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Show emit, If r. n Ln a Obituaries B2 S Schools B6 1! Entertainment B8 Phe Daily Herald Thursday. November 21, 1995 US West stingy with its services? Eli! wyyy limit ssls ten ox mmmns By DONALD W. MEYERS The Daily flerald SALT LAKE CITY Extended area telephone service for Utah County is on hold yet again. It is disappointing for telephone users in the county who have worked so long io obtain the same service as is in some other areas in Utah. The Public Service Commission issued an order Oct. 22 directing US West to provide Extended Area Service (EAS) to Utah County and two other areas. US West last week appealed the iwder, claiming it would lose $1.4 million in long distance revenues rf it is forced to comply. The .company claims that grant- - V Eack at the Desk ;ing EAS to the three areas would -- mean that telephone users in the restpf Utah would be subsidizing 3qcil telephone users. I But several areas of the state lave had EAS for years: Salt Lake 3LUnty, Cedar City to Parowan, Layton to 2 1st South in Salt Lake County. Hurricane to St. George. Jn i"985, the Utah Public Service Commission changed the EAS rules, and no EAS has been grarttad since then. fl ; Jf8 hearing on the subject last year in Spanish Fork, a local legislator charged that the In otheT rules were words, they were so stringent that no area could qualify for EAS. It took eight hours of back-roonegotiations, charges of favoritism and politics, but manufacturers will puy sales tax on simple replacement parts. m ng enues. The company says such reductions should take place only after a comprehensive review of the impact through the hearing process. On Dec.2 the Public Service Commission will decide if it will reconsider the order. Whatever its decision, it must be a ruling that will stand up in court, because that is surely where it will land. Some statements by US West representatives are troubling. If granting EAS to Utah County would mean the rest of the state would be subsidizing us. does that mean we have been subsidizing Salt Lake County, layton. Hurri-cane-George and Cedar City-S- t. George all these years? Does it also mean that all of Utah County with the exception of Provo-Orehas been subsidizing EAS all these the Provo-Oreyears? Only telephone customers in Provo and Orem have had the privilege of calling all over the e. county It doesn't seem fair that Utah County, the state', second most populous county, has not been allowed to have the same service as Salt Lake County and also other areas wim considerably fewer customers. , Utah County population has grown dramatically in the last few yeari. and that means even more telephone customers than when the restricted rule was passed in lu85. US West has enjoyed a monopoly in Utah. The company owns all the house lines, the trunk lines and equipment. 'Now. by virtue of - the Telecommunications Act passed by Congress, other companies are knocking at the door. Electric Light Wav es, a Seattle-base- d company, reportedly is already planning construction of a . fiber.optics system from Provo to "Ogden. It is now possible to gain telephone service through the cable companies, and with the technology explosion, other options will soon be available. US West will be hard pressed to maintain its monopoly in the wake of the Telecommunications Ac:. Perhaps US West should give some thought to maintaining good relationship with the customers it now has. Daily Herald reporter Josephine Zimmerman has been ..covering Utah County government Jm more titan two decudes. m m toll-fre- "Don't turn your back on the people who employ your constituents." Speaking in favor of the third option. Valentine said Stephenson's proposal would leave the door open for industry to keep coming back and badgering the legislature to increase the exemption until it was at HKi percent. The rift in the GOP was enough to farce legislative leaders into eiosed-doo- r to discuss meetings . l. . i : . i iipv, .io mane me Tsui incur puiui- bleto the dissenters. The progress of the negotiations hid efiorkaujlerail them was mea- luredbvihe seven versions of the bill that wanfftded out on the chamber .floors. saisBfinnted a different color lit paper; to signify how far it was aemoved from the original draft. ' Harward. holding a sheaf of bills, said he would riot vole for any of them. " "The session was called w ith six .days" notice. There w as not one bill put to the public." Harward said. Xhii. .iaihe potential for some The Utah State Legislature voted early today to pass a bill narrowing the scope of sales tax exemptions for new and replacement equipment for manufacturers. 7 The House voted to approve the bill, while the Senate passed the measure Utah County lawmakers voting "no" were Reps. Jeff Alexander and Byron L. Harward, both Margaret Dayton and Doyle M. Mortimer, both Tim Moran. Fork; Bill and Sen. Eldon Wright. A. Money, Fork. The legislators were called back into session to repair a 1W5 bill allowing all manufacturers to claim sales tax exemptions for new The third option was to complete-- , or replacement equipment. The intention of the bill was to foster ly repeal the bill and go back to the :lf Leavitt had called the session economic growth. original law allowing tax exemptions w hen he realized there was a probfor Comand business. new However, the state Tax expanding lem last month, the Legislature mission interpreted the bill to Stephenson's proposal created have held public hearings and