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Show Page 10 Decker would be 80 percent cheaper to the local residents than a regional plant. This is not true. 1976 engineering estimates esti-mates show that expansion of Park City's plant to handle a population of 15,000 and improvement of the worst sewer lines would cost $1,251,000.00, the entire portion por-tion to be raised locally. 1977 engineering estimates show that construction of a regional re-gional plant which would handle 15,000 people and improvement of Park City's worst sewer lines would cost $4,800,000.00, but the local share would be $1,200,000.00. The regional plant is designed de-signed for easy future expansion, ex-pansion, the Park City plan provides for none. The next question which arises from this information is the only one which I believe needs careful consideration. Do we want 15,000 bodies between Daly Avenue and Osgu-thorpe's Osgu-thorpe's ranch, or do we want 15,000 bodies between Daly Avenue and Parley's summit? If the population of this area ever approaches such numbers, the question will not concern me - I'll be gone. But for those who remain, the question is of concern in terms of providing provi-ding suburban services to a twelve mile residential strip, and the economics of doing EXPRESSO ANDfCAIVVCUINO COFFEES y A CREPES AND FONDUE X VVV and specializing in: Jy I FULL COLOR Tribune Classic Snow Sculptures and Duaine Brown Pro Race Photos available STOP IN AND REGISTER FOR CLOWN DAY Cinema Ski super 8 movies of your Family Skiing Old Time Harvard & Meade shot at our studio, no appt. il CINIMiXSKI Blasts Sewer Petition .gtfSFA so, especially since "bed- must add a levy to taxes to . V . room communities" such as Summit Park do not pay taxes in proportion to the services they demand and receive. 4. "WHEREASthe Regional Region-al Sewer Bond would be general obligation bonds which could cause liability risk to property owners;" and 5. "WHEREASif financial income of the Regional sewage system falls short for any reason, sewage fees would have to be raised and-or taxpayer's property confiscated;" Use of the words "liability risk" and "confiscated" without defining exactly the risk property owners would supposedly be taking seems to be an effort toward arousing the fears of otherwise other-wise sensible people through the use of emotion-charged words. The truth is, we would be taking no more "liability risk " (whatever that means) by approving the sewer district general obligation bonds in 1965, or the sidewalk bonds of 1964, or the water system bonds approved last November, or any of the other general obligation bonds approved in Park City in the past eighty years. If the sewer district miTT hud Park City, 523 MAIN retire the bonds (maximum four mills, same as the fire district), the added mills would increased your yearly property tax bill. This is the same property tax bill your 36 mill city tax, 45 mill school tax, 11 tax mill county tax and other improvement taxes are included upon. As always, if you fail to pay your taxes, after about five years during which you may pay off back taxes, the county must sell your property pro-perty for back taxes whether the sewer district levy is included or not. This is the same process which has been in operation since counties began collecting taxes, and should not be of any concern to the vast majority who pay their taxes promptly every year. A sewer improvement district should not be confused with a special improvement district such as the Main Street Special Improvement District Dis-trict or the Lowell-Empire Special Improvement District. Dis-trict. A special improvement district assesses only adjacent adja-cent property owners for improvements which theoretically increase the value of their property. A sewer improvement district may or may not, depending on other revenues, tax all the TTTT1 Utah STREET iL II v , . ' THE property within its bounda ries through the general property tax, but does not assess separate owners for any improvements, nor does it have the power to confiscate confis-cate property for nonpayment non-payment of taxes. Property tax payers have been paying two mills to the sewer district for the past two years without adverse results, re-sults, and even if the district mill levy were increased by two - to the maximum of four, to pay off general obligation bonds, a taxpayer who paid $100 in 1976 would pay $102 in 1977. A taxpayer who paid $1,000 in 1976 would pay $1,020 in 1977. Compare the increase in your own taxes to the $27 increase we would all pay if revenue bonds were approved with a monthly fee of $7.25 instead of general obligation bonds at $5.00. It seems to me that the petition's ordinance is trying to make a mountain of a molehill, and in the process may cost us all money. It is even more ludicrous in light of the fact that projections indicate the current two-mill sewer district ley will be eliminated and never re-adopted re-adopted to pay off the sewer bonds. 6. "WHEREAS the people rWisivplv defeated a Re- 649-9431 gional sewer plant by a 296-182 vote margin in June of 1976:" This is the only "fact" presented that I can agree with. I might add however that had the misconceptions and rumors been debunked at that time and the bond election passed, we would have saved inflationary costs and would have been able to build our portion of the plant for $1.1 million instead of the current $1.2 million. 7. "WHEREASthe Snyder-ville Snyder-ville Basin Sewer Improvement Improve-ment District Board consists of appointed bureaucrats who are not responsible to the people;" Again an inflamatory word -"bureaucrats." The sewer board does not live in Washington or Salt Lake, they are your neighbors. Their jobs and livelihood do not depend upon perpetuation perpetu-ation of the sewer district, they are volnteers trying to make good decisions for you. Appointed? Yes, by the people you elected to represent repre-sent you on the County Commission and City Council. Coun-cil. You gave your elected officials the power to appoint the sewer board on your behalf. Some members of the sewer board are even elected :(Jack Green and Jan Wil-king) Wil-king) or formerly elected (Mel Flinders and Jim Kilby) public officials. Are we to believe that upon appointment to the sewer board they suddenly peeled off their masks and became those loathsome creatures, "Bureuacrats?" If you have a question about the sewer district, try calling one of these board members who are "not responsible to the people" and see if he doesn't try his best to explain the rationale behind the regional plant to you - the people to whom he is responsible. 