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Show I jWijji HF'l -w- V-w-- 1 Tentative plan $400,000 short Council to hold hearing on By CHUCK ZEHNDER Managing editor Price city council set June 11 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at city hall for a public hearing on the proposed city budget for 1986-8- 7 which shows a deficit of $409,000. Hampton McArthur, city recorder and financial officer, presented a tentative budget to the council at their regular meeting Wednesday evening. The budget called for expenditures of more than $3.4 million dollars and revenues being just under $3 million. The council will meet at 4 p.m., next Wednesday to work 95th Year the budget in an attempt to trim at least the $409,000 from on the budget. Were $400,000 out and theres still another wish list of councilman $500,000, Chuck Davis said. And some of those (items on the wish list) are pretty high priority items, McArthur said. I still think were overcouncilman Louie staffed, Colosimo said. I really do. Salaries, wages and benefits in the tentative budget comes to $1,855,000, considerably more than half of the citys total budget for the coming fiscal year. McArthur included a list of payroll and benefits costs which indicated there are presently more than 120 people on the citys payroll. However, not all e of those are employees. Wages and salaries ranged in the tentative budget from a high of $36,217.22 annually to a low of $630.08 annually for firemen. There are 24 employees of the city who will make more than $20,000 annually and four who will make above $30,000 next full-tim- year. The salaries and wages reflect an increase of 7 percent for employees, McArthur said. He said that everyone will receive a percent cost of living increase and a 4 percent merit raise on their anniversary date. Councilman James Jensen said the city previously was planning for continued growth and that now the city is experiencing a reverese trend and that they were going to have to look closely at this. Im not advocating firing people... but something has to be done, Jensen said. I would really like to have those department supervisors come in and help us on this thing, Davis said. He asked public works director Vern Jones if the supuvisors would 3 budget 86-8- 7 like to be involved. Jones told Davis and the rest of the council that the supervisors always wanted a chance for input on the city budget. rents and other sources of revenue will drop by 55 percent the narrative indicated. Budget revenues for 1985-8- 6 totaled $3.13 million but the 1986-8-7 The tentative budget indicated only a 3.4 percent increase in taxes to account for only $1.5 million in revenue. There was some mention of the possibility of raising city revenues are presently projected at only $2.99 million. The council emphasized this is only a first draft tentative budget and many things will change before the final budget is approved in August. The city is not required to have a finished and approved budget until August, but must have a tentative budget prior to July 1 from which to operate during the new fiscal year. property taxes. The interlocal grants from federal monies will drop by almost 50 percent and revenue sharing will be totally phased out by October, McArthur indicated in a budget narrative he provided to council members. m No. 40 Friday, May 16, 1986 Interest, 14 Pages Single Copy 25t Most residents say 'no' to wilderness By CHUCK ZEHNDER Managing editor A board of Bureau of Land Management personnel in Price for a public hearing on proposed wilderness areas in Utah heard comments from 29 people at the court house Tuesday evening. The clear majority of comments were in favor of no new designated wilderness areas in the state. Ronald representing Crittendon, Congressman Howard Nielson, read a letter from the congressman at the hearing. In that letter, Nielson outlined seven areas of concern with the proposal. Nielson expressed concern that the BLM had not balanced the interests of local communities, private industry and local economies with the addition of the new wilderness 84-tra- ct areas. He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the BLM definition of ways rather than roads and indicated he was aware of some of the BLM being capable of ways sustaining speeds of 35 miles per hour in proposed wilderness tracts. Nielson further expressed concern that the wilderness proposal does not address such issues as water rights, buffer zones, integral vistas or Class 1 air quality standards. He further discussed the fear of energy deposits being because of locked up wilderness designation at a time when this country is seeking energy independence and that the ranching industry would be greatly impacted. Nielson further pointed out that state lands lying within the wilderness area must by law be provided access. Throughout the course of these hearings, you will be exposed to many views from well-organize- articulate d, national groups in pursuit of Nielson particular agendas, wrote. Others will be simple folks who are worried about jobs or homes or ranches. Still others will be officials who have been elected by a majority of the voters in their towns, counties and districts. I trust the BLM will appropriately weigh all input into these proceedings, Nielson concluded. Many local people who made comments simply stated they were opposed to more wilderness designation in the state, while those who supported the issue gave reasons for their support, often emotionl pleas. Dr. David Hilding, Price, spoke in favor of the proposal. Im personally looking forward to showing this area, some day, to my grand- - Members of the BLM hearing panel listen as comments are made during the public hearing Tuesday evening in Price. They children, he said. I personally am in favor of the entire wilderness study areas. He added that he believed even more lands should be in are Leon Berggren, Gene Nodine, Thom Slater and Lloyd Ferguson. Behind them is the hearing officer, Al Logosz. cluded as suggested by the Utah Wilderness Coalition. Hilding told how he had moved to this area from Minnesota six years ago and his entire family had fallen in love with the land and enjoyed hiking into remote areas. He said he didnt want to see the land (Continued on Pape 2) Commission adopts tax sale guidelines By DALE EDWARDS Staff writer The Carbon County Commission Wednesday voted to approve guidelines for the sale of property in lieu of delinquent property taxes later this month. The annual May tax sale will be conducted by the county on Wednesday, May 28, beginning at 10 a.m. in the Seventh District Courtroom in the courthouse. The public is welcome to attend. At Wednesdays meeting, county clerk Norman Prichard told