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Show Thursday, September 11, 2008 SPRINGiVILLE HERALD Clean Out the Cabinet Month : 1 tti I - Jk-.. it ;;. : . ; - A I .M . " ji( I I fci.i milniri aw ini hi tiii - " " jwwntww? " . I J . Z , - - , t -,s t 'i ' , , i i . J - ' r , I i ,ii - iii in i ir I WMnrw i " ; i "-:'. r . s i - - ' )'J i ""V L--J L - - -. ! The students in Mrs. Robbins' 4th grade class at Sage Creek Elementary let their imaginations spark as they created new cereals to go with the books that they had just read. They even did commercials and made all of their classmates want to read their book and buy their cereal! Springville taxes stay level after good planning Janice Peterson STAFF WRITER Cities around Utah County Coun-ty are planning large tax increases for the next fiscal year to meet budget requirements, require-ments, but in the midst of a nationwide economic slowdown, slow-down, Springville City's taxes will not be changing atalL Springville Mayor Gene Mangum said taxes will not need to be raised this year unless residents vote to bond for a new library, a unique situation under any circumstances. Mangum said the economic security of the city is due to several years of good planning all around. "I think we're fortunate from the standpoint that we've just taken a conservative conser-vative approach for a number num-ber of years," he said City officials got in the habit of saving all the money mon-ey they could years ago as they planned for a new administration ad-ministration building. As a result, the new civic center in the works now will be half paid for by money in the city's savings, while the other half will be covered with bonds. Still, Mangum said the cash flow from normal nor-mal operations is designed to allow for the bonds without with-out raising taxes. City Treasurer Doris Weight said each department depart-ment has worked hard to save money, such as by recycling office supplies and scrutinizing purchases. Some city policies requiring requir-ing bids for services have helped to keep spending down. "I think because of our purchasing policies maybe we are more frugal," she said. Dave Allen, Springville City finance director, said Springville's current tax rate is .001413 - a number that has dropped steadily for years. Allen said the city has benefitted from conservative conser-vative practices, but it also has the advantage of sales tax oyer other cities. Some smaller cities, such as Ma-pleton Ma-pleton or Saratoga Springs, may depend more heavily on fees from new construction. construc-tion. The construction has dropped off significantly in the last year, which has affected af-fected most cities. , "Like them, we've also had a significant downturn in those areas," he said. While some cities are heavily impacted by a downturn in the construction construc-tion market, Allen said cities cit-ies like Springville that have a sales tax base are not hit as badly. Allen said city officials of-ficials also saw that the construction con-struction revenue was dropping drop-ping off and were able to cut back their own revenue expectations in turn. Allen said he has always tried to project revenue expectations expecta-tions conservatively to keep 1 spending down, and it has paid off so far. "AS we see changes in the economy, that's already Besides alcohol, prescription prescrip-tion medicines are the most misused or abused drugs in Utah County. Old pain killers and left over medications medi-cations people are "saving in case they need them later" are often stolen and misused by individuals for whom they were not prescribed. pre-scribed. "All residents of Utah County should dispose of expired, unused prescription prescrip-tion medications," said Pat Bird, Utah County Division bf Substance Abuse prevention pre-vention manager. "This is to protect their family and community not only from misuse, but from home invasion in-vasion burglaries with the aim to steal prescription pain killers and sedatives. It is also a good precaution to lock up medications to avoid misuse or abuse, as weH as to administer all prescriptions to youth." "Our goal is to remove one facet of misuse-that of individuals using medications medi-cations that were not prescribed pre-scribed for them," said Bird." However, the Utah County Health Department. Depart-ment. (UCHD) also wants County was excited to be part of a cooperative grant with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to create drop-off points for citizens to safely discard old medications. Salem City was awarded a grant and has installed a drop-off box in their police department. Other cities in the county are also in the process of setting up locations. loca-tions. "Individuals can currently take old medications to the Salem Police Department," said Carpenter." The Utah County. Sheriff's Office and health department also has received a DEQ grant to install drop boxes at the sheriff's Eagle Mountain Substation as well as the Utah County Jail in Spanish Fork. We hope to have this , in place shortly." Until that time, you can check with your local police department or pharmacist to see if they will take old medication. med-ication. Another suggestion is to crush the tablets, mix them with a substance like used coffee grounds or kitty litter and dispose of them in the garbage. "When placed in the garbage, the medications medica-tions go to the landfill where they can breakdown before they get into waterways," said Carpenter. Other suggestions for disposing dis-posing of old medications can be found at www.Clea-nOutTheCabinet.org. www.Clea-nOutTheCabinet.org. "All medications, regardless regard-less of expiration date, should be locked up to prevent pre-vent theft and misuse," said Bird "We have much more misuse mis-use andor abuse of prescription prescrip-tion drugs in our county than we do alcohol abuse-almost the complete opposite of the rest of the county," said Richard Nance, Director Direc-tor of Utah County's Division Divi-sion of Substance Abuse. been taken into account," he said Allen said the sales taxes the city , receives make a big difference, and he does not think the city will need to make any changes to its to make certain people property taxes. The only dispose of their old medi- way it will ever change is cations properly. "In the if residents want a new li- past, people have been brary,hesaid counseled to flush them "I don't see in the future down the toilet," said Toni that Springville would rely Carpenter, UCHD environ-on environ-on a property tax increase," mental health education, he said "Other communities are Mangum said while the starting to find trace levels city may not need to in- of prescription medica- crease taxes yet, a change tions and other chemicals is always a possibility. The in their lakes and streams, biggest question in the and we can only assume city's future is electric rates, this is because of that prac- which he said the market tice." can heavily impact. "There is a concern in the energy market," he said. "That's such an unknown. Nobody really knows what's going to happen there." In order to control rates in the energy market, Mangum Mang-um said the city often keeps the rate steady in the face of ups and downs. The city may lose money one year when rates go up and are not passed on to residents, but that money is made up when rates fall. However, with recent changes, the city may not have a choice but to raise rates if energy posts get too high ' "If we start getting some wild swings in the market, then we could be subject to some increases that nobody wants," he said Carpenter said Utah S 110 North Main Spinlsfs forfi t t i w v NEW WOMEN'S CENTER -. into ffidl 100$ 1000 E. 100 N. Payson, UT 801-465-7000 www.mvhpayson.com MouniunSxui . f i 1 i V Mountain View BYU Museum of Peoples, Cultures plans free celebration Sept. 13 Brigham Young University's Univer-sity's Museum of Peoples and Cultures will participate partici-pate in the statewide "Celebrate "Cel-ebrate Your Museum" Day with a special museum opening Saturday, Sept. 13, with games, crafts, prizes, tours and activities available avail-able from 10 a.m. to noon. Tours of the museum's two exhibits, "Touching the Past: Traditions of Casas Grandes" and "Kachinas of the Southwest: Dances, Dolls and Rain" will be given giv-en every half hour. Special crafts and' story time will be available for young children. chil-dren. This event is free and refreshments will be provided pro-vided The museum is located at 700 N. 100 East in Provo. Normal hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Mon-days, Wednesdays and Fridays, Fri-days, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. "Celebrate Your Museum" Mu-seum" Day is sponsored by the Utah Office of Museum Mu-seum Services, the Utah Museums Association and the International Society of Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Pio-neers. For more information, contact Erika Riggs at (801) 422-0020 or mpc byu.edu, or visit mpc.byu. Sports & Scon MMMHjjgMMIMNMIMMlM 4- Inside Art Gitv : u u u CJ u w u m ?1 C mmm -ft' I WAY SERVICEMOW AVAILABLE! 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