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Show ‘Whe Razor's Edge From The Heath Morittor Files... A ‘SWELL’ NATIONAL MONUMENT? AND ITS IMPACT ON GRAND COUNTY The Utah State Legislature moved a step closer toward a new National Monument last week when it agreed to a massive land swap with the federal government. In exchange for thousands state-owned acres in the Swell, the federal government will transfer thousands of acres to the state in several Utah counties, including Grand County. Is the new national monument a good idea? The Zephyr has the same concerns now that it had six years ago when President Clinton created, by proclamation, the Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument. Here’s an excerpt from the December 1996/January 1997 issue: I was one of - feelings... worry of well-meaning happening every those who met President Clinton’s National Monument announcement with mixed that, like other beautiful parts of the West that have received a lot attention, hordes recreationists will descend upon the place and ultimately love it to death. It's day. reminded’ of another article that Lance wrote in 1995. Residential Development on Taxes." Here is an excerpt: It was called, “The Impact of In a Grand County Council public meeting, several citizens supported residential development because they wanted tax relief. The belief that residential housing growth improves the tax base is widespread. It is wrong. Nationwide, a study by the Cooperative Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Farmland Trust found that, for every dollar of taxes paid, $1.36 was required by an average residential unit for public services, while only 21 cents in services was consumed by an average farm. The 1985 Park City, Utah General Plan found that, “Developments that are primarily residential all show a negative long-term financial picture for Park City; that is, their operating costs will exceed annual revenues." This same finding comes out in 300 studies nationwide. The shortfall in revenue from housing to pay for public infrastructure and services is made up by the “profit” in tax revenues from some industrial, commercial and agricultural properties. Nationwide, it is utterly clear that “development of rural land to residential use ee creates a revenue shortfall for local governments.” In Utah and nationwide, there is a clear association between the residential development rate and rate of increase in property taxes for county residents. DID GOV. LEAVITT REALLY SAY THAT? The state of Utah is facing a $200 million shortfall this year and another $173 million. deficit in 2002. In an effort to avoid dramatic cuts in education, Governor Leavitt said that, Drought and Dust and 100 degree temperatures. An afternoon view of Moab in early July. 2S .. Quite simply, the rural West is about to be urbanized and we are sitting on the tip of the iceberg. The U.S. population is expected to swell to 335 million by 2025. Where are Americans going to flee to? The rural American West. It's happening here. It will happen in Kanab, it will happen in small communities from the 100th Meridian to the Sierra Nevada. The new residents will enjoy the peace and quiet of small town life, relative to what they left behind, but they will soon also demand the services they left behind. And the costs of providing those services will increase as well. All the old timers will wonder whatever happened to their little communities...The people who profit from booms like this are usually out-of-town investors who will see the potential for profit and will have the resources to exploit the opportunity. They will have the aS "Education is more important than roads," and fought to protect education funding. The governor proposed that the legislature dip into its Centennial Highway Fund and conceded that some highway projects may be delayed or scaled back. We hope that among those projects is the Devils Canyon reconstruction proposal, originally scheduled to begin in Spring 2003. While an argument can be made that some improvements are needed at Devils Canyon, the scale of the project continues to exceed the project’s honest and reasonable needs. You can stay informed on this and other highway and education issues by contacting Governor Leavitt: governor@state.ut.us cash to invest in new business. One thing is certain. All those millions of displaced/ relocated Americans will descend in droves on places like the new national monument. It may take a while, but it will happen. So Utah gets its national monument and towns like Price and Wellington and Huntington will begin to see changes. Real estate will go up. The population demographic will shift. It’s what the rural communities in south central Utah can expect. As for Grand County’s role in all this, part of the land trade affects public lands in Grand County. Our dear friends at SITLA will gain control of developable real estate from the federal government and we can expect more land sales of vacant property that most of us always assumed would Sey that way. ANOTHER EXCERPT: MORE FROM LANCE CHRISTIE ON TAXES DROUGHT The photographs on page 9 demonstrate the severity of the Southwest’s drought more dramatically than words could ever express. While fires raging in other states have captured most of the national media attention, Utah has seen more than 100,000 acres burn in the last month--and the summer is barely half over. In fact, the heart of this drought, if you study U.S. Weather Service charts, is in San Juan : County, Utah. No old timer has ever seen anything like it. The reservoirs in Monticello and Blanding are almost dry. Scarcely a new blade of grass came up in the spring, even many of the scrub oaks--as hearty a tree as one might find--failed to leaf out. Some died and many simply remained dormant. In parts of the county, the view looks like early November. “Yet, many still dismiss the drought as a temporary situation and - 20s. a return After Lance Christie’s analysis of Cloudrock in the June/July issue of The Zephyr, I was ALASKA! CHARTER AIR SERVICE BEACH 6 GLACIER LANDINGS GLACIER BAY NA TIONAL PARK MOUNTAIN FLYING SERVICE Paul Swanstrom P.O. Box 1404 Haines AK 99827 907-766-3007 in Haines or . 1-800-954-8747 Fresh Juices Smoothies Wrap Sandwiches Organic Espresso 20S. Main 259.8503 |
