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Show SSS Page 1 0 the West View SS , his kids’ ediveation suffers. For. _ these and other reasons, his wife is anxious to move to another Maria notices that Salt Lake neighborhood. : City government is doing some | Future continued from page 1 good things. She’s glad for the - annual garbage pick up and the - Direct Sales Direct Sales All of those interviewed for this story thought Salt Lake - elementary schools. Even more, she notices efforts to invest Improvements in sound _barriers. adjacent to I-15 and street upgrades at the small business area at 900 West and G0 of their tax dollars on west side neighborhoods. They are happy with police protection, garbage pick-up, street improvements, and neighborhood _ planning efforts: However, North. Rosa Cendejas lives with her parents in Glendale, where she has lived for seven years. She attended Parkview Elementary and has good memories of the teachers there. What Rosa likes about the neighborhood is its stability. Most of her neighbors have been there for several years and they are less sure that their own neighbors invest and take care of their homes. If there is decline in the neighborhoods, in the opinion of those interviewed, it is an issue of individual responsibility rather than lack of interest by the City Council or the Mayor. ers invest in improvements they would all talk together more However, research on how much taxable sales are attributable to When asked does she think investments in homes in _ the area are a good idea, she replied, “I hear my parents talk about that. They want to move Direct Sales (Sales Tax Based) on» their homes is difficult to obtain. that she says live in the area. Pawn ions Bex wees Pasties | | Sy Data on how much homeown- care about each other. She wishes. to create a real neighborhood feel. Rosa did note that there are occasional fights, often involving students from the nearby intermediate school or gang members Avenues | | $42.80 N Sugathouse | west side neighborhoods was obtained and should be considered important because most of Salt Lake City’s general fund budget comes from property, sales and business taxes. This general fund is the main source of the City’s operating budget. Foothill ean Holy Cross , $312 Sugarhouse 7 Westside West Downtown [=a While the biggest generator of taxable sales in the city is Direct Sales Gn millions) Salt Lake City, residents might expect that the City would invest in services and capital improve- and other sourcese of revenue) that represent investments the ments that make the this part of These investments include streets, bridges and long planning projects. The of capital improvements city is similar to a home investing in siding or new city a viable place to live and work. To understand the City’s investments, I looked into the downtown taxables sales is due expenditures on one of the servic- likes the. neighborhood because to the electric and gas utilities that have their corporate offices es provided to residents, public safety, as well as the investment downtown, but have an operating facility in West Side neighbor- in capital improvement projects. in the suburbs are all built at the same time and have maybe five different designs. The neighborhoods may look uniform but they give up the diversity of a neighborhood that has had homes built over a long time. Some of the homes here are Jerry he doesn’t like the modular homes that are squeezed into small lots on his block. Rolando likes his neighbors and he feels that they look out for - each other more than his old Burton, with the neighborhoods, combined, produce the remaining 20% and host an important part of Salt Lake City’s retail stores. There is no information easily by zipcode, however, half of Salt received $19 million out of $61 million budgeted for neighborhoods, or 31% of the total funds. This amounts to $322 per capita for west side residents compared $6 million on west side projects Service. Homes out of a total $21 million dollar zipcode areas have declined from capital improvement budget for average sales value of $100,000 note that Salt Lake City Police neighborhoods; approximately a third of the approved dolProjects that were lar amount. approved include local street by are Delta Airlines, Pacificorp, Skywest, and Questar. In addition City did. What tempers his optimism is what he sees as the “low volunteer effort on the part of residents.” Rolando believes are the property taxes of roughly Division 17,000 homes Patrol Special (which focused and the potential too much to non-English speak- sales taxes from approximately 54,000 residents living on the West Side. Since west side neighborhoods ing students and the quality of are such an important part for (Westside), Liberity Division (Eastside) and Investigations Division includes, among other law enforcement efforts, officers dedicated for SWAT, Gangs, Narcs, Vice, and Motors activity for the entire city). Sneall, Intimate Commiah PF LS ff) | c ~Y fg Ub YY " . | or an if b OVE ant — | git Vertical And Mini Blinds; Ample Closet Space Extra Storage or a business spending dollars on maintenence or expansion. These Development Block Grants. With these added to general fund projects, west side neighborhoods Lake City’s important industrial officers from Liberty Precinct property tax payers are located - must respond to west side calls. — in our neighborhoods. These Furthermore, it is important to to these big property tax payers the neighborhood schools cater intent in the owner rooms are funded by federal Community — Salt Valley in West parks, range and state highway funds and neighborhood projects which Lake City Police Departments’s Deparmtent has a total of three seperate divisions: Pioneer Patrol neighborhood city makes in its neighborhoods. “federal are investments to raise and _ to $529 per capita for central city maintain a quality of life. _tesidents and $227 for east side accounting office, states that residents. Sherri Collins with Salt Lake the Pioneer Precinct, which is City government provided data A signal that west side residenfrom State Street west, gets 21 on approved expenditures for tial neighborhoods are in trouble percent of Salt Lake City Police Capital Improvement Projects for is the data on property values for Department’s budget. This does — the years 2000-2003. Over this these neighborhoods over the not include administrative costs, four year period, Salt Lake City past year as reported by Wasatch the cost for dispatch, nor when government approved the use of Front Regional Multiple Listing All other Salt Lake City available on property taxes paid 60 years old or more.” However, hoods. gE East Downtown ment in rental property. Rolando of its character. He explains, $76.60 Rose Paik # Airport back to Mexico in a few years. the downtown area, west side They don’t think they could get neighborhoods are next in line their money back if they make . according to Utah State Tax improvements.” So they put their Commission data sorted by zipefforts into household repairs and code. In fact, by zipcode, downin the flowerbeds in their front town neighborhoods generate 60 yard. 3 percent of taxable sales followed Rolando Ramos has lived in his _by west side neighborhoods at 20 house in the Euclid neighborhood percent. This is due to the fact for five years. He sees his invest- that the West Side hosts the City’s manufacturing and _ wholesale ment in his home as a good one industries. It is important to note and plans to hold on to his house for the next 10 years as an investthat a significant portion of the “Homes West Side 2 East / Central City investment in rebuilding several . City government spends enough. | Reserved, Covered Parking 24 Hour Emergency mos | improvements, Jordan River Parkway development and improvments, west side parks investments, and improvements to the industrial areas west of -~Redwood Road. Looking deeper into the City’s ‘spending, the per capita amout Salt Lake over the four year period of City’s Capital Capital Improvement Projects Improvement ~ approved equaled $105 on the | Close To Bike/ Jogging Trails Funds are a portion of the city’s General West Side, compared to $114 spent per capita on Central City neighborhoods and $122 spent on Funds neighborhoods east of 700 East. (sales hee! cs ponies Minutes From Down Town and property tax dollars collected —_—A similar trend is found when looking at capital improvement | from within Salt projects funded by state and fed- Lake eral taxes. These include major street improvements funded by Easy Interstate Access Children’s Play Area well City as as bonds 13.1 Homes in the 84104 percent to $87,000. in 84116 (Rose Park) areas have declined in average sales value from $118,000 by 5.6 percent to $111,000. This is in comparison to average home values for Salt Lake County at $184,000, having declined by 1.6 percent. This average home value is more than twice the home value for homes in the 84104 neighborhoods. However, can take the views Schnirel. are seen as west side residents © heart and expressed “More and a valuable hope in by John more we part of the city. This happens by word of mouth and people to people as we talk with each other. This is not only east side talking to west side neighborhoods, but neighbors talking to each other street by street.” |