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Show A-2 The Park Record 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. 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. 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Phone: 435–649–9014 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, December 12-15, 2020 County passes budget amid ongoing uncertainty Coronavirus pandemic continues to cloud the economic picture ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record The item in the 2021 Summit County budget that appears most likely to draw the public’s notice is a $20 increase to the trash removal fee, a move that will generate $400,000 annually but one that might raise the eyebrows of taxpayers. The County Council on Wednesday night unanimously passed a $57.4 million 2021 budget that includes revenue from the trash fee increase, as well as a new county planning position — a last minute addition — to aid an overworked department that operated without a senior staffer for most of last year. The budget is 6.5% smaller than the 2020 adopted budget, a result of the coronavirus pandemic that has diminished the county's revenues. It does not require a tax increase. Officials indicated the county portion of property tax bills might next increase in 2022. The council also adopted an outline of the projects county staffers would pursue next year, signing a compact with County Manager Tom Fisher that included a detailed work plan. Fisher told the council that he expected the effects of the pandemic to last well into next year and indicated that he built time into the work plan for staffers to recover from the pandemic push and to start using vacation time again. The 2021 budget dips into county reserves for around $500,000, a prospect that appeared to give Councilor Roger Armstrong pause. Elected officials and the county manager have consistently touted the importance of maintaining ample reserves in the county’s operating funds. Armstrong scrutinized whether it was advisable to use county savings ahead of a year filled with financial uncertainty, questioning Summit County Continued from A-1 Teachers prioritized hope will happen next summer. Thursday’s announcement was a welcome development for local school districts, which have enacted elaborate COVID safety protocols to try to keep students in schools. “This is excellent news,” said Park City School District Superintendent Jill Gildea. “Every safeguard that can be provided in support of our educators is most welcomed!” In his announcement Thursday, Herbert said that teachers have been on the front lines of the pandemic. The policy announcement elevates the profession to join the ranks of first responders and health care providers who will be among the very first in Utah to receive the vaccine. Some Park City teachers for months have advocated for stricter COVID safety protocols, including moving PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO Summit County passed a $57.4 million 2021 budget on Wednesday, including an increase to the curbside trash pickup fee that will bring in an additional $400,000 in revenue. Finance Director Matt Leavitt’s estimate that county’s sales tax revenue would roughly equal the amount brought in this year. “Well, 2020 came in on the heels of a record-setting ski year that got cut a month early. So, I’m not sure I'm willing to bet that ’21 looks like 2020,” Armstrong said. He went on to indicate that, while the vaccine outlook appears bright, the pandemic is far from over, and it’s unclear how that will affect the ski season and the revenue it normally generates. Sales taxes are applied to virtually all purchases and tend to rise along with the influx of tourists that normally visit the area each ski season. Sales taxes are projected to make up 18% of county revenue in 2021, while property taxes are expected to contribute 44%, according to county data. There have been some signs of optimism for sales tax receipts in recent weeks, but the revenue generated in the core of the ski season from December through March dwarfs that of the summer and traditional shoulder seasons, where the gains were made. Fisher has indicated that economic indicators are offering mixed messages, with low sales tax projections but increasing property values and a very active real estate market. The effects of this ski season will impact next year’s budget, and low visitation would potentially force the county to make further cuts. That seemed to lead Armstrong to look twice at the decision to use rainy-day funds, knowing that the county may not be able to replenish them soon. Officials have indicated it has taken years to rebuild the county’s savings after the 2008-2009 financial crisis. “I think the bottom line is, we're not going to be able to add anything to fund balances probably for close to two years,” Armstrong said. Leavitt said that each fund is within an acceptable range of savings. Split among the three main operating funds, the county has about $17 million in reserves, Leavitt wrote in an email to The Park Record. Fisher recommended using about $138,000 of the general fund’s $5.4 million fund balance. Armstrong’s hesitation did not prevent him from supporting the budget or the addition of a new county planning staffer. “The fund balances are there for times like this, I think,” Armstrong said. to a hybrid schedule to allow for social distancing in the classroom. The Utah Education Association in early November called on school districts to move secondary schools to remote learning between Thanksgiving and the winter break to prevent a surge of COVID-19 from families gathering for the holidays. State officials said Thursday the expected post-Thanksgiving surge had not materialized statewide, with the number of cases remaining nearly steady at around 2,800 per day. The South Summit and North Summit school districts moved to remote learning for a period over the past month, while the Park City School District did not. Park City officials have said the number of cases of COVID-19 within the district has not warranted such a move, though they are prepared to take that step if necessary. South Summit officials opted for a preemptive move to online learning for the weeks after Thanksgiving and winter breaks, while the North Summit High School remote learning period was implemented after case numbers there started to rise quickly. On Wednesday, the Utah Department of Health updated its guidelines to shorten the quarantine period from 14 days to 10 days, matching recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Students and educators may return to school after 10 days if they do not have symptoms of COVID-19, or seven days if they are asymptomatic and they procure a negative test. Herbert indicated the decision to include teachers in the first phase of vaccinations was made to keep the state’s children in schools and continue to provide a safe academic environment. State officials have consistently said that students should learn in schools rather than online whenever it is safe to do so. “We need students to learn but we need teachers to be able to teach and we’re trying to make sure we have as safe an environment for our students and our teachers as we can so they can continue to teach in class,” Herbert said. “This will help minimize disruption for families at home and we hope to minimize the ‘ping pong effect’ that’s happening with going to online or inclass or a combination of both, back and forth.” Herbert said that teachers would be in the second wave of the first phase of vaccine dispersal, joining first responders and long-term care facility workers. The very first vaccines will go to workers at the hospitals that have been designated to receive patients with the most severe cases of COVID-19. The Pfizer vaccine requires three weeks between doses, and CDC officials have indicated that people may not be immune from COVID-19 for weeks even after receiving the second dose. On Thursday, the governor indicated he had been communicating with a high-ranking official in the federal vaccine effort, Operation Warp Speed’s Chief Operating Officer Gen. Gustave Perna, who committed to him that the state would receive 154,600 of the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of December and an equal amount of the second dose in January. State officials have indicated they expected to receive additional allotments of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines throughout the spring, and that mass-vaccination campaigns could occur as early as late March. Prior state estimates indicated Utah would receive around 350,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the end of the year, and Herbert did not elaborate on the discrepancy in numbers. The largest teachers union in the state, the Utah Education Association, has said it has approximately 18,000 members. Fax: 435–649–4942 Email: circulation@parkrecord.com Published every Wednesday and Saturday Get all the latest Park Record updates. Designs by Direct Importer of the World’s Finest Rugs Knight A Fine Jewelry Boutique A t t h e H i s t o r i c Vi l l a T h e a t r e Let us help sparkle your holidays. Private showings available and we wear masks. 3092 So. Highland Dr., Salt Lake City (801)484-6364 888.445.RUGS (7847) Mon.-Sat. 10 am to 6 pm 1662 Bonanza Dr. Suite 3A Park City, UT 435.649.2005 www.bkjewels.com |