| Show Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley Delti Utah $1500 In out ol county 6 months $800 and $900 (In Advance) Swearing-i- n symbol of democracy Delta City Recorder Dorothy Jeffery (left) swears in councilmen Don Dafoe Dave Church Gayle Bunker and Mayor Ruth Hansen Similar ceremonies were enacted this week in many towns and cities throughout the county Delta City officials made their ceremonies more formal than usual with comments offered by new and old council members Delta City Attorney Warren Peterson noted that swearing in is often taken for granted but that citizens should appreciate the smooth transition of governments we have in this country because in many countries throughout the world the transition is often violent and disruptive Delta City landowners seek share of large water well Several parties are seeking to divvy up the rights to an abandoned water well north of the Delta City Municipal Airport in what may be a precedent setting case in Millard County Delta City the DMAD water companies and landowners represented by the Christensen Estate want to share equally in the 800 acre feet of well water with another share left in trust for future development of the area New Mayor The attempt to reactivate the well surrounds the proposed annexation of the airport and area between Delta and the airport into Delta City This proposal would double the size of the city The Christensen Estate landowners hope to construct housing and businesses in the area and need the water for their projects But their petition to the state for the rights were met with protest by Delta City Before the matter went to court however a plan to give Delta 25 percent DMAD 25 percent a trust fund 25 percent and the Christensen Estate 25 percent was proposed and a resolution agreeing to it was passed by the Delta City Council on Dec 30 1985 The agreement if approved would give Delta City 200 acre feet of water valued at about $120000 Of DMAD's portion 60 acre feet would go to Oasis and Desert The Morley Well as it is known was dug in 1950 appointed for Meadow Sheriff seeks FBI training bid prior to Town Council met The Meadow Monday evening to appoint a new mayor to serve the term to which the late Junior Bond was elected DcLynn Labrun was selected to fill the post Mr Labrum was elected to the Meadow Town Council for the coming term of office so his vacant slot will be filled by Jim Beckstrand on the Town Council Mr Beckstrand had run for the office and was narrowly defeated in the last election Millard County Sheriff Ed Phillips attending the FBI National Academy in Quantico Virginia for three months beginning this week The sheriff said this is a for him to opportunity enhance his professional skills and not a move to seek employment elsewhere “Contrary to rumors I am looking for will be seeking another job this coming year and I hope to is serve at least one more term as Millard County Sheriff” he said The program provided by the US Department of Justice extends FBI pertise beyond general jurisdiction by training local law enforcement professionals at the same school it trains its own agents During the sheriffs absence Detective Sergeant Robert Dekker will be serving as Officer in Charge Millard District salary schedules boosted 404 Teacher salary schedules in the Millard School District were boosted by an average of $736 or 404B7o this year This was reported by Utah Foundation in its the private research organization regular annual analysis of teacher salary changes in Utah In addition to this overall increase in ihe salary schedules most teachers in the district also received a normal experience increment that averaged $781 Thus the total increase for most teachers in the Millard School District amounted to $1517 or 833ro Teachers w ho are at the top step in the salary scale of course will benefit onthe change in the salary ly from schedule According to the Foundation report the beginning salary for a classroom teachers in the Millard School District amounted to $15100 this year The salary schedules provide regular in USPS Copy 50 1 creases for experience and for added academic training As a result experienced teachers with a master’s degree receive a maximum salary of or about 70ro more $25627 in than a beginning teacher with only a bachelor’s degree It would take 11 years to reach this maximum salary lev el Foundation analysts point out that the above amounts are taken from the published district salary schedules and are abased on approximately 184 working days or about nine months of service The Legislature also appropriated more than $30 million to fund a programs in the various local districts This could provide additional funds for teacher salaries in Utah A teacher with a bachelor's degree who began teaching five years ago in the Millard School District received a stalling salary of $11900 per year Over the past five years that same teacher would have received increases totaling $3893 in salary schedules adjustments plus $2578 in annual In addition increments perience reductions in the required retirement contributions would have added $726 to the teacher's take home pay As a result the total increase to the teacher would have amounted to $7197 or 60 5®o over this period The Foundation report observes that the average salary paid to classroom was teachers n Utah last year ) $21307 compared with $22894 in the eight Mountain States and $23546 in These as whole a States the United salary differences however are largely offset by the fact that Utah pays most of the employees’ share of the retirement costs a fringe benefit not generally available in other states 0 Vol 76 No 27 Jan 9 1986 County prepares for battle over IPP school taxes Millard County officials are preparing to do battle over IPP’s refusal to pay school taxes and have asked the Millard School District to match $5000 they have set aside for legal