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Show ft I VERNAL SLIDERS FINISH SEASON O-MOIC-SEE ATTRACTS FAMILIES . OQH hnrco anH riHor 1 vi u Weather by 89153 8752 ASPEN BROOK fully cloudy PmlydouaV DP A 1 TV IN with t any wfahtaray li Sl. thunder- thunder- norm. m. qq fjtf Girl's Softball team finishes strong in competitors descend r-on r-on Western Park 1 B1 r AO last tournaments L C1 50 CENTS 114 Year No. 27 Vernal, Utah 84078 www.vemal.com Wednesday Your Hometown Newspaper 1 k. jrt LS K- V Paramedics and volunteers helping victims filled the sidewalk on scene at Main Street and Venal Avenue Friday morning. Uintah School listrici board Express Writer ., Uintah-School Board- mem-', bers adopted a budget of more than $88.7 million for the 2007-08 2007-08 fiscal year on June 19. At the regular business meeting in the district office, change was approved for a more functional substitute placement program. The board voted to accept the schedule for visits to various schools and the schedule of regular business meetings, as advertised in the Vernal Express. Ex-press. But the largest item on the agenda required little discussion because deliberations had taken place in a previous work session. The budget includes the notice of a truth-in-tax meeting for the tax rate reflected in recent property tax notices. The district's budget includes: in-cludes: $40.1 million for maintenance mainte-nance and operations; $1.3 million for the student activity fund; $2.6 million for non K-12 Wliiiiii..4i.,ipi4.tiupjij.iiiWii lyii.i.. , -.--mu ji mm .IIM, : ' " . '"j " ijfchMAND AVIATION INC. ' ' , i a 'I ("m j r 'J, ' r "f T After Uintah County officials inspected hangars at Dinaland Aviation, users are questioning the legality of the search. County officials say the inspections were not only legal, but federally required. County inspects airport hangars, users claim civil rights were violated BYLaBowa Express Associate Editor Airport users at Dinaland Aviation are questioning the legal right to inspect hangars after an unannounced inspection on July 12. A half-dozen sheriff deputies, two dogs and other county officials gathered at Dinaland Dina-land Travel for the inspection. John Gardiner at Dinaland Aviation said he questions whether the inspections, which are allowed under the lease agreement for the hangars, are a violation of constitutional rights. He siad he is reviewing the terms of the lease with his attorney and hopes to resolve his concerns in a meeting with the county later this month. Uintah County Attorney Ed "Y7 'N' A V . Mm i programs; $39.2 million for capital outlay, including construction ;jrojects; . . , , ,.-,. Nearly $3.2 million for debt service and $2.2 million for school foods. The Uintah School District tax rate is 0, 0060 14, which is lower low-er than the tax rate of 0.006307 assessed in 2006. This includes the state supported schools tax of 0.001311. The certified tax rate is 0.005702. The state sets the certified rate for the school district. Excluding new growth, the certified rate would generate gener-ate the same revenues as were generated in the previous year. Because property values went up in Uintah County, the certified tax rate is lower than last year. The school board set a higher rate to generate needed revenue, soatruth-in-taxpublichearingis scheduled for the Aug. 14 at the Uintah County School District Board of Education meeting. Notice is published in the paper as required by law. The overall increase in the Peterson emphasized the actions were security inspections and are allowed under Federal Aviation Administration rules governing the Uintah County airport. He added he is in the process of rewriting re-writing the rules and regulations for the airport to better reflect FAA guidelines. Peterson explained what happened on July 12 was an inspection. in-spection. Officers, dogs and the airport manager walked through the hangars, but did not search through private property. Had the dogs positively identified on items stored in the hangar, deputies would have had probable prob-able cause to perform a search. "The airport is a drug- and weapon-free zone," explained SEE AIRPORT on page A2 the north side of the accident total 2007-08 budget is due primarily pri-marily to the finalizing of the two new elementary schools and , the remodelof the luiddivj school Although much of the budget is for direct instructional services and support to students and staff, a large portion is expected to be spent for the building program. Uintah School District serves some 5,714 students in 11 Differences tax rates across Uintah County Most property values in Uintah County increased 20 to 25 percent from 2006 to 2007. Taxes for most residential are assessed on 55 percent of the total market value. For a home valued at $200,000 in 2007, the homeowner will pay taxes on $110,000 of the property under proposed rates. The same home may have been valued at $160,000 in 2006 and the homeowner would have paid taxes on $88,000 of the property. Under the current property tax proposal, taxpayers in Vernal and Ballard will see slightly smaller rfV :" tax increases than other areas of the , county, wnne property owners in Ouray Park Water Improvement merit r? District will see the largest. Tax notices show rise in home values ExprmWrltw Recent tax notices apprised Uintah County property owners of a rise in residential values. "Values on average went up 20 to 25 percent," said Uintah County Clerk-Auditor Mike Wilkins. "Most homes have gone up in value, very few went down." - Taxed values, which represent repre-sent just over half of residential property values, reflect a 10 to 13 percent increase over last year's valuation. "Valuations have some taxpayers tax-payers asking us county officials of-ficials what the county is doing Three vehicles crash in downtown Vernal on Friday By hewn Gome Express Writer The intersection of Main Street and Vernal Avenue in Vernal was a busy scene Friday, July 27 from 8:30 to 9 a.m. as firefighters, HAZMAT