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Show i 1 ,iI .' I' ( ii i ' mi ft - ' I W - ,;W .;fti " i ' ' 1 11 I , i r. H 1,1 1 iI (': MI'J w 1,11 ) 72 Tragmdy oflli la not that nw rffe hrf If raihtr whcrt din intid a taca whlU bm 3mm. Albmri Schwmltxmr $- - l , , - Sw t v - . , .vi i r Serving the residen ts ; of, Duchesne and Western ; Uintah Counties . , Cougars: Boys have veteran hoop team back this year Uintah Basin Thanksgiving week deadline reminder. Wednesday at 5 pm , i page 15 RJHS staff and students donate $1000 to family Tuesday, November 19. 1996 Utah Bftfnt 93rd Tsar No. 47 19 Pagw 500 ipage 11 eSTimSUFFERINGFROMDROPINSTATEASSESSEDVALUESl Property Tax revenues rebound statewide, but liag in Basin After declining by nearly 2 in due to the 1995 Utah iHnm property Legislature's $90 tax cut - property tax revenues are expected to rebound strongly in 1996. According to projections made by. your Taxpayers Association, property tax revenues are projected to' increased by just over 5 in 1996. As a funding source, Utahs reliance on the property tax is considerable and unwavering. This year, the Taxpayers Association compiled a eompariaon of the property tax burdens borne by residents within the state's 29 counties. The tax data are gleaned from the Utah State Tax Commissions annual publication, Interim Value and 1995- - county-by-coun- ty Mi. ,.ll - ! - Tax Statistics which tallies the total property taxes charged for each class of property. When measured by the total taxable value (TTV) of property, Utah's fastest growing regions of real estate are concentrated along the Wasatch Front From 1992 to 1996, the TTV for Weber, Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties increased nearly 56 whileUtah'sremaining 25 counties experienced an increase of only 16. Five counties in Utah - Duchesne, Emery, Millard, San Juan, and Uintah - experienced a decline in their respective TTV including declines of 20 and 24 for Duchesne and San Juan counties, respectively. a result in 1996 the four Wasatch Front counties accounted for 69 of the property valuation in Utah, up from 63 in 1992. While the TTV in Utah increased by 41 between 1992-9- 6 statewide, taxes charged have increased by only 19. This is due largely to the enactment of legislation in 1987 which requires tax rates to fall ss values increase, unless taxing entities go through a public hearing process. In the ten years prior to the enactment property tax revenues increased an average of 12 per year. Increases in property tax rev- SEE PROPERTY TAX on page 3 As ! Truth-in-Taxati- ofTruth-in-Taxatio- - - n, FRESH START-Dese- ret Generation and Transmission has purchased the former Deserado Coal Mine from Western Fuels. The mine has been renamed Blue Mountain Energy. The transaction occurred following a financial restructuring agreement for Deseret which was recently completed in Washington, D.C. I'11 nssnacsawraiKinMCNtoss Debt restructure for DG&T to make utility a viable player By Lezlee E. Whiting A restructuring agreement, reached after months of negotiations and compromise with creditors, will allow the financially troubled Deseret Generation and Transmission Cooperative a fresh start Deseret furnishes electrical power to six rural cooperativea, . ' including the Moon Lake Electric Association, as well as to municipalities in Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, ColoRoosevelt-base- d rado, Arizona and California. The utility operates the Bonansa Power Plant in Uintah County, and holds a share in the Hunter Power Plant in Source: Utah Taxpayer Association LYERGENSEN JOCOORDINATEvSMARTUTAH 2215S22ni3 Specialist hired to prepare county for move into high tech age Duchesne County Commissioners have hired Andrew Yergensen to fill the newly created position of Re-- ist Yergensen will be the locsJcoar-dinator for SmartUTAH and the pilot project to implement the electronic highway for the State ofUtah. Duchesne County the This first in the state of Utah to him a rialist. Yergensens office will be located at the Uintah Basin Applied Technology Center in . Roosevelt. Yergensen graduated from Union High School in 1987. Since graduating from Southern Utah University in June, 1993, he has worked with Datamax Computer Systems in Roosevelt as a computer programthe Uintah Basin on Thursday, Demer and business communications cember 5 to launch off the Statewide specialist. Electronic HighwayTelecommuni-cation- s SmartUTAHs vision is to enInitiative. Gov. Leavitt will courage facilitate and coordinate the he at the Uintah County library that widespread use of information tech- dqy at 4:30 p.m. to initiate one of nology in Utah; how can we not get four pilot sites for the electronic highexcited about the economic posaibili-tie- a