OCR Text |
Show .Vernal Express, Wednesday, July 19, 2006 A5 Special Service Districts Continued from A1 "the federal government decided decid-ed that, setting aside BLM land for open space was a good idea. Since the land was set aside as open space, the federal government govern-ment agreed to pay the county a portion of the money which would be due from a private tax payer. This was called Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) money. When oil companies found natural gas and mineral resources on federal land within with-in the county boundaries, they wanted to develop the mineral min-eral resources. Because these companies are using federal grounds, they have to pay what is called a mineral lease tax. A portion of the tax paid by companies com-panies goes to the federal government, gov-ernment, and a portion goes back to the state. There was a concern on the federal level that state and counties shouldn't receive both PILT and mineral lease monies, mon-ies, but the federal government in acknowledging that resource extraction of oil and gas causes significant impacts on the communities com-munities in which they occur, agreed to allow mineral lease money to be kept if it were directed to specific programs (versus going right into the county budget), but if the mineral min-eral lease money were to be put in the general budget, the PILT money would be lost. The proponents' assurances assur-ances Currently, Uintah County has three special service districts: dis-tricts: the Parks and Recreation SSD, a Roads SSD, and the Health SSD. Both the Parks and Rec and the Road SSD are paid for by mineral lease money. With the increase in economic econom-ic activity, especially in natural natu-ral gas development, Uintah County has seen a significant increase in the amount of mineral min-eral lease money they have received. If this money isn't directed into specific programs that are different in function from county programs, some of the money will be lost. "The goal," said Peterson, is to "effectively utilize the amount of money we are receiving receiv-ing and spread it out. We are trying to keep property taxes where they are, and by creating creat-ing Special Service Districts that county residents don't have to pay for with taxes, we can keep property taxes lower, while at the same time utilizing utiliz-ing the mineral lease funds in a purpose which the federal government has determined by statute to be appropriate; that is, addressing the impacts of growth our community is experiencing expe-riencing due to the increase in mineral extraction." The concerns that some have with the SSDs are that some jobs will be "dissolved and recreated," rec-reated," as Peterson explained it, but there should be little difference dif-ference in personnel, he said. The SSDs will change the way some of the services provided to the County are paid for and the organization of others like the fire district, "But," said Peterson, "this will be so much more efficient if we can lose a little of our turf consciousness." conscious-ness." When asked about what will happen if the oil projections projec-tions and plans don't work out, Peterson said, "Mineral Lease money is based on extracted minerals and 80 percent of mineral permits are for natural natu-ral gas. Those should be fairly stable for a period of time," said Peterson. He added that he was not that concerned about the money disappearing. "We have a massive field of natural gas as a regional reserve," he added. "We aren't paying for extra stuff, but if we can use this money coming in to pay for necessary things, and the money does go away, the costs should be something we can take care of anyway." Some citizens' concerns A local voter was asked to share her views about the Special Service District proposal. pro-posal. Sandy Hansen said, "I have two concerns. One is that oil and gas development in the Uintah Basin, and across the United States, historically have gone through boom and bust cycles. Right now we are in a boom cycle, and the mineral lease money has gone from $6.9 million in 2003 to a projected $30 million this year. My concern con-cern is: when we hit the bust cycle, what's going to happen to the services provided by these SSDs? How are they going to be funded? They are very critical. criti-cal. I understand the County Commission's desire not to raise taxes, which they've said they will have to do if we don't use the mineral lease funds, but looking forward to when the bust comes, are they going to have to significantly raise taxes then, when the mineral lease money decreases? "My second concern is public accountability for the program. As I read the Special Service District Act, control of each district is vested in a board of trustees, to be appointed by the County Commissioners, or if the public should demand it, they are to be elected. My understanding is that the Boards of Trustees will have hiring and firing decision-making. Because each SSD is governed gov-erned by its own board of trustees, trust-ees, I am concerned that there is no assurance that the boards will be representatives of all constituents that the districts serve, and that the SSDs won't be accountable to the public." Asked if there was any way to alleviate the concerns, Hansen responded, "If the County Commissioners allow the board members to be elected, that might resolve the issue. "In the Commission minutes min-utes when the Commissioners discussed establishing SSDs, they acknowledged that it needed more study. They may be getting pressured to spend the mineral lease money. I understand the budgetary considerations, con-siderations, but before they jump into uncharted water, they need to do more study and address the issues of control and accountability." Hansen is concerned that when the war in Iraq ends, when things stabilize, the mineral min-eral lease money will go down. "Will we then have a dramatic increase in our taxes? Is it just postponing the inevitable? Ignoring a problem rarely results in that problem being served. Funding essential services ser-vices with mineral lease funds which are temporary is essentially essen-tially ignoring the problem, which is: how do you fund the services in perpetuity? I'll Mi nor? 3" ; ' "Rick Bell has been quoted as saying that with the extra funding of SSD we would be able to hire another Animal Control Officer, which we desperately des-perately need. But are we going to expand all of these activities activi-ties while we have the mineral lease monies and then have to shrink the services when the mineral lease funds go down?" Another voter commented, "Perhaps the Commissioners could look at a special service that is needed at the present time but after a period of years has completed the task and 'works itself out of a job.' In that case, the responsibility for payment for the service would not have to revert back to the tax base." Commissioner Mike McKee spoke on behalf of the Commission, "The public hearing on July 21 will be an informational meeting, and we will welcome the input that is given. