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Show A-16 The Park Record Meetings and agendas Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, April 13-16, 2019 More dogs on Main TO PUBLISH YOUR PUBLIC NOTICES AND AGENDAS, PLEASE EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS@PARKRECORD.COM Annual tax rant 30 Day Comment Period: 2019 Fees for Nitrate Testing April 2, 2019 – May 3, 2019 The Summit County Health Department is issuing a 30-day formal notice and comment period during which the public can review the proposed 2019 Fees for Nitrate Testing and submit comments to the Health Department in writing by email or mail or in person at the May 6th Board of Health Meeting. In January of 2019, the Summit County Health Department, Water Lab initiated the certification process for Nitrate testing with the Utah Public Health Lab. In March 2019, the Water Lab received approval to begin Nitrate testing. This valuable service will test for Nitrate concentrations in drinking water samples and septic effluent for alternative individual wastewater systems. As a result, an amendment to the fee schedule is required. This change will reflect the appropriate cost for the service provided. It is proposed that a fee of $22 per Nitrate sample be added to the fee schedule. At this time, the Board is seeking comments in regards to the proposed increases to the Health Department regulatory permit fees. The proposed changes can be viewed online at summitcountyhealth.org/public-announcements/30-day-comment-period-2019-nitrate-testing-fees/ Comments must be postmarked or received at the Summit County Health Department by 5:00 pm Mountain Standard Time on Friday, May 3, 2019. Comments may be emailed to dsiddoway@summitcounty.org. Public comments will also be taken at the Board of Health meeting held on Monday, May 6, 2019, at 4:00 pm at the Summit County Health Department Office located at 650 Round Valley Drive, Park City. Or by mail to: Derek Siddoway Summit County Health Department 650 Round Valley Drive, Suite 100 Park City, Utah 84060 SNYDERVILLE BASIN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING AGENDA APRIL 15, 2019 ** DISTRICT OFFICE** 5:00 P.M. I. CALL TO ORDER II. CONSENT AGENDA – APPROVAL OF BOARD MEETING MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 25, 2019 III. PUBLIC INPUT IV. APPROVAL OF EXPENDITURES – BILLS IN THE AMOUNT OF $938,986.31 INCLUDING SCWRF PROJECT PAY REQUEST #35 FOR $96,742.89 AND PAY REQUEST #36 FOR $73,327.65 V. SUBDIVISION PROJECTS PARK CITY HEIGHTS PHASE 4 – 80 RES ESTIMATED LEA RES YEAR TO DATE: # ABOVE SPLITTER 0; # ECWRF 0; # SCWRF 0; TOTAL 0 PROPOSED THIS MEETING: # ABOVE SPLITTER 0; # ECWRF 0; # SCWRF 80; TOTAL 80 VI. DISTRICT MANAGER A. ACTION ITEMS 1. 2018 ANNUAL INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET REPORT 2. EXCEPTION TO RESTRICTION FOR CROSS-LOT LATERAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 334 WEST 5200 NORTH B. INFORMATION ITEM 1. 2018 TRUST ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAM (TAP) AWARD (6TH CONSECUTIVE AWARD FINANCIAL STATEMENT 3. IMPACT FEE REPORT VII. CLOSED SESSION – DISCUSS THE CHARACTER, PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OR PHYSICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH OF AN INDIVIDUAL VIII. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS A. PROJECTS B. OPERATIONS C. FINANCE D. GOVERNMENTAL MATTERS IV. By Tom Clyde A year and some change ago, Congress passed what was called sweeping tax reform. The biggest change was a big reduction in corporate tax rates. While it sounded outrageous to lower taxes on corporations, the reality was that our corporate tax rates were so out of sync with the rest of the world that it didn’t work. U.S. corporations were moving their headquarters into P.O. boxes in the Cayman Islands or Ireland to avoid US taxes. So it made sense to bring our rates sort of into the mainstream of other countries. The savings, which were theoretically going to turn into higher wages, mostly didn’t. There was also a promise of lower rates for the middle class. President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan were shown smiling and holding up a new postcard-sized tax return that individuals would use. You would have a simplified tax law, pay less money, and do it all on a postcard. They lied. Shocking. My “postcard” ran 38 pages this year, and it’s not like I’m running some complicated multinational venture. There are a few stock trades, some business expenses, and income that came in various flavors. In the end, the tax reform didn’t change my tax bill one way or another by enough to matter. A lot of people with big families are finding out that their taxes went up. The standard deduction for a