8. WHEREASthe Snyder-ville Snyder-ville Basin Sewer Improvement Improve-ment District Board voted to hold another costly election, in complete disregard of the peoples' wishes;" The Board did agree to hold another bond election because be-cause after evaluating the other options, and after receiving word that no other alternative would be considered consid-ered by the State Board of Health or the EPA until another bond election was held, there was little choice. At recent meetings, sponsors of the initiative petition have been asked "What would you have us do?" No solution?, to the problem have been offered by them, only rejections rejec-tions of the proposed solution. solu-tion. As to the "costly" election, I submit that the $300 it takes to hold a bond election is peanuts compared to the $100,000 increase in the cost to construct a sewer plant which would occur while waiting to vote on the initiative petition in November. Novem-ber. 9. "WHEREAS if the proposed pro-posed regional sewage system sy-stem bonds are defeated again, there is no guarantee the Regional sewer board would not decide to have another costly election;" If the bonds for a regional plant are defeated again, and no better plan is presented for solving the sewer problem, what choice would they have? I might suggest that they all resign and have the County appoint the sponsors of the initiative petition have been asked "What would you have us do?" No solutions to the problem have been offered by them, only regjections of the proposed solution. As to the "costly" election, I submit that the $300 it takes to hold a bond election is peanuts compared to the $100,000 increase in the cost to construct a sewer plant which would occur while waiting to vote on the initiative petition in November. Novem-ber. 9. "WHEREAS if the proposed pro-posed Regional sewage system sy-stem bonds are defeated again, there is no guarantee the Regional sewer board would not decide to have another costly election;" If bonds for a regional plant are defeated again, and no better plan is presented for solving the sewer problem, what choice would they have? I might suggest that they all resign and have the County appoint the sponsors of the initiative petition to be the sewer board. Then they would be "responsible to the people" for finding a solution instead of merely criticizing the decisions of others. 10. "WHEREAS the Regional Region-al sewer system would give land use and zoning powers to the unelected sewer board officials;" offi-cials;" The only bodies empowered to enact legislation on land use and zoning are the County Commission and City Council. Coun-cil. No land use or zoning powers can be given to a water or sewer improvement district. I assume the petition's peti-tion's intention must have been to imply that because the sewer board decided upon the route of the proposed sewer line, they have indirectly determined where development may most easily occur. This is true in the same way that the location of spring or well determines the location of a farm, or the route of a highway determines the location lo-cation and growth of a town. The sewer board should be no more to blame for zoning and land use than any other utility. The fact that a new telephone cable was buried along highway 224 in 1975 similarly cannot be blamed for future development along that route. If land use is a concern, contact the appropriate appro-priate body - the County Planning Commission. 11. "WHEREAS, the Regional Region-al sewer system would place enormous government powers pow-ers into the hands of unelected, unelect-ed, appointed officials instead in-stead of elected officials who are responsible to the people;" peo-ple;" The sewer district board of trustees has no other function func-tion than to provide for the construction or expansion of sewage treatment facilities and collection lines and to operate and maintain the system within its boundaries. boundar-ies. Along with that responsibility respon-sibility comes some power, however I doubt that compared com-pared to other boards such ' 'as the fire district,! which hold the same relative powers pow-ers and responsibilities, that a logical person would term their powers "Enormous." It does appear that a mistake was made when the district failed to hold an election to the board of trustees concurrently con-currently with the last bond election, however this mistake mis-take should be rectified shortly with a special election elec-tion or a bond election. The composition of the sewer board (three members from Park City and two from the County ) may be subject to an attorney general's opinion or court determination-how-ever even if it is determined that a technical violation in the makeup of the board did occur, the fact remains that the line of authority through which the appointments took place is clear. Your elected officials appointed them, and you as voters gave your officials the power to do so in your behalf. The sewer board is no more to blame for its own composition than a baby is to blame for being born. 12. "WHEREAS, a Regional sewer system would throw a major portion of its cost onto the citizens of Park City, who have already paid for one sewer system;" A citizen of Park City may have paid for a new car in 1966 also, but that doesn't mean he'll never have to buy another one. Cars don't last forever and neither do sewer plants. If the people of Park City were naive enough to believe that the plant built in 1965 would last until its bonds were paid off in 1995, then it is unfortunate someone didn't did-n't explain the realities of public finance at that time. Usually only statues, monuments monu-ments and an occasional public building outlast their debt before having to be replaced or abandoned. The reason cities don't go broke providing these new facilities facili-ties before they are paid for is growth. If a new regional plant is built and bonds issued for a 25 year term, the new plant probably won't outlast its debt either. We may even be expanding a regional plant in ten years with rapid growth. We would certainly be expanding or abandoning a new Park City plant if one were built at about the same time. A Continued on Page 11 Wednesday, March 16, 1977 1 1 RUSTY NAIL VVZTO II ' A -Jj UIDUU O SERVING LUNCH & DINNER WITH DISCO DANCING NIGHTLY No Cover Charge No Membership Necessary OPEN 11:30 A.M. TO CLOSING TUESDAY Oldies WEDNESDAY Country Western St. Patrick's Day Party live band Cheshire I V Thursday Nite jj NX $1.00 cover JJ vV Park City Resort Centerj mm i 1 Thursday Nite PLUMBING Emporium Rentals and Services 649-8511 649-8505 Installing and repairs, drain and sewer lines cleaned GENERAL CONTRACTORS Groves Construction P.O. Box 780 101 6 Park Ave. 649-8833 Custom building and design, remodeing, concrete work, crane rental. 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