crews, paramedics and law enforcement personnel converged at the site of a motor vehicle collision. A male driver in a white Chevrolet Avalanche pickup was reportedly approaching the intersection from eastbound on MainStreet (U.S. Highway 40)as a woman approached westbound in a red Chevrlet Suburban. "The pickup driver fell asleep, drifted across the center line and hit the suburban head on. With the impact, the suburban clipped the pickup behind. But the third vehicle just got its mirror mir-ror clipped off," said Lt. Dylan Rooks of Vernal Police. Witness Ray Zufelt was in a white Chevrolet pickup as he watched the red suburban attempt at-tempt to avoid the collision, and he was able to swerve up on the curb to avoid being the second collision. As Zufelt was describing the action of the two vehicles, he was holding one of the little girls. The sets tax schools. It also provides services for community and students through community schools with recreational programs and fine arts performances, programs for adult training, preschool intervention, inter-vention, programs for training and job opportunities for persons with disabilities and an after-school after-school program. Uintah School District Super in property $163 menmej 1JJ706 with all the growth money," said Uintah County Commissioner Mike McKee. However, while values have gone up, tax rates have gone down for most taxing entities in Uintah County. The exception is the Uintah School District, where school board members plan to adopt a rate lower than last year, but proportionately higher than other taxing entities. Wilkins explained the district's share of property taxes is assessed as-sessed "at 70 percent, as the high ticket item on any assessment." assess-ment." Most government entities adopted ad-opted lower rates than last year. Excludingnew growth, the lower (Tridell-Lapoint Water riT""' E",-! $1,086 tax v 0.9877 ! !11S- 2 f 200.000B2007 , wnkinnor $153 increase 1.0603 f " ; T ; v OKMnatxmnMd taiwhnoe I ( 2imZl I i. in i. iii..i....,i., -- : II I If JHto lAt'MOL -ft - '- (Mali y : JMS2SEMj $1,029 1 0.9359 -V"y" ,,, ontaMMlytf erapoM jtf ,:, : " .1 I .. . ., Ar. x i i . $149 IncreaM 1.0004 Y II " A -- 1 11,087 tax 1 0.9686 I . jltieoooon20W 1 J, F . . I ...... J .'-J itmmtmt IprapeM - i1.10tM i1.05a ' ' hx other children were held still by the volunteers until they were laid on a flat cushion, rigged in a collar to protect the neck, and finally, loaded onto a gurney that looked too large for the small body that was secured with long straps. "There were eight passengers passen-gers in the red suburban - six kids from 7 down to 3 months," continued Rooks. "Injuries sustained sus-tained by anyone involved were bloody noses and sore spots from air bags and seat belts. There were two adults. The driver was a 28-year-old female, mother of Potentaially hazardous material from wreced vehicles was covered with sand and quickly picked up. The red suburban, in back, was carrying six children and two adults, all wearing seat belts. hearing August 11 intendent Charles Nelson and Business Administrator Randall Upton concluded a narrative presented to the school board with the statement, "The proposed pro-posed budget is a responsible, yet responsive budget that provides for the needs of our students, community and employees." School officials identified several goals with the proposed (Maeser Water $1,072 tax 0.$74 $1,072 tax i 0.$74 I - ' . - ., ' -s. , ' ' -1.0Wt7 I . i. '...JW .i Central Utah Water 3 S3 1 42 Where does the money voi Conservancy District J 0 UinhCounr, Property Uxe, p.Kj to the county drk'. office. Mosqurto AoxFmrnt p tu oo But the county m only one of several taxing entities. A araoe breakdown of taxes paid on t home valued at $200,000 I2S 30 in 2007 n vernal compared to the same home valued ASSESS Imi? Conservancy ostrict Su4.s dollar amount increase to taxpayers.' "U1H Uintah School District maUM1" State Supported Schools Z53?1U1 ; Dl amaMMMrfrMM Uintah County , niMalSi24J1 1 ' ' ,; Vernal Otv . . , . . 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 rates counter the risingproperty values to keep revenues equal for government and the dollar amount of taxes generally equal for taxpayers. When a government entity chooses to adopt a higher rate, it must host truth in taxation hearings hear-ings under state law. Because new growth is costing the district more to operate, school district officials have announced they plan to adopt a higher rate. This means a rise in property taxes for most home owners in the county. Homes are taxed at 55 percent of their appraised, true and fair market value. Market value is the anticipated amount a buyer would pay a seller under four of the kids, and the passenger passen-ger had two kids. The passenger was from the Wasatch Front. The driver of the white Avalanche was diagnosed with minor impact injuries at the scene " Rooks said injuries weren't severe, given the number of people involved. "We don't like to have this kind of accident, but it could have been a lot worse. It was a good thing that it didn't happen later in the day." Names of motorists and victims vic-tims had not been released by Vernal Police as of July 31. budget, including: Address concerns for at- risk students in the alternative education program, including a director; Fund 10 additional regular classroom teachers; Fund a 19.5 hour music specialist for each elementary school; SEE TAXES on page A2 acceptable appraisal standards, The county "strongly suggests; that people review their notices, 1 said commissioner Dave Has lem. 1 "Look at the value and ask your self, 'Can you sell your; home for that much or more?" said Wilkins. "I encourage people' to come into the assessor's office! if you feel like the appraisal is incorrect." This call needs to be made within the next 30 days to guarantee a taxpayer's right of appeal Taxpayers who have not received their notices or who have questions ques-tions are asked to call the Uintah County Auditor's Office at (435) 781-6363. '' V.- |