he said. He said the city tries to do its share in maintaining streets, utilities and city property. The city encourages and offers assistance to homeowners so they can keep their homes in good repair. The city has problems with buying new equipment. New fire engines would need a new building to house them. Those things will have to come when people are ready to buy them. The council cant go further than the citizens will let them, Dawson said. He then qualified that statement, saying that when the council decided to buy new park land below the railroad tracks, it was considered necessary since it is in an area planned for annexation to Roy.. The commercial area is one we are focusing a lot of effort on. The only alternative to having redevelopment is deterioration. If we dont, well just slide a little more downhill, he said. One of my main concerns is that we develop a first class commercial area. Not only for revenue, but it is needed for the convenience it brings to the people. My opinion is that we must address the existing commercial area and develop vacant lots. There are plenty of undeveloped sites already zoned commercial and waiting for development, he said. We have to be careful that the commercial areas dont interfere with residential areas, he said. Weve lived in Roy about 40 years and raised our family here. We dont want to move. I have to be realistic that I wont be able to maintain an orchard here indefinitely. But well make our decisions as the need arises, Dawson said. We sell to wholesalers and right here at home. Our big crop is pie cherries which we sell to processors. Our melons also go to wholesalers. The Dawsons take truckloads of watermelons to Salt Lake City weekly during the harvest. In the future, he said, he would like to become more involved with family activities church and civic affairs. He has a son and a daughter living in Las Vegas, besides another son who helps him with his farming in Roy. I dont intend to get too deeply involved in developing my property, but the family might, Dawson said. Theres not much advantage to being a mayor except the personal satisfaction of seeing the city grow and develop, knowing youve made a small part of it, he said. This is Dawsons second term of office. He first ran in 1977. in 1973 and was Ive had great satisfaction in working with the city employees. We have a really good relationship. Theyre a super group of people. Weve had yery little turnover while Ive been there and we respect each other, he said. MAYOR JOSEPH DAWSON of Roy is busy during harvest time in his orchards and melon fields after months Tax Dilemma Facing Voters On Election Day Voters will have to decide whether they want property tax relief or a food tax exemption. This was the conclusion of Utah Foundation, the private tax research organization, in a study of the initiative proposal to exempt food from the state sales tax. This initiative proposal is one of several measures which will be decided upon by Utah voters in November. Foundation analysts point out that a food tax exemption would reduce state revenues by approximately $60 million per year, and that if such an exemption is approved by the electorate in November, it is extremely unlikely that the property tax relief program begun in 1979 could be continued. In fact, the Governor recently recommended that the Legislature temporarily suspend the property tax relief program this year to help meet a prospective revenue shortfall in 1980-0- 1 ' . Among the major arguments presented for exempting food are the following: 1. A food tax exemption would make the sales tax less refressive. 2. Food is a basic necessity of life and should not be taxed. 3. Exempting food would give everyone the equivalent of two weeks groceries each year. 4. About half the states currently do provide for such an exemption. 5. A tax on food adds to its cost and therefore is . inflationary. 6. Low income families and the elderly frequently fail to take advantage of other special tax credits and rebates as provided by law. Arguments against exempting food, on the other hand, are listed as follows: 1. Since a food tax exemption would provide larger tax savings to the wealthy than it would to the poor, it is an extremely inefficient way of furnishing tax relief to low income families. . 2. The exemption might necessitate a tax increase in one or more of the other major taxes. 3. It would greatly complicate the tax collection machinery, especially for the small business establishment. from the state sales tax but not from local taxes, it would create additional administrative burdens. 5. It would reduce state general fund revenues by 13'z percent and cause serious disruptions in essential state services, such as welfare, health, safety, education, etc. 6. Since part of the tax is collected from tourists, it would require an added tax on Utah residents. The Foundation report notes that further complicating the Utah financial picture is another initiative proposal appearing on the 1980 ballot which would roll back property assessments to the 1977 level and limit the property tax to 1 percent of this artificially defined market value. This measure would reduce local property taxes by $75 to $100 million per year. If both this measure and the food tax exemption were approved in November, it could create havoc in Utah state and local finances. 4. By exempting food te VOUE5 FURNACE HAS THE FLUE . . . AND LOTS OF OTHER TOO. PARTS, Once a year it's a good idea to give ail of them a little doctoring up. Call your licensed heating contractor, plumber or furnace dealer and have him do a simple check-u- p on your furnace. He will: Inspect flues, and clean them if necessary, Clean or replace filters Oil motor Check blower belts Check automatic controls (pilot, burner etc.) A properly maintained furnace saves fuel, saves you money and has less chance of mechanical failure during the heating season. Get the bugs out now, before the rush. Your furnace and you will feel better for it. cool-weath- er MOUNTAIN FUEL For more than J fifty years, people serving people of summer work. |