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Show A-2 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, April 11-14, 2020 The Park Record Census response lags behind rest of state The Park Record. Serving Summit County since 1880 The Park Record, Park City’s No. 1 source for local news, opinion and advertising, is available for home delivery in Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties. Single copies are also available at 116 locations throughout Park City, Heber City, Summit County and Salt Lake City. A poor turnout could cost county millions in federal funding ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record For every household that doesn’t respond to the 2020 Census, officials say, Summit County stands to lose out on more than $50,000 in federal funding over the next 10 years. And considering nearly half of the households in Summit County didn’t respond in 2010, that might be cause for worry. As of Wednesday, the county’s self-response rate was approximately 28%, about half of the state’s overall response rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The response rate varies among the county’s municipalities, with Francis hitting 53%, while Oakley is at 16%. In Park City, the county’s most populous city, only 15% of households had responded. In 2010, Park City’s response rate was one of the highest in the county at 67%. One reason the Park City rate might be so low is that many of its residents receive their mail through a P.O. box. Census spokesperson Coralys M. Ruiz Jiménez explained that 95% of U.S. SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Summit County (home delivery): $56 per year (includes Sunday editions of The Salt Lake Tribune) Outside Summit County (home delivery available in Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah counties; all other addresses will be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service): $80 per year To subscribe please call 435–649– 9014 or visit www.parkrecord.com and click the Subscribe link in the Reader Tools section of the toolbar at the bottom of the page. To report a missing paper, please call 801–204–6100. Same-day redelivery is possible if you call during the following hours: * Weekdays: 6:30–8 a.m. * Saturday: 7–8 a.m. * Sunday: 7–10:30 a.m. To request a vacation hold or change of address, please call 435–649–9014 or email: circulation@parkrecord.com Continued from A-1 Jail adapts to crisis THE NEWSROOM To contact the newsroom, please call 435–649–9014 or email editor@parkrecord.com For display advertising, please call a sales representative at 435–649– 9014 or email val@parkrecord.com Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said her office has been taking steps to reduce the inmate population since the first case of community spread was reported in the county last month, which led to stringent public health orders and changed the way local officials have combated the pandemic. Olson said that Chief Prosecutor Patricia Cassell began reviewing the cases of current inmates and, where appropriate, expediting hearing To place a classified ad, please call 435–649–9014 or email classads@parkrecord.com For questions about your bill, please call 435–649–9014 or email accounts@parkrecord.com The Park Record online is available at www.parkrecord.com and contains all of the news and feature stories in the latest edition plus breaking news updates. The Record’s website also hosts interactive entertainment, restaurant and lodging listings and multimedia features. Continued from A-1 Shortfall projected Contents of The Park Record are Copyrighted 2015, Wasatch Mountain News Media Co. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 0745-9483) is published twice weekly by Wasatch Mountain News Media Co., 1670 Bonanza Drive, Park City, UT 84060. Periodicals postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah, 84199-9655 and at additional mailing offices. Dias said staffers will work toward crafting a sound financial plan and said other communities will need to layoff police officers, firefighters and teachers as core services are cut. He said the plan for Park City will support core commitments and community services. Dias, though, also noted the possibility of reductions in personnel costs. He did not provide details, though. “I think eventually everything’s on the table, so I can’t commit to no furloughs, or no RIFs, no layoffs,” Dias said, using an acronym for the term reductions in force. The discussion on Thursday was seen as a precursor to the upcoming budget talks that are scheduled to launch later in the spring. It is likely the discussions will be the most difficult since the worst of the recession a decade ago. The elected officials on Thursday Postmaster: Send address changes to The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, UT84060. Entered as second-class matter, May 25, 1977, at the Post Office in Park City, Utah, 84060 under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are: $56 within Summit county, $80 outside of Summit County, Utah. Subscriptions are transferable: $5 cancellation fee. Phone: 435–649–9014 Fax: 435–649–4942 Email: circulation@parkrecord.com Published every Wednesday and Saturday COURTESY OF THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU Census invitations weren’t sent to P.O. boxes, but residents can respond even without an invitation at my2020census.gov. terials created to boost turnout are sitting unused. “The coronavirus pandemic has shifted our priorities and changed our lives but we have to remember that the census is still taking place and we have to remember the stakes are too high not to complete the census,” Jones wrote in an email. “(The census) is essential to ensure states, cities and municipalities are allocated enough financial resources to address the health, social-service, educational and other needs of their residents.” In 2000, Summit County had a 44% response rate for the census and Utah lost out on an extra congressional seat by 81 votes, according to data supplied by the county. In 2010, the rate was up to 55%. If the same holds true in 2020, the county stands to lose about $45 million from the federal government in the next 10 years compared to what it would receive if everybody participated. households will receive an invitation to participate in the census by mail, a letter that includes an individual identification number and instructions about how to complete the process online. But the Census Bureau doesn’t send those invitations to P.O. boxes. The plan was to deliver them in person to the roughly 5% of households that didn’t receive one in the mail, but the pandemic has forced the bureau to pull its workers from the field. Ruiz Jiménez said the bureau will resume its normal operations when it is safe to do so, but that in the meantime people can still participate in the census without a formal invitation by visiting 2020census.gov. Jeff Jones, the county’s economic development director and the staffer charged with leading up the census effort locally, said the county needs