could in the GOP majorimean that oil filters, belts and bolts enough dissent voted on a single bill. Harward said. Valenof on to endanger passage manufacturing equipment ty The governor told The Daily would be exempt from the sales tine's bill. In the House, only 30 of Herald afterwards that he deliberthe 60 That bill, would have tax. Republicans supponed arrangement off calling a session until held ately cost the state more than S4 million eight votes shy of the 38 needed last week. "We made a decision to for passage. in lost sales tax this year. wait until after the election so the Alexander, who runs u printing By '1999, the unintended cost would not become politi.matter would have exceeded $50 million. service, said Valentine's bill would cized," Leavitt said. discriminate small businesses John L. Valentine, against Rep. The three options arose because said his legislation fixed by driving up their operating costs. of 104 lawmakers each trying to "We're going to tell some 'busithat problem by narrowing the bill of their choice passed amount of equipment that would nesses 'Sorry, you don't have the get the be exempt from sales tax payment right equipment. You don't buy tlie into law. to the S28.6 million originally bud- - right parts,' '" Alexander said. (See TAX, Page K2) 41-2- 15-1- 0. con-duotj- So, the Public Service Commission spent several months amending tlie rules. The process resulted in an order from the commission for US West to implement EAS for Utah County and the two other areas. US West had 20 days to appeal and on the 20th day filed the appeal-claimithat the rules don't include the recovery of lost toll rev- geted for 1999. Valentine's bill allows a sales tux exemption for any piece of equipment that will have a useful lite of more than three years or replacement parts that would extend the life of a piece of equipment. The bill is "similar to what we thought we were voting on in the House in 1995." Valentine said By allowing u tax exemption on longer-lastin- g equipment and parts to sustain it. Valentine said the stale is encouraging businesses to invest in creating more jobs instead of subsidizing parts that wear out quickly. Valentine's measure, supported by Gov. 'MikeLeavitt and the leadership in the House and Senate, was one of three options presented to lawmakers. Sen Howard A. Stephenson. proposed leaving the tux break on all pans, but scaling the deduction back to 44 percent of the sales tax. New head chosen for Division of Air Quality By DONALD W. MEYERS The Daily herald SALTLAKE CITY Ursu- la K. Trueman. described as a problem solver, will head the Utah Division of Air Quality,. Gov. MikeLeavitt and state Department of Air Qualify Executive Director Diannc R. "Nielson announced Trueman ' appointment Wednesday. Trueman. manager of the DAQ". Planning Branch, served as acting director since Russell A. Roberts resigned from the post over the isum-me- r. who was Roberts, appointed in 1993. left for personal reasons. "Clean air is an important part of out quality of life, so 1 am pleased "to have such a strong leader in this crucial role." Leavitt said. Nielson said Trueman has been involved in the DAQV efforts to improve air quality along the Wasatch Front for the last four years. In that time. Nielson said, the state pushed to meet federal deadlines for enacting plans to reduce air pollution in Utah County and other pans of tlie state. At this point. Nielson said the counties will be moving forward with their plans for improved emissions testing, and the DAQ will take on a technical assistance role while ensuring tliat federal aii quality standards are maintained. "Ursula V experience working with local officials and working in the planning branch developing strategies will be beneficial." "Nielson said. Trueman does not anticipate any significant changes in the DAQ's direction but said there are challenges on the horizon, such as proposed changes tightening the paniculate pollution standards. "We re going to keep on standards and maintaining working togetlier with government, environmental groups, businesses and everybody who breathes." Trueman said. Prior to working in the Planning Branch, she spent six years as the D AQ's Super-fun- d program manager and four years as an engineer in the state Division of Drinking Water. Trueman is a graduate of the University of Utah and a native of Germany. i . . H itS SUP I I : ft 1: rvS, . pT nuilti-col-di- hi r fj "3 ' , i:f v I AP PtlOtD Utah State Senator Leonard Blackham. left, grabs a box from bis truck be fellow Senators Craig Taylor, center, and LeRoy McAllister, Tight, choose their "tree turkeys Wednesday night in the basement parking garage of the Capitol building before the start of the special session. Provo fee revenues up for 1 996-9- 7 S230.OO0 to S2(n.(l(IO this fiscal vear. "Overall, we are doing well." said Karlsven. "TheTe are no panicular clouds on the horizon Tight now." Maybe so. but council members noted a few dark clouds behind the silver lining of the city V Tevenue stream. 'Of panicular concern is tlie elastic nature of much of the revenue that comprises Provo'f General Fund. Whether the money goes up or down is largely beyond the city By MARK EDDINGTON The Daily Herald i budget alarming than comforting' Councilwomaii Shari Holweg said .at the meeting. '"We can't 4veep raising tees!" Raising fees is something the city has been particularly adept at doing over the past several " vears. City attorneys, tor example, recently -inked new franchise agreement with Provo Cable for Cable TX' services mid another wrth Electric Lightwave Inc.. which will be competing with L'S West in providing telecommuniCK-tion- s ervice to local residents and biisiuesse"' More providers are expected to follow silEjI with Congress' enactment this vear of -Act. which is uimed more service and better providing competition;! The city expects to collect about 4 million-"from franchise fees this bucket vear. up about S?