way in the state. The Duchesne and business opportunities for County library is also one of the seall of us," Yergensen commented. lected sites. The Uintah Basin has been chosen as the site to develop and implement an electronic village that can be replicated in other regions of the state of Utsh as well as other states. The region will also become the training center for the state as well as other states to learn .how to implement the electronic highway. Gov. Michael Leavitt will be in JOTiEW.APPLiCATIONSrdS.iSfct? By Letlee E. Whiting year-roun- ns Association. "We (the six cooperatives) have guaranteed payment of $55 million $464 million, Earl stated. Moon Lake Electric is financing $16 of the cost-efficie- nt - in the company. "Were not immune from ftiture withholding its support until rate increases associated with fuDeserets creditors recognized that ture operational costs ofthe Bonanza the final outcome needed to ensure plant, but we feel weve mitigated that Moon Lakes retail rates would them," he said. be competitively priced. As a result, MoonLake and its memberconsum-er- s can expect to enjoy a long-ter- Based on industry forecaata and SEE DG&t on page 3 STUDENTS BENEFIT; Colorado, Utah trade tuition In-Sta- te about half as much as tuition. The agreement also allows Coloradans in Rio Blanco and Moffat counties and the southern part of Routt County to attend USU at instate tuition. On the surface, it looks like Colorado residents will be getting the better deal. Resident tuition at USU is $2,082, while nonresident tuition is $6,360 a year. So Coloradans attending USU under this agreement will save $4,278 a year. By contrast, resident tuition at CNCC is $1,104 while nonresident tuition is $4,190. So Utahns attending CNCC under the agreement will save $3,086 a year. But CNCC President Robert A. Anderson said the flipside is that Utahns in the Uintah Basin can now get a junior college education in Colorado for considerably less than they could by attending USU, which has instruction centers in Roosevelt and Vernal. The cost of college, however, is not the issue, Anderson said Blurpunishment in the 9- - to ring the state line in geographically remote areas is what the agreement range. Several of the victims relatives is all about and friends were in court last Tues"The bottom line is there are pock-et- a of areas that are geographical day and heard the grisly details of Tapoofs death. disparate and people just dont have Tapoof and the three defendants opportunities or access that you were riding around outside would have on the Front Range of Denver or the Wasatch Front in Whiterocka, when an argument ensued, and erne of the men called anUtah, Anderson said "Shouldnt other a "baby. people in rural areas have at least Headdress and Sowaonicut, sit- similar, if not the same, access to ting in the back seat, each held an education? end of a shoelace and began stranUnder the agreement which was gling Tapoof; who was in the front approved by the Utah Board of Repassenger seat, according to court gents and tee Colorado Commission on Higher Education, each institutestimony. e The shoelace snapped and Tapoof tion will admit up to 25 was dragged outside, where he was equivalent students from the other stabbed with a screwdriver and state during spring quarter 1997. In strangled with battery jumper-cable- s. foil and winter quarters, that numThen, the victim was tied ber will increase to 50. Full-timpart-tim- e, with the cables to the bumper - and transfer, dragged more than 100 yards before graduate and undergraduate stuhe was stuffed in the truck and then dents are eligible for participation in thrown into a creek. At that point the agreement rocks were thrown at him, according USUa baccalaureate and graduto reports. ate courses probably will appeal to Ankerpont has a chance for some many northwestern Colorado resileniency because he was the one who dents. Utahns living in the Uintah led Bureau of Indian Affairs Officer Basin may be attracted to CNCCs in dental hygiene, pilot SEE PLEAS on page 3 programsand criminal justice. training The Utah Board of Regents and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education have signed a benchmark reciprocal agreement to allow students from one state to attend the institution at tuition costs. The agreement h Basin and envelopes the Logan campuses and each of the Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC) campuses and service centers. The agreement allows Utahns living in the Uintah Basin to attend CNCC in Rangely, Colo., at Colorado tuition rates, which are out-of-sta-te out-of-sta-te USU-Uinta- in-sta- te U LEA BARGIN'STRUCKSS2S35 Two enter pleas in Two eastern Utah men pleaded west end going on in the countys more remote areas. While