| OCR Text |
Show REE oe oe ene ee ET LR ERS * WASATCH COUNTY COURIER _ TAXATION continued from page 1 once ann sa ene tteA Several citizens complained that they didn't think it was fair for them to pay for the higher insurance costs of teachers when they don’t even have insurance them- selves. Principal Horner explained that without insurance it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to attract teachers to work for the school district. While there were a lot of complaints from up ‘to support the gee eines A LATIN SA S05 at Aisi, A PERE A Ci ORCS COOOL. : districts within the state. Ss jee eat school board argued that taxes had to be raised in order to cover the higher M&O expenses for the coming school year. They Other. citizens asked whether year-round schooling could be used to lower expenses. Superintendent Talbot said no, at least not for M&O expenses. Year round schooling increases the capacity of schools by 33 per- got school district tax rate compared to other ig be used to cover Maintenance and Operation (M&O) expenses. M&O expenses include teacher salaries, textbooks, health insurance, utilities, etc. The When teachers Keith Johansen, the business manager for the school district, started off the meeting with a discussion of how Wasatch County’s cent (and therefore lowers capital expenses) but it does not reduce the M@O expenses of the school. Teachers salaries, utilities, and maintenance would be essen- Although Wasatch County does enjoy a lower tax rate than most counties, it is small consolation to residents who saw their tax bills increase dramatically. The higher property values in Wasatch county tially the same. Year-round schooling is of the ways that residents felt the trict. might have been able to reduce the tax shock to residents if it had planned its property last year, it might not have had to bond as much to cover the capital costs of a new middle school. If that had been done, this year’s tax increase might not have been nearly as bad. Instead of being - hit with both the middle school bond and the higher M&O expenses, county resi- school district could have made up its budget shortfall is by selling some of its dents would only have had to worry about - unused real estate like the North School in 18 of 40 school districts in the state are Heber to finance the higher operational Talbot nearly as I can tell, the this year’s higher M&O having expenses. similar hearings ~ Increases. Commissioners turned all of Wasatch County’s allotment of CUP culinary water over to the Jordanelle Special concerning tax Salt Lake City telling me that CUP for- warded my letter Reclamation. District. They ought to pay for it, not the residents of the county who never the Bureau of | a letter like that. It’s a big waste of money. If you wondered what CUP was If it’s not illegal for CUP to tax people who have ABC water— that’s water - from Anywhere But CUP— it’s certainly unfair, and the county’s leaders ought to be taking the lead in stopping unfair tax and getting our CUP back. Most, if not all the county ABC water. Some farmers irrigate to You don’t need to hire a lawyer to send drank a drop of CUP water. ~ doing with all those illegal taxes they are taking from you, read the State Auditor’s report bills. CUP is not lawyer retirement ing big bucks for this taxes uses with or look at their a water program, plan, and you are it. . legal it’s a pay7 it. It’s not clear whether the Citizen’s law- There is no reason why ABC water users should be subsidizing farmers and their suit provision in P.L. 102-575 would cover the County Attorney, so Pll go on record right now and tell the County CUP water, so let them pay for Commissioners that when they sue. CUP, I’ll sign on as a citizen plaintiff, Our Tax Change Notice just received from the County shows that CUP taxes know that of our property tax. about you, back to help making it for sure a citizen’s lawsuit, and that way they can get their legal fees paid by CUP. I’m pretty. sure some of my neighbors will also sign up. I don’t but I’d like to have pay for the 30% increase in school taxes on the Notice so the School Board can build buildings they don’t need. There is more good news in PL. Here’s what all you people in Wasatch Co. who think your taxes are too high 102- or that.it’s not fair for you, with ABC 575. The law says that Citizen lawsuits (106 Stat. 4623-24) filed against CUP water, to have to pay a CUP water tax, should do. Tell the County. Commis- for. violating the law can recover legal fees. That means the County can sue CUP to get the money back and have CUP pay for the cost of the lawsuit. A. lawsuit . letter back, not from CUP, but from a high priced stripped pants law firm in County will probably be sioners about it. Tell them to look into getting our CUP tax money back. Tell them it’s time CUP started obeying the law. Tell them necessary it’s time to stop CUP’s unfair, illegal