commissioners that by law the county must sell properties with delinquent taxes for the previous five years. Prichard said he needed some direction from commissioners on how the sale should be conducted. He said he would like to reserve the same at a preference sale. That would mean that the current property owner would have the first chance to redeem the property by paying the back taxes on it before the property was turned over for public sale. In Prichard addition, recommended that if there was more than one bidder for any piece of property, the sale of that parcel would be deferred until the 1987 May tax sale, where a new law will require the land be sold at fair market value. Under a new law which takes effect this summer, counties will be required to sell property of taxes siezed for at its fair market value as determined by a regular apnon-payme- nt praisal. The county then issues a tax deed to the purchaser. The money collected by the county is then divided between two places. The county can deduct the cost of the appraisal, title search and other specified costs in addition to the amount of back taxes, penalties and interest. The county gets to keep that amount. The rest of the proceeds from the sale must be turned over to the state surplus fund to be held for seven years. The owner can then claim the rest of the money from the state in that seven-yeperiod. If the money is not claimed, the proceeds will then go into the state uniform school fund. Prior to the vote on the proposal, commissioner Guido Rachiele said he thought the pieces of property up for tax sale should be maintained intact and not be allowed to be bid ar down. Prichard agreed, saying frequently the piece is bid down until only a small piece is left. That piece is left in the original owners name and frequently, the county must go through the process again Prichard said that was the reason for the new law being passed by the Legislature. Commission chairman Lee Semken asked what would happen if the county couldnt get fair market value for the property at the tax sale. Prichard said ownership of the land would revert to the county. But in the future, if the land is later sold, the county must keep track of its costs, the tax liability, etc., and any difference between the costs and taxes and the price of the land must be sent to the state surplus fund and the owner be allowed to claim it. After hearing the discussion on the recommendations, the commission voted unanimously to adopt the plans for the sale. In other actions, the county opened bids on four surplus county vehicles. After the bid opening, the commission voted to sell an old ambulance and an old pickup to Irv Williams for $1,000 and $325, respectively. The commission also voted to sell two 1982 cars to David Gunderson for $826 and $643, respectively. Those individuals have 48 hours from the time of the announcement to finalize the sales. In other business, the commission voted to join an appraisal trust program sponsored by the Utah Association of Counties. Prichard told commissioners that the association and its board of commissioners feel the counties need a cooperative which would provide help when needed in appraising for tax purposes. The feeling of the association was that counties could be assisted greatly with professional help for assessors throughout the state. Prichard said there would be no financial obligation just by joining. The only cost would be for services rendered if the county opted to use the service. He said if the county did opt to use the service, it would pay only for services used by the county and not for work performed in any other county. Semken said there was another significant advantage to the cooperative. He said it would help the counties get away from sales ratio studies in setting property values. Semken said the State Tax Commission would accept reappraisals done in lieu of the (Continued on Page 2) Council hears criticism on bar relocation proposal By CHUCK ZEHNDER Managing editor A group of business owners on the south side of Main Street between Carbon Avenue and 100 West met with the city council Wednesday night to protest plans to relocate a bar in the middle of that block. An addendum item to the regular agenda for the meeting was for the transfer of a class A beer license and a liquor set-u- p license for the Oasis Club from its present location at 21 S. Carbon Ave. to 49 W. Main. Holly Larsen, owner of Fashion Crossroads, a womens clothing store, which would be located next door to the Oasis Club should it move, said she was opposed to the move. I feel the club next door (to my business) would be a detriment to my workers and my shoppers, she told council members at the meeting. Don Hoffman, owner of Hard Hat Appliance and Television, said, There ought to be a limit to the number of clubs and bars in one block. The whole block that were dicussing now has been zoned for bars, city attorney Luke Pappas told the crowd and the council. Weve pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into redevelopment down there and I think we ought to call for a councilman public hearing, Chuck Davis said. Mayor Art Martines and Pappas both told the council that since the area is zoned for bars and the owner of the business owned the building he wanted to occupy, there really was nothing the city could do to S rrn ii prevent him from moving. If he follows the citys fire codes, I dont see how we could stop him. That would be the mayor discrimination, said. I dont know how we could stop him; he owns the building, Pappas said. I dont know under what regulation we could deny it (the license transfers). Davis said the whole idea behind community is to get along with one another and be There is good neighbors. plenty of track record there to indicate they are not ( good neighbors), Davis said. Alex Markakis, owner of the business, building and the licenses to be transferred, was at the meeting and voiced his opinion to both the council and other business owners. Id like to inform councilman Davis that we havent had to call for police assistance in six months, Markakis said. Just give us a chance. Youll not have as much problem with these people as with some others in that block, he told the business people in the room. Markakis said that what ( people feared was the fact that the majority of the bars clientele were motorcyclists but they would pose little problem since they wanted a place where they could meet. I dont know why anyone would want to bring a business like that in when he knows how the other businesses feel, Gale Cox, owner of The Gallery, told the council. The council took no action on the request for license transfers since the proper fee had not been paid by Markakis. |