family went up to $24,000, so for a lot of people, there’s no advantage in itemizing deductions. That was more or less offset by the fact that the personal exemptions went away. If you have several kids, that’s a huge and expensive change. Every year, when I go through this exercise, I wonder why we tolerate it. First off, IRS has almost all of the information you put on your return already. It would be simple for them to mail you a bill and say, “This is what we think you owe, do you have any corrections or additions?” So that’s where you put in things that don’t get automatically reported by your bank, employer, mortgage holder, etc. That would simplify things a lot. We don’t do it that way because there is a whole tax preparation industry that benefits from selling us software or helping file returns in booths at Walmart. People whose affairs are complicated enough to need an accountant would still need an accountant, but for most people, an IRS-generated return would spare us from buying software. The software sellers don’t For most people, an IRS-generated return would spare us from buying software. The software sellers don’t much like that idea, and have successfully prevented that from happening.” much like that idea, and have successfully prevented that from happening. Mechanics aside, the system is fundamentally unfair. What you pay depends as much on the flavor of your income as the amount. If your income comes from wages, you pay FICA on that, and then the income tax rate hits. If you’re self-employed, you get to pay both halves of FICA. There’s the standard deduction, or, if you own a house in Park City, you are probably paying enough interest to itemize. But in the end, you are going to pay a significant amount in tax on “earned income.” On the other hand, if you bring in the same amount, but it comes from dividends, capital gains, and municipal bond interest — “unearned income” — you don’t pay FICA, and the applicable rate on the rest could be somewhere between 0 and 15 percent, 20 percent on capital gains if you are really raking it in. My effective tax rate is about a third what my nephew pays on essentially identical income. He has a job and I’m retired. Sucker. There used to be a real disadvantage to renting. Mortgage interest is deductible because the real estate lobby has convinced Congress that the federal treasury should subsidize home ownership. Rent is not deductible, which ultimately makes it harder for renters to save enough to buy. In all but the high-priced housing markets, the increased standard deduction helps equalize that for renters. That was probably an accidental benefit rather than an intended outcome. Trump’s tax returns are in the news again, or at least, the Democrats’ efforts to get a look at them. I suspect there were no loopholes left behind. If my return ran 38 pages, his must take a forklift to handle. The cable news pundits are insisting that even the most long-shot presidential candidates immediately release years of tax returns. It’s a year before the first primary vote is cast. Congress wants to pass a law requiring that disclosure — for presidential candidates, but certainly not for congressional candidates. Why would the public have any interest in what financial skullduggery members of Congress are up to? I’m all for disclosure when the field gets thinned, but also for disclosure from congressional candidates. The fundamental unfairness of the tax code is really shameful. Each round of reform only makes it worse. But have a nice day. Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986. sunday in the Park By Teri Orr ADJOURN IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND THIS PUBLIC MEETING AND, DUE TO A DISABILITY, REQUIRE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION IN UNDERSTANDING, PARTICIPATING IN OR ATTENDING THE MEETING, PLEASE NOTIFY THE DISTRICT TWENTY-FOUR OR MORE HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING, AND WE WILL TRY TO PROVIDE WHATEVER ASSISTANCE MAY BE REQUIRED. BOARD MEMBERS MAY APPEAR TELEPHONICALLY. M OUNTAIN TOWN NEWS A Roundup of News from Other Western Ski Resort Communities ALLEN BEST Mountain Town News How Jackson Hole and a town in Mexico are tied at the hip JACKSON, Wyo.