to get its response rate higher to receive its fair share of funding and political representation. Months ago, Jones recommended the county spend $10,000 on an outreach effort, and he worked together with a Complete Count Committee to put the drive together. But the COVID-19 pandemic means census drop boxes, signs and other ma- schedules or filing motions for the early release of certain inmates. “This is always done on a case-bycase basis and always with an eye to the fair administration of justice and protection of the community,” Olson wrote in an email Thursday. “My job is public safety, which will always be primary in any decision made. After March 13 (the first community spread) we added another factor — COVID-19 containment — to our prosecutorial analysis.” Olson noted that judges make the final ruling on a case — it is not up to the County Attorney’s Office or the jail to just let people go. She said that a key factor in keeping the jail population low was the arrival of Judge Richard Mrazik in January, the first time in a long time Summit County has had a full-time criminal judge. Instead of arrestees sitting in jail until the following Monday for an initial appearance or bail hearing, Olson said Mrazik has been willing to conduct virtual hearings at any time, including after normal office hours. The effort is aided by video conferencing technology that further expedites court appearances and reduces the need to convene in person. “Since the pandemic everyone coming in is seeing the judge through (video conferencing) and with the exception of those who are a danger or have charges that would keep them here, they are getting released with a court date,” Bates said. After the chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court, Matthew Durrant, ordered the judiciary’s Pandemic Response Plan to be activated March 21, criminal and civil jury trials have been suspended until after June 1. Wright said no inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus, and to keep it that way, the jail has instituted a policy to isolate any new inmate for 14 days before adding the person to the general population. So far, it has not had to act on the policy. He added that two structural features aid in the effort to keep the virus at bay: The jail has a positive pressure room into which they could move a symptomatic inmate, and the jail is an indirect supervision facility, meaning deputies can monitor activity on video screens and do not need to be physically present in the general population. Bates said that other intake procedures have also changed as a result of the pandemic, with deputies taking the temperature of all new arrestees and asking them questions about COVID-19 symptoms. She said they have always used personal protective gear when searching inmates and continue to do so, and Wright said that the Sheriff’s Office has been issuing personal protective equipment to its staff. signaled their support for the staff-level plans to cover the projected shortfall in the current fiscal year, but the talks about the budget for the next fiscal year will almost certainly be more complex than others in recent years as officials consider the unknowns of the longterm impacts of the coronavirus on tourism and tourism-related industries. A brief assessment of the 2021 fiscal year prepared by staffers in anticipation of the Thursday meeting indicated revenues from sales taxes “are difficult to predict” and “budgeting during a time of fiscal ambiguity requires caution.” It appears the mayor and City Council will regularly discuss the financial impacts in coming months in formal meetings like the one on Thursday as well as less formal settings like online roundtables and Virtual Coffee with Council events. Officials are starting to address the financial impacts alongside the continuing public health efforts. A task force has been seated to discuss the broad topic of economic resiliency, as an example. “Well, as if things aren’t complicated enough, in the middle of our health crisis, we have a bit of an economic crisis, which the two are tightly tied together,” Beerman said at the meeting on Thursday. Continued from A-1 County Attorney’s Office is poring over recent federal stimulus legislation to find potential funding sources. County finance officer Matt Leavitt wrote in a report prepared for Wednesday’s meeting that the county’s funds have balances of roughly $16.3 million that can be accessed to maintain essential programs, but he has cautioned against using a one-time revenue source to pay for ongoing costs, especially with the duration of the crisis unknown. Officials are advocating acting quickly where the action is known to avoid the potential of an April payment for a project that might be cut eventually and to minimize the amount of time the county pays for a program it might not continue. Leavitt indicated one of the largest unknown areas is that of intergovernmental revenue, a category that includes grants from the state and federal government. The Health Department, for example, receives the majority of its funding from these sources, amounting to millions of dollars. The county’s policy has been to cut a program if it doesn’t receive the grant that had funded it, but officials indicated that would be more complicated with matters affecting public health. County cuts eyed the fiscal situation worsens. Councilor Chris Robinson suggested that the first cuts outlined by staff last week should be enacted as soon as possible. Those include $1 million in savings achieved through a hiring freeze for non-essential workers and cutting a planned merit raise for staff, $100,000 from a 401(k) matching program, deferring facility projects for another $100,000 in savings and cutting $750,000 from planned contributions to fund balances, the county’s way of saving for a rainy day. “I think that you should look at the budget holistically, with no sacred cows, and come back with a more austere plan that ... might be $4.5 million or $5 million that we can review,” Robinson told staffers at the meeting. Fisher has said laying off or furloughing employees is a last resort and indicated that a member of the Did you know? The Census Bureau did not send invitations to P.O. boxes, affecting many Park City residents; the county’s most populous city had a 15% response rate as of Wednesday. Residents can still respond to the census, even without an invitation, at my2020census.gov or by calling 844-330-2020. Wasatch View 1385 E 1350 N Heber City Convenient Banking Stop by or use our online banking or mobile app. 5 AC R E S | O F F E R E D AT $ 39 9,0 0 0 Need a little more room these days? • • • 5 Acre Spread or Horse Property Close to downtown Heber Easy access to Park City • • • Bank the way that’s best for you. Quiet location Exceptional Views No HOA WA S AT C H V I E W 5 A C R E S . C O M Tom Ward Realtor® 435-647-3727 tomward@winutah.com pcneighborhoods.com Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed accurate. Buyer to verify all information. 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