(IO.O(IO from fiscal year 995-9Still, council members warned tlie admini-traiio- n that it would be a mistake to base tlie budget on projected increases in revenue. While not a cause to change the game plan, first quarter revenues show there are some areas for concern mProvo's 199(v97 fiscal year budget. First the good news. Franchise fee revenues for the first quarter are up 237.(100 from this time last vear. Several months into the budget year, the city has collected slightly more than 834.000 in franchise fees froni L'S West. 'Mountain Fuel, cable television companies and control. 'Community development fees, for example, other ;:ervice providers. are heavily dependent on a building boom that Community development fee revenues are also up substantially, almost double that from last is largelv fueled by low interest rates. Sales taxes are contingent upon a good economy. And fiscal year S63().b00 compared to S3bO.O(K). 40 percent of Provo's General Fund to Finance Director roughly George .according figures relies on elastic revenues. Karlsven provided the City Council Tuesdav So tlie logical question one asked by sevSales tax revenues are also up. from 1.4? is how long can tlie eral council members million last vear to roughly S1.9 million. On the minus side of the ledger, first quarter good times last. "I think these budaet fisures should be more earnings from propeny tax dropped from if .'1 6. Project to bring in high - end shopping By MARK EDDINGTON The Daily Herald They call themselves portfolio managers rather than developers, like use industry huzzwin-d"niche-specifretail formats!" and preach about aesthetics and the environment. But even though officials with EsNet and Terranomics Retail Sers ic oi the vices River-wood- i o s 1 4 i o V t 'ft' I 5 Business and Research Park don't talk much about the bottom line, there is no mistaking that money is utmost in their mindv They fenow there is plenty ot the square green stuff within a radius of the ongoing project' location on "North University Avenue near the mouth of Provo . Canyon. They 've done their homework, which was presented to Provo officials Wednesday at an open houe at the EsNet headquarters. Their figures show that nearly ' -- v -d residents living 60.000 rf L . a on lovo's Last Bench spin in a Porsche or BMW boast average household away of about SbO.tlOO. incomes Jxpanding the circle of wealth Construction on the Covey leadership Center stands entenantmem and bigb-tecbusmeBS b ISD-acr- e even .'further, the average housemecca a planned to give local consumers a prefer in ttw background oi the entrance tc the RiwerwoodE hold income in the primary target Research and Business Park in the Provo. fliverwoods shopping and business experience. area of Provo. Orem umfLindon is to 'become pan of The Shops S45.OO0. That's the niche officials suage. as 'Provo lv1ayiir George square feet of space. be traditional Riverw'oodn. But but Terranonitjlj noted. it was Javaras a Su'wan wont politely with the two firms are after. Since m many have so much saying existing retailers have long strip mall. As outlined by David Leasing Dnectur Lin tvlilier sm5 the firm's policy is not to make any ignored the local populace's desires Paoh ol Field Paoii Architect at and so little in the way of high-en- d V the until tenants are like at announcements high-enLddie store1to house, Wednesday it shop ojien on. EsNet retail stores to spend retail section oi the project signed The shopping center is slatand Terranomics will give them Bauer. Tulbois. Ann Taylin. Banana will have afvlain Street uppea! with ed to open by spring of !luK Republic. Polo and Ralph Lauren. enterRiverwuods a llSO-aer- e Construction on tlie Carmike .RnerwiHuK is designed to give al! the shops opening out onto the business tainment and high-tec- h Icii's that importunity. Terra- ceniral sireet. Tiieie will be some complex began Thursday. The mecca to give the more discrimiwinch w ill be located just a Sar, Praiici.sco firm speparking, hut mist of the nating consumer u pricier shopping nomics. west oi the sioies. will teature and business experience. cializing in leasing and other retail fstlt parking spaces v ill he services, is in charge of the shopconfigured at the bad. ol vcating Ciastronomv Why Jrovo? "An opportunity has been creatping pan of the project The Shops tlie stores The protect will uUo has aiso unnounceii plans to be part ed through a lack of attention by at Riverwouds. the centerpiece of teature Insli landscaping uiui plei-t- y oi the project Bin Riverwouds is no; ull about of open spaces where shoppers existing retailers to the trade their development, will feature retail. The business and research areas." explained Terranomics about 25 suires. two restaurants can mingle and admire the view r, und a Curntikr Cmemas President "Nick Javaras. unspecified nuniber of Translated into lavmanV Ian- - complex with u combined !()5.00(l retailers have verbally .committed (Set SHOPS. J'ujs ICl a JO-mi- ie n.'M well-heele- d Moods -s . i r re - tite-ute- rs. strate-gicali- y |