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Show Wh JNt ake tribune Student!" Kept Home With Cold" WVst-Si- O O diltiioe Salt Lake City, Utah Vol. 232, No. 115 Wednesday Morning January 22, dt Murray City Beaming Over AT&T Projeet 1986 Balancing Budget Is No Simple Feat Federal Fundiim Ctil Leave Gaping Holes in Revenue By Keri Schreiner Tribune Staff Writer Whether in a checkbook, on a tightrope or in ihe niom.r.g stumble to the coffee pot achieving balance is no simple feat. Just ask a city official With February rolling around and the fist al 1987 budget looming on the horizon, cities are finding the heat of recent federal funding cuts that will leave a gaping hide m hxul revenues. My strategy as city manger is to count on nobody." said Andy Hatton-Ward- . Draper city manager Cities have required for years and years to balance their budget and the federal government never has. consequently were feel.ng the crunch now. In the past, balancing city budgets has been helpeJ b large federal allocations. But the battle against the fedt ral deficit has left those transfers among its victims Funding for community development blH k grants is being reduced and general revenue sharing eliminated as a bill passed by Congress m result of the Block of last August year. grants are given to local governments for specific projects I'nder the revenue sharing program. the federal government regularly supported the budgets of cities. What the cuts mean to I'tah cities is a loss of money funds that must be generated from other sources to cont.n-uproviding the services made possible by federal monies In most cases, the effect is proportional to the size of the city, with some governments having as little as 1 20 of their budgets affected and others, such as South Jordan. losing a third of their total income. We have to develop some form of revenue that will help offset those dollars that were losing now," said South Jordan Councilman Robert Mascaro It's rough for a small city like ours with virtually no commercial tax base We really have to see about getting some other business people into our city South Jordan received $50,966 in revenue sharing for 1985. Anticipating the possible cuts, the city council budgeted for $12,742 in sharing for 1986. though they have received more than expected Having been forewarned of the pending cutbacks, the city enacted a franchise tax last year that will help bridge the gap in revenue next year. The tax will also go toward paving for needed road repairs in the city. Like South Jordan. Draper City also imposed a franchise tax in July of last year, in part anticipating the funding cuts said that there is also a possibility that Mr. Hatton-Wartaxes will have to be increased to cover the $45,000 they will no longer get from revenue sharing It's a A tax increase definitely is a possibility." he said little bit premature to say we re going to raise the mill levy at this point, but it definitely is one of the options we re faced with." However, most cities contacted by The Tribune reported that the revenue loss would be handled without increasing taxes Many cities will take the edge off the impact by providing less in the area of public service Road repairs, equipment purchases and curb and gutter improvements that were planned will be shelved for the present in some cities. In others, the revenue loss will be absorbed through hiring freezes and usual increases in sales tax income as local business grows We ll either cut bar k m other areas or raise additional Column 1 See WY-N-e- n deficit-reductio- n e ' With parents who generally allow them to come and go as they please, street kids can : I escape the attention of schools and police, One counselor estimates 1,000 wander Utah. Days Pass Slowly for Utahs Street Kids Editor's note: They meander around Solt Lake ond Davis counties with nothing to do but live from day to day. bored, sometimes committing minor crimes. Occasionally returning home or with apathetic porents not pursuing them, Utah's street kids ore not technically runaways. But they are equally vulnerable to the dangerous elements of society. In the first of two ortlcles. Tribune Staff Writer Jamie Tabish who examines the problem through two local teen-oger- s spend most of their time on the street. By Jamie Tabish Tribune Staff Writer She had left home repeatedly since she was six, but at the age of 12, Tammy decided the street was more attractive than life with either her mother or father, and she left for good. At night during the first six weeks, she slept in an old garage with the homeowner's German shepherd. I get along really well with animals, she said. The dog would keep me warm at night. Because she feared the owners would discover her trespass, she was careful to enter the garage around midnight and leave as soon as it became light. knew whore No one her parents, the police, her school she was, which was how she preferred it. Since leaving home, she's lived in two foster homes and a few friends houses, and she's been through several adolescent psychiatric programs. But she remains basically a transient individual, who spends most of her time out of doors. The girl, who spoke on the condition her real name not be used, is one of an estimated 1,000 children who spend a major- Column I See WV-7, d |