taxes. Tell them you’re mad as hell, and you’re not going to take it anymore. because CUP is lawyer crazy. CUP offi- cials won’t blow their nose without a tegal opinion first. I wrote CUP a letter ca ae costs of schools. Superintendent As are 4% If the school district had sold its surplus One Why are we Although it is not yet clear whether it would have been possible, the school dis- capital expenditures a little better. the school district’s costs. not say CUP can tax us. 31, 1999 pointing out that one of their canals was leaking and causing problems to several property owners in Heber City. I got a paying CUP taxes? wasteful irrigation methods. Some citizens would have liked to have had a real discussion of the budget in which the total expenses and total rev_ enues of the school district were explained to them. Keith Jorgensen’s presentation CUP continued from page 4 good for reducing the capital costs of a school district but it does not reduce the operational costs. offset the money that would have been saved through a lower tax rate. In 1998 Wasatch County spent $3,744 per pupil; the state average was $3,787. 3 never discussed the actual breakdown of Sebi insiauciany capital expenditures ‘like buildings cannot cannot be covered with asset sales. applause. ae Money that comes from or is earmarked for citizens about the tax increase, they also showed strong support for their teachers. school board’s proposal, they invariably got ¥ explained that doing so would be against _ Utah State Law. | August LAWSUIT continued from page 1 requiring developers to provide 1600 gallons of water a day to each residence in the development. In fact, the developer provided far less water to the residents of Canyon Meadows. When representatives of the Canyon Meadow Home Owner’s Association expressed their position on the county’s failures and selective treatment, Mr. became and evasive. increasingly | defensive . ous concerns” about the slide danger in Canyon Meadows. The county then commissioned an underfunded study to support its conclusions. property owners in Canyon Meadows met the new conditions of the county for development, new stricter standards were imposed upon them. To make a long story short, the residents of Canyon Meadows finally proved at considerable expense to themselves that the slide risk was mini- mal. The county even admitted so in November of 1998. They also proved that there were virtually no problems with septic systems in the area. Even Without any direct notice the county then passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of septic tanks and drain fields. It also stated that the county had “seri- the though the property — owners in Canyon Meadows proved through com- prehensive studies that they should be allowed to build upon the lots they had bought in good faith, relying upon the county’s previous determination that they were suitable for development, the county has refused to rescind its ordinances preventing development. which would then force them to go after Since lots in Canyon Meadows cannot be developed until the county removes its moratorium, they have little or no the personal assets of the officials responsible. market value. In fact, the property own- government _ Advance knowledge of some of We evi- ers must continue to pay property taxes on them even though they can do nothing with their property. Two months ago dence supporting this case, much of it provided to the plaintiffs by the govern-ment officials themselves, seems to indi- they applied for annexation into Utah County but the Wasatch County | Commissioners refused to let them be annexed even though the few residents in Canyon Meadows already get most, if not all, of their services from Utah County. | : If in fact the property owners of Canyon Meadows can prove that the county has selectively enforced its own codes, and has passed ordinances that are unconsti- tutional, they may win a large judgement against the county. This could exhaust the county’s financial resources cate that the residents of Canyon Meadows have a very good chance of winning their lawsuit. None of. the defendants could be reached for comment due to the fact that this paper received notice of this lawsuit so close to its publication deadline. Tax Correction In last weck’s article on the recent tax increases in Wasatch County the meeting dates for the tax Board of Equalization were incorrectly reported. The actual meeting times are: September from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 15th, 16th was «< TUESDAY SRDS COURIER WEEKLY COUNTY WASATCH WEDNESDAY THURSDAY Sept 1 Sept 2 FRIDAY FORECAST SATURDAY SUNDAY HIGH LOW 87 55 HIGH LOW ag Piha ERASE aie HIGH LOW 86 (57 ~ MONDAY Sept 6 HIGH Wi it ORNS st eas ste rs ore -to Ce ee Mathis time ita codes Every LOW HIGH 82 53 LOW 80 53 See ne a i a i aspen serene ra ar ae HIGH LOW 82 «+55 etree cena nes enemas are B75 HIGH 85 LOW 52 and 17th © |