western Duchesne . New homes going up throughout .County has always been a popular the west end of Duchesne County recreation spot, more and more mean that lots of new electrical dis- people are moving to the remote area d basis. tribution lines are going up ps well. to live on a Moon Lake Electric has a total of Over the last few weeks Moon Lake Electric Association processed about 13,600 consumers from the top of 60 new applications for service. The Daniels Canyon to an area approxiare mately 30 miles east ofRangley, Colo. majority of the new hook-up-s Since 1993 the number of resiconcentrated in the Strawberry Valconsumers has grown by over dential areas. Fruitland and ley "So for this year, Moon Lake has 800, during that same time irrigabuilt 41 miles of new line, typicdlty tion consumers grew by 40. The numour construction schedule calls for ber of large power accounts saved about ludfthat amount," said Bussell by Moon lake decreased slightly, Comm; Member-Relatiomanager however the loss "doesnt raise a red said Cowan. for Moon Lake. Lake Electric gets the ma"From January to September weve connected 240 new accounts, jority of their electric energy needs we're anticipating about280 byyears from Deseret Generation and end. In 1995 we had 800 new ac- Transmissions Bonansa Power Plant in Uintah County, and the recounts," he said. New homes are going up is the mainder from the Western Area Roosevelt and Duchesne areas as Power Administration, operators of well, but the construction in the cit- facilities such as the Flaming Gorge ies doesn't compr--a with the activity generation station. trie certain concessions to participate in the buyout of CFC notes, along with revising our contract with Deseret. In exchange for that were going to receive competitive rates, Earl detailed. Throughout the lengthy negotiations Earl said Moon Lake stood firm, stable, supply of power that provides fin- new growth, he stated. "Our goal was not to impact our members and to leave us revenue neutral, he explained. However, he prints out that the cooperativea will have to cover increases in operating costa on their portion of ownership brutal slaying Moon Lake expands in county's Emery County. According to theterms of the new finanriaTagreement approximately $1.4 billion in unpaid principal and interest that has accumulated since Deserets inception in 1985 has been restructured down to $464 million. Rural Utilities Services (formerly REA), Deserets principal creditor, will take the biggest Ion. Over the next 30 years, the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) end the six rural cooperatives have agreed to refinance all of Deserets remaining debt Although CFC is the main single creditor, each of Deseret's rural electric cooperatives became slight in the restructuring transaction, explained Grant Earl, general manager for Moon Lake Elec- - million, or approximately 3 percent of the entire debt package. "What that means is we made Andrew Yergensen guilty last Tuesday to reduced federal murder charges in the brutal November 1995 torture-slayin- g of an acquaintance. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Borja Kelly Ankerpont and Charles Headdress, both 22, were indicated on first-degrmurder ee charges in the death of Tilford Tapoof. They pleaded guilty to murder before U3. District Judge Tena Campbell, who set aentendng for Jan. 23. A third defendant, Thomas J. Sowaonicut, previously pleaded e murder and guilty to The Governor will then be holding a town meeting where he will be -degree the featured speaker at Union High School in Roosevelt at 6:30 p.m. He will give an overview of the electronic highway and how it can be used to improve the economic resecond-degresources in is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 29 All the nujor players in assisting by UJ3. District Judge J. Thomas with helping the Uintah Basin in Greene, said federal prosecutor Barthis project will be at the meeting as bara Beamson. well. Thoee speaking at the town Sowsonkuts case was assigned meeting will include Gordon to a different judge because he was a Peterson, Chief Information Officer juvenile when charged last year. for Utah; Steve Hess, coordinator of However, he waived, his right to a educational technology, Amy Owens, hearing on whether to prosecute him Distate librarian and Joe Jenkins, as a juvenile, and was prosecuted as rector of the Department of Coman adult, said Beamson. munity and Economic Development. By agreeing to the This is an opportunity for every the defendants get out from under a resident in the area to see the eco- potential sentence of life without BEE 8PEGIAI J8T on page 3 parole, said defense attorney Michael Jaenish. Now, they ere hoping for second- ; 15-ye- ar - full-tim- e, |