| Show Vol 75 No 93 Logan Utah Tuesday April 17 1984 16 pages 2 25 cents sections Commission incumbents don’t file By PatMcCutcheon Smith said "I want to reduce my workload and to take it easy” and David Cornwell staff writers Shelton who is serving a Among the seven csndidiatei who have filed for election to the Cache County Commission two names are conspicuous in their absence Incumbent commissioners Charles Shelton and Dean Smith are not to their offices seeking Asked why he chose not to seek Smith who holds the two-yeseat said he has served six years on the commission and "that’s all I wanted "When I was elected two years ago I said this would be my last term” on on ar term would give no four-ye- ar reason for his decision "I have no comment to make to The Herald Journal at all” he said when asked why he chose not to run again The commission is currently under investigation by the Cache County Attorney’s office for possible improper contracting procedures and it was The Herald Journal which first made this public Shelton has said he thought the issue was politically motivated Three Republicans and one Demoseat crat have filed for the four-year on the commission Two Republicans and me Democrat are seeking the two-yeseat Both incumbents are Republicans aaying the perception was ar Cache County Republican Chairwoman Joyce Tarbet said the decision of the incumbents not to run did not come as a complete surprise Smith she said informed her of his decision not to seek last week And while Shelton said a couple of weeks ago he probably would not run Tarbet said she was not sure of that decision until 5:01 pm Monday afternoon Tarbet downplayed rumors the Republican Party tried to dissuade Smith and Shelton from filing for on simply the result of the Republican Steering Committee doing its job The committee began selecting potential candidates from a large roster of possible candidates from around the county last fall The function of the committee she said is to have candidates ready in the event the incumbents do not run or a commission seat is vacated "I think that in the past just anyone has been allowed to file on either ticket” Tarbet said "I feel the party ahould Interview the people beforehand however to see if they are philosophically compatible with our Republican philosophy” "They (the steering committee) go around and interview different people they think would make good candidates and they encourage them to file” Tarbet said adding that is "the basic function of the steering com- mittee” Tarbet said while the party had not tried to ease present commissioners out Republican leaders have received complaints on the commissioners from throughout the county "and have been receiving a lot of complaints for a long time” Tarbet aaid the incumbents' decision likely would not affect chances See FILINGS on page 2 Old Main aid becomes part of state feud Combined Herald Journal and UPI reports - SALT LAKE CITY Utah State University’s Old Main building has ended up in the middle of a burning controversy which has fire-damag- ed resulted in a suit over separation of powers in state government State money to aid in the renovation of the building damaged in a Dec 19 fire was part of a $105 million supplemental appropriations bill passed last month by the Utah Legislature However lawmakers tied the 32 million for restoring Old Main to language in a provision to keep the Social Services Department from moving into the Triad Center in downtown Salt Pete SchroppHerald Journal Rush to mail box The line was long and congested Monday evening at the drop boxes outside the Logan Post Office as taxpayers mailed their income tax returns The last day rush was the biggest he's seen said Logan last-minut- e Postmaster Jay Rowberry "I would guess conservatively about a third of the taxes in Logan were filed yesterday” he said "The lines lust didn't quit from morning to night” Two workers were put on duty until midnight to collect and postmark the returns which all went out Rowberry assured all Utah’s melting snow triggers landslides Great Salt Lake rising at a record pace SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) — Utah’s record snowpack flowing from the mountains in the heat of temperatures threatened today to again flood highways trigger landslides and to break through an earthen dam The National Weather Service warned of more flooding and landiliding today as the temperature climbs to an unseasonably 80 degrees But no widespread flooding was expected Snowmelt between March 15 and Monday pushed the Great Salt Lake to its highest level since 1879 The lake rose 102 inches to tie the y record of December 1983 The level stands at 420775 feet above sea level Weather forecasters modified earlier predictions and said the lake could rise to 4209 feet ee 30-da- making all the more critical plans to elevate lakeside Interstate 80 and breach a railroad causeway damming water in the lake’s south end In Box Elder County crews used sandbags to divert water from US 89 near Willard to open the highway closed since about 7 pm Monday In Utah County Thistle Creek overflowed its banks to send a foot of water flowing over a bridge on US 89 near its junction with US 6 in Spanish Fork Canyon The Utah Highway Patrol said the road connecting residents of Fairview Sanpete County with US 8 was not closed but was