– Jackson has at least a couple of formal sister cities, one in Austria and the other in China. It also has an informal sister city in Mexico, a place called San Simeon. Many of the housekeepers and others in Jackson Hole come from this small town of about 3,000 people located east of Mexico City. At one time the road between Mexico City and Veracruz ran through the town. Now, the highway bypasses it, and most storefronts sit vacant. Residents can stay in their small state of Tlaxcala and work long hours, move to Mexico City and make a bit more, or immigrate to the United States and make enough to live a more financially stable life with the possibility of returning home one day, reports Brennan Hussey in the Jackson Hole News&Guide. She visited San Simeon last fall while on a vacation to Mexico City. “The connection between Jackson and San Simeon is so tight that residents in the Mexican community affectionately call Jackson ‘Jack-Simeon,’” she says. Teton County immigration attorney Elisabeth Trefonas said 9 times out of 10, when a Spanish-speaking client walks into her office, it’s somebody from Tlaxcala. “There’s a rough estimate that about 30 percent of our community is Spanish-speaking,” she said. She guesses 75 or 80 percent, maybe more, come from Tlaxcala. This wave of immigration to Jackson began in the mid-1990s, a little later than Aspen and Vail, but has slowed since 2007, as worker visits have been harder to come by. Then, she said, Jack- son started to rely more heavily on students from Eastern Europe with worker visas. The residents of San Simeon have changed Jackson, but Jackson has also changed Sam Simeon. There’s a Teton Tavern in the Mexican town, for example. At least one of the houses in San Simeon also has granite countertops. That house belongs to German Marquina Sanchez. In Jackson Hole, he had first worked at the Dairy Queen, then a motel, then the very-upscale Four Seasons hotel before forming his own cleaning business. He met his wife, who was also from the same Mexican state, in Wyoming. Their two daughters attended public schools in Jackson. But he chose to return to Mexico. He was working all the time, spending little time with his family. “I don’t want to be a rich person,” he said. “I just want to have enough for whatever I need.” As deep snows melt, will they fill the reservoirs of the West? GUNNISON, Colo. – It’s been a splendid year for snowfall from Colorado to California. Now it’s time for the reservoirs to fill. At Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado’s largest reservoir, the shoreline in January reached its lowest level since 1977, a remarkable drought year. This year, with the snowpack at 150 percent of the 30-year average for early April, Blue Mesa is expected to fill. In the Tahoe area, a snow survey site called Phillips Station was barren four years ago amid California’s horrendous drought. On the same date this year, the field had enough snow that, had it melted instantaneously, there would have been 51 inches of water. “With full reservoirs and a dense snowpack, this year is practically a California water supply dream,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the California Division of Water Resources, in a press release. In Colorado, if current trends continue, 2019 will be only the fifth year since 2000 that the state’s water-storage has been at or above average. “It is hard to tell if we are out of the long-term drought or still in the new normal,” said Jim Pokrandt, community affairs director for the Colorado River Water Conservation District, which looks after water matters for much of Colorado’s Western Slope. Along the Elk River near Steamboat Springs, the evidence suggests a new normal. There, John Fetcher began tracking when the snow had left the hay meadows of his ranch in 1949, later co-founding the Steamboat ski area. He died in 2009, but the task of the daily log has been carried on by his son, Jay Fetcher. What the weather logs suggest now is a future of increased variation as compared to those of the 20th century. It used to be that grass wasn’t available from Nov. 20 to May 20. That seems to be shifting. Howling wolves and cats prowling in the alley, too JASPER, Alberta – From Vail to Jasper, cougar sightings have been common this winter along the crest of the Rocky Mountains. In Jasper, Steve Young, spokesman for Parks Canada, told the Jasper Fitzhugh that the town lies within a travel corridor for the animals, so sightings are not at all unusual. Same goes for Banff and wolves. There, a resident was awakened recently in the dark of night by a pack of wolves howling in the alley behind his home. For more Mountain Town News, visit parkrecord.com. Don’t forget the laughing part... Sometimes I have to remind myself to laugh. Lately it seems critical in all situations/conversations. We have become so damn serious in our days and hours ... we miss the humor of the moments. This week at lunch with a parttime Parkite who otherwise lives in D.C. and works as a federal judge, we were talking, as we do, about politics. I’ll call my friend Harry. He is a supporter of the programming we bring to the Eccles Center. So Harry was asking if we had started looking at acts for next season — especially