costs to do so IPP pays 22 9 mills to the school fund in taxes which the county normally collects for them This year IPP is protesting 42 percent of its property assessment on which the taxes are based None of the taxes have been paid to the State Uniform School Fund Millard County Commissioner Mike Styler said that 58 percent of IPP’s assessed property value or $26 million has been paid by IPP to the State Tax Commission That money has been vested in bank certificates of deposit until the matter is resolved The rest mains unpaid and that bothers county commissioners who feel the money should be paid so that it can be invested until the issue is resolved State Tax Commissioner Gary said tht IPP is one of several large complicated industries that are directly assessed by the state instead of by the county He said it is common for these concerns such as railroads and mining firms to appeal their assessments Commissoner Styler said however that in his opinion if IPP is going to take advantage of the state's appeal system they should be declared regular taxpayers taxpayers or stead of taxpayers under a system set up by the state legislature This change in IPP tax status would said the commissioner give the county authority to receive the IPP taxes and “put some teeth into the law when it comes to dealing with IPP" If informal appeals do not satisfy IPP they have recourse to formal hearings conducted much like a regular court Beyond that an appeal to the Supreme Court is available However county commissioners don't want to wait for IPP to exhaust those appeals and the state apparently does not have the resources to settle the matter quickly “We want to settle this thing as soon as possible” said Commissioner Abe Johnson "The outcome ill affect how they of this IPP protest pay taxes in the future and how other entities like Delta City will have to deal with IPP on collecting taxes Since the state does not have the resources to bring the matter to court we hope the school district will join us in doing so" he said To settle the mailer more quickly he commissioners voted Dec 17 1985 to support the State Tax Commission with $5000 if the school district will match that amount Then a suit could be ed and IPP v ould be forced to confront the issue in court The basis of the IPP protest is in the method used to determine the value ol IPP property There are several different accounting methods which can be used and complicated ways in which the value of industrial property can be determined Commissioner Cornia said the state assesses the valuations using whai limited resources and personnel it has at hand “Large companies like IPP hire specialists to determine its best terest in taxing manners and they don't think the state has used the best methods of determining their property value Where the state has limited resources to do the assessing in the first place it has even fewer resources to hear and evaluate protests of those assessments on projects as large as IPP" the commissioner said Guilty pleas entered in two county drug selling cases Two of five adults charged last summer w ith illegal drug selling in Millard County have pleaded guilty to lesser charges and have been fined and sentenced The arrests were made after an undercover agent witnessed ihe drug sales according to the Millard County Sheriff’s Office Three other adults charged after the “sting” operation are awaiting disposition of their cases Two juveniles also arrested as part of the same bust were placed in the custody of juvenile authorities Under a mutual agreement with police and the Millard County Chronicle Progress the names of juvenile defendants is kept confidential Of the two cases concluded Rick Bauer 23 of Fillmore pleaded guilty a 3rd to Distribution of Marijuana degree felony A sentence of five years in the state prison was suspended in lieu of 18 months probation the terms of which mlcuded a county jail In addition the defendant was finstay ed $700 and a $30 restitution fee Rn Scdilc 22 Hiikklev pleaded guilty to Attempted Possession of CoA caine a Class A misdemeanor sentence of one year in the state prison was suspended in lieu of 18 months the terms of which includprobation work release county jail ed a stay In addition the defendant was fined $500 and a $400 restitution fee In the other cases still pending Kenneth G Brown 20 of Delta faces a jury trial in District Court Jan 23 1986 after pleading to a 2nd ol Degree felony distributing mushrooms 24 Bart Robison Fillmore also to a 3rd Degree pleaded marifelony charge of distributing juana He faces District Court trial on Feb 5 1986 Sean Stevens 19 Fillmore has seen disposition of his case alledging drug distribution delayed until February Sutherland man is “Farm Leader of the Year” Sutherland farmer Ken Ashby has been selected “Farm leader of the Year” by the Utah State Future Farmers of America Mr Ashby was recognized for his many hours of work on agricultural problems as vice president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation and Affiliated Companies and as president of his ow n small business corporation Ashby’s Valley View Farms He is well know in Millard County as a Mormon bishop and member of the Millard County Water Conservancy Board Born in Delta Mr Ashby was raised in Phoenix and attended schools from high After graduation there school he attended BYU and received a B S in agricultural economics in 1965 He now raises small grams alfalfa irrigated hay and seed on an farm He is also a licensed pilot Farm Bureau activities include on county and state membership Young Farmers and Ranchers committees where he served as chairman of the He was also on the state committee Young Farmers and Ranchers national committee and served as chairman of that committee He was elected to the board of directors of Utah Farm Bureau Federation from District 7 in 1971 and was elected v p in 1983 |