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers. We invite the public to attend and will appreciate having people take the time to come to listen, to share their ideas, and ask their questions." VTV plans expansion of services Dale Allred acknowledged that enhancement of VTV is underway. The station has filed for an FCC License which they are hopeful will be granted the first part of September. Covering Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah Counties, technology technol-ogy will be over-the-air broadcast, broad-cast, High-Definition (HD) capable, and still available to cable users. Providers of satellite sat-ellite service will determine whether access will be possible for disk users. However, everyone every-one will be able to receive the channel with their antennae. What the station name will be is undecided as yet. "Tri-County "Tri-County Area" and "North-Eastern "North-Eastern Utah" are being considered. con-sidered. An announcement will be made when the FCC License is finalized. i Indoor air pollutants loch as dust mites, wold, mildew, animal dander, and smoke are Just some of the irritants that are eireulated through today's air tight homes. These pollutants ean aggravate asthma and allergies. Take the appropriate action to have your air duets cleaned and sanitized. Call 3-P Heating Cooling at 79-3133. Don't Walt- Vour Family Will Thank You! tjpJiP) mm Caution urged With hot temperatures and ample fuels, wildland fire is only a spark away. Fire officials offi-cials are urging caution in the use of fire and especially fireworks fire-works as our July 24th holiday festivities approach. "The July holidays are some of our most worrisome times," says State Forester Joel Frandsen. "All fires need three things, oxygen, fuel and an ignition source, and people often provide that source of ignition." Fire restrictions are currently current-ly in place only in Washington County. Those restrictions prohibit open fires of any kind, except campfires in approved fire pits and grills in improved campgrounds or permanent places of habitation. Devices fueled by petroleum or LPG products are still allowed in all locations. Smoking is also prohibited, pro-hibited, except in an enclosed vehicle or developed recreation site, or in an area three feet in diameter cleared of vegetation to mineral soil. Other prohibitions prohibi-tions include any kind of fireworks, fire-works, tracer ammunition, or other incendiary device. "We hope people remember remem-ber that fireworks and vegetation vegeta-tion are not a good mix," adds Frandsen. "We want everyone to enjoy their holiday outings, but to do so safely." For the latest in fire information infor-mation go to www.utahfireinfo. gov. r iiliillilli, W With My Spending Report, every purchase you make with your Wells Fargo Check Card and Credit Card, plus your Online Bill Pay activity, appears in one online statement And since your expenses are automatically sorted into categories, like groceries and gas, it's easier to find places where you can save. My Spending Report is free with Wells Fargo Free Checking. Why wait for sorneday?Talkwitha Wells Fargo banker, call 1-800-WFB-OPEN (1-800-9324736) OTvisrtwdlst Notes from the Uintah Mountain Club Hot Enough For You? The Deseret Morning News, not a newspaper noted for environmentalist envi-ronmentalist leanings, recently reported ("Hot and getting hotter," Saturday, July 15, 2006) that global warming has come home to Utah., The average temperature for the , 48 contiguous con-tiguous states from January through June was 3.4 degrees above average for the 20th century, cen-tury, according to data recorded since 1895 by the National Climate Data Center. No state so far this year has been cooler than average, aver-age, and worldwide, world-wide, the first half of 2006 was The temperture the sixth warmest year-to-date, according to records that begin in 1880. The local scientist quoted was Todd Hall, Utah meteorologist meteorolo-gist with the National Weather Service. According to Hall, the U.S has just experienced its warmest first half of the year on record. June was "about three to five degrees above normal," Hall said, and added, "I think it's well proven that global warming is occurring." According to him, the evidence demonstrates that human intervention is adding to the problem. Of course, there will always be nay-sayers, flat-earth proponents propo-nents who will deny all of this and dispute the findings of the scientific world. But the rest of us should be thinking about how our lives will change, with these changing conditions. For instance, it has been predicted ...... THANK YOU UINTAH COUNTY VOTERS! "EVERY VOTE DOES COUNT" As many of you are aware, after all the republican primary ballots were counted on July 10th there was only one vote separating myself and my opponent in the surveyor's race. After a recount on the afternoon of July 11th the final tally was 2,143 votes for myself and 2,140 votes for my opponent What a great example as to why we should exercise , our rights in the voting process. thflMcs again from the folks at Tlmbtriine Engineering and Land Surveying, with a special thanks from my business partner, , ' Kolby Kay, and myself, John Slaugh. Track your spending online with My Spending Report, only from Wells Fargo. that snowpack will be smaller, small-er, and runoff may peak earlier ear-lier at a less convenient time. Irrigated crops may need more water to struggle through blistering blis-tering summers, yet there is likely to be less water available then. How well is Utah agriculture prepared for this? What to do? Well, obviously, obvi-ously, it would behoove us to change our ways, when those ways needlessly increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Driving less in more fuel- starts to heat up. efficient vehicles is probably the single biggest effect a single sin-gle Utahn can have. Living lives that require less extravagant extrava-gant amounts of electricity is another. Every time an electric device starts up, somewhere over the horizon, a coal-fired plant is emitting carbon dioxide diox-ide into the air, as the carbon (coal) burns with oxygen. That simple equation, C 02 - C02 says it all: every time we burn any of our fuels, whether wood, coal, petroleum, or natural gas, we emit carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, many changes, chang-es, such as increasing fuel efficiency effi-ciency standards in cars and trucks, rely on leadership from our nationally elected officials. This leadership has been notably nota-bly lacking. How much less oil would we be importing from the Persian Gulf now, if we had mandated serious standards 10 years ago?; Z,;, '. The Next Stage 4i |