speakers. I said, yes, and I was always looking for suggestions. He immediately rattled off a list of D.C. figures he wanted to hear — almost all were folks who had had short runs in the current administration. All were appointees. He is a mostly liberal guy. We imagined questions the speakers should be asked onstage. We were ruthless over the safety of our salads. It provided for a spirited and amusing lunch. He flew back to D.C. that afternoon. Later that same day — when I finished work and went home — I did something I rarely do anymore — I turned on the national news. Most specifically CNN. I have found for the past two years that reading most of my news or listening to NPR is much better for my mental health and blood pressure. I looked at the screen and there, next to the comforting silver hair and black hornrimmed eyes of Anderson Cooper, was the split-screen shot of Anthony Scaramucci. The very name that Harry and I had agreed would be — at the very least — an entertaining speaker. For those who do not know his name, here is the shortest explanation of the short person who served the shortest time as director of communications ever in that role in The White House in all of history. A total of six days. He had come from the world of investment banking* (see Sky Capital). He replaced the oftmocked former communications director, Sean Spicer, who had served about six — Saturday Night Live-material-supplying — months in the position. It is easy to forget all this happened on top of each other. Mooch — as he is known in D.C. — was explaining in excruciating detail — that he still supported the president but he was no sycophant. And then he went on to somehow conjugate a noun. He said supporting Trump did not make him sycophantic. It kept falling out of his mouth like that. Then I heard him say words that sounded like sycophantical and sycophant-ish and maybe even sycophantically. Anderson asked him another question which I no longer recall because I became mesmerized by his unstoppable use of variations of the word sycophant — which he was now tripping over like a dance move gone all middleaged-white-male-arm-flapping bad. How do we keep our sanity when it has become painful and impossible to even know how to define it?” Which took my Walter Mitty mind down a rabbit hole and suddenly I was singing — loudly “will you do the fandango” around my living room — to absolutely no one. And laughing. I can explain. Two years ago after Mooch’s spectacular six-day White House job ended in his dismissal by The Current Occupant, one of my wackiest friends, who is a singer-songwriter on the East Coast, sent me a note. It said something like “ask Siri to find ... tiny man dancing” ... (Mooch is a man of diminutive statue.) So I spoke into my phone “find tiny man dancing” and in that monotone, slightly-female-computerized-voice came back those operatic words we all have tried — at a PhD level of intensive study — to decipher for decades. I see a little silhouetto of a man Scaramouch, Scaramouch will you do the Fandango Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, figaro, magnifico I’m just a poor boy and nobody loves me He’s just a poor boy from a poor family Spare him his life from this monstrosity Easy come easy go will you let me go Bismillah, no we will not let you go, let him go. I remember belly laughing on the lawn where I was picnicking with friends. Soon I was sharing it with absolute strangers — listen to this! And I would tell them to “ask Siri to — find tiny man dancing” and then the prescient lyrics from the brilliant songwriter, Freddy Mercury of Queen, would come out in the monotone-synthesized-slightly-female voice and I would start laughing all over again. This went on and off for a full 48 hours and then Siri/Google/algorithm-havingtoo-much-fun possibly-in violation-of FCC rules or copyright something — someone took the joy away. No more Bohemians were allowed the brief Rhapsody of joyful laughter. I will be seeing some of my craziest friends at an annual conference this week and I look forward to learning the wacky things they are doing to stay mentally healthy in a world gone utterly, unrecognizably, mad. How do we keep our sanity when it has become painful and impossible to even know how to define it? We will sing silly songs. We will look forward to having conversations about world peace and peace pops. We will argue respectfully and toast our friendships and our differences. And just maybe ... we will do the Fandango this Sunday, far outside of this Park... Teri Orr is a former editor of The Park Record. She is the director of the Park City Institute, which provides programming for the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center for the Performing Arts. |