covered periodically by debris Oquirrh Mountain runoff threatened to break through a small earthen dam in an undeveloped section of Salt Lake County Monday evening Workers were sandbagging State Road 111 in case it broke Three landslides slipped down Emigration Canyon near Salt Lake City blocking a creek and sending water flowing into three homes A slide snapped several utility poles and interrupted power in the canyon for several hours but never closed the road In Salt Lake City water gushed through manhole covers to flood a portion of 1300 South near West Temple The water rushed through the city’s storm system as workers opened gates at Mountain Dell Reservoir The reservoir is being lowered to provide space for heavier runoff expected in May Lake City Gov Scott Matheson objected to the Triad provision but favored the USU appropriation referring to the link as "unlawful interference" by the Legislature But Utah's Attorney General ruled the governor could not veto the Triad provision alone since the two measures are part of the same item and could not be separated for veto purposes However Matheson said such a veto is common practice Attorney General David Wilkinson advised Matheson that he could test the issue in the courts on constitutional grounds Late Monday afternoon Matheson sent a letter to Lt Gov David Monson saying he would allow the appropriations bill to become law without his signature But the governor saying the Legialature is relegating him to a servant's position intends to seek a court ruling defining both his power to veto line items in appropriations and ttie Legislature's power to dictate how laws will be carried out intimately the Utah Supreme Court could settle the argument Utah State University officials have been concerned Matheson would veto the entire item Lee Burke assistant for government relations to USU President Stanford Cuier said he was pleased and relieved the Old Main funding had been approved “We had been assured the Legislature would have taken care of restoring the Old Main appropriation if the governor had vetoed the item” Burke said “But it’s nice not to have to worry about it any more” In asking the Attorney General’s office for a declaratory judgment the governor wants clarification of two issues Matheson wants to know whether the intent language is valid “since it appears to conflict with other statutory provisions and to violate constitutional principles of separation of powers” The governor also wants to know if “I as governor have the power to selectively veto or to sever offending portions within line items in the nnwnHHnn SCL” Matheson has also fought against the Legislature’s practice of passing laws that include instructions on how the law is to be carried out He said the practice goes beyond legislative power and cuts into his executive power Group predicts Utah property tax increase SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) — The Utah Foundation says local property taxes probably will rise between 4 percent and 10 percent this year due to a Utah Supreme Court decision and the Legislature’s action during the special session The Supreme Court decision ruled the practice of basing property assessments on 1978 levels instead of current values was unconstitutional The ruling would have caused property valuations to rise by 46 percent making property owners face a hefty increase on their 1984 tax bills said the foundation a private tax research organization Legislative action in the last special session substantially moderated the effect of the court decision Instead of a 48 percent increase assessments will only rise around 10 percent the group said Also the shift in the tax burden to locally-assesse- d from was from reduced property 3475 million to 3148 million said the state-assess- ed foundation study The amount property taxes increase will depend on actions by local taxing units when they establish rates for 1984 in June The “best case” would be for the local units not to raise revenue above that obtained this year the Utah Foundation said While the “worst case” is that all local units make the 6 percent increases allowed by law it said Tax increases could range from 21 percent in Washington County to 11 percent in Emery County using the best case standards Under the worst the raises could be 83 percent in Washington to 178 in Emery counties the study said The Utah Foundation also said the legislation passed this year has e some implications for taxpayers including: — New sales or cost appraisal methods taxable property for assessment purposes to be implemented before 1986 — Appropriations of 3475000 for long-rang- the tax commission to study sales-ratiand assessments on which its next factoring order will be based — Authorizing the Tax Commission to withhold state allocated funds from local units to ensure os compliance with commission regulations and orders The changes made during the special session give the Tax Commission more power to direct and supervise local assessments the study said y Cache Valley residents may not have to sprout wings and take flapping lessons to fly to Salt Lake City if the Cache County Commission approves a new air carrier 2 Famous Weather questions: are there no rainbows after a good drenching brainstorm? Who is this "Dip in the Road" the highway signs 4 regularly warn us about? Why |
