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Show No Final Figures Available Yet Residents Hear Budget Plans, Few Questions Raised Drive and Swede Alley. The city also plans to repave portions of Empire Avenue. Of the capital outlay budget at least 16 percent is uncommitted. The City Council is expected to allocate those funds shortly. Once the budget was explained by the City Manager Mana-ger last week the floor was opened to comments from the public. Tom Distad, a local entertainer and property proper-ty manager urged the city to raise taxes in lieu of continual increases in service fees. He said he feared perpetual increases in busi-iness busi-iness licenses and water rates could discourage business bus-iness and tourists. Dale Nelson complained about disparities in assessed valuations of property in Old Town opposed to newer areas. He said property in Old Town is assessed at a relative fair market value opposed to new sections of town where assessed valuations valua-tions are far below that level. Because the number of mills needed to raise a given amount of money is tied to assessed valuations, Nelson said the city could raise more money and possibly cut taxes if newer areas "paid their fair share". Jim Carr said the city should cut expenditures and not raise taxes and Mayor Jack Green pointed out the many cuts in the budget. Tina Lewis called the, plan a "bare-bones budget". Arlene Loble additionally pointed out that the city was proposing no across the board salary increases for its employees next year and Park City Finance Director John Nelson indicated most workers were prepared to work with the city under the present tight economic conditions. con-ditions. "Some employees have even offered to take salary cuts", he said. The budget is scheduled to be adopted by the City Council this Thursday, but according to the City Manager Mana-ger that process may be postponed pending the receipt re-ceipt of Park City's updated total assessed valuation from County Assessor Leo Fra-zier. Fra-zier. Since the city basis its mill levy on the assessed valuation valua-tion it would be impossible to adopt the budget and corresponding corres-ponding mill levy without the information. As of Tuesday the assessed valuation had not appeared from Frazier. Should the valuations come in higher than predicted the mill levy would be lower; should the opposite occur the mill levy would have to be raised. The public hearing held last Thursday on Park City's proposed $8 million 1982-83 fiscal budget drew few citizens and even fewer comments. City Manager Arlene Loble presented the financial plan for next year in two parts; $4,680,000 general operating budget and a $3,365,000 capital outlay program. The general operating budget covers the day to day operations of all municipal departments and the capital outlay plan includes public improvement expenditures. Loble called the budget an austere plan that is desinged to enable the city to maintain its present level of service during a period of a predicted downturn in new construction. Loble explained explain-ed that in prior years, Park City relied heavily on revenue reve-nue generated by new construction to finance the city's general fund operations. opera-tions. She called that reliance imprudent because the city could be left in an uncomfortable or even precarious pre-carious financial position should new construction suffer a dramatic show down. In her budget, Loble has pulled impact fee revenue out of the general fund altogether and has attempted to make various municipal departments self sufficient with service or license fee funding opposed to the continued reliance on impact and building fees to pick up the slack where property taxes previously left off. For example, the transportation department is proposed to be funded for the most part-next year by business license revenues and the water department by a new, rate structure based on consumption. In the general fund budget, Loble predicts a substantial decrease in building permit revenue due to an indicated downturn in new construction construc-tion caused by relative local and national economic factors. fac-tors. She admitted the downturn is not particularly evident as yet because the Planning Department remains re-mains as busy as ever dealing with new projects and building fee revenue has not taken a sharp decline to date. Because of the anticipated decline in building revenue, the City Manager has had to rely on other sources to finance the city's general fund. Two of those sources include doubling the present franchise tax on public utilities from 2.5 to 5 percent and raising property taxes approximately 3.5 mills, an increase of around $53 for the average property owner. An additional tax increase of 2.9 mills or around $44, is required to make an interest and principal payment on the $750,000 Miners Hospital restoration bond issue approved ap-proved by the voters last spring. In all property taxes are expected to generate $825,000 next year or about 23 percent of the city's operating revenue. Sales taxes which are levied at a rate set by the state are 1 anticipated to contribute about 17 percent of the total budget, franchise taxes and licenses 12 percent, planning and building fees 10 percent, water fees 17 percent, golf and recreation fees 8 percent and interest on cash 8 percent. Fines, sanitation . fees and state aid each are expected to contribute between be-tween 1 and 2 percent of the total operating revenue. On the expenditure said, public safety or police will get 12 percent, public works 18 percent, general government 12 percent, community com-munity development 12 percent, per-cent, recreation and library 5 percent, library bond (Miner's (Min-er's Hospital) debt service 3 percent, golf course 8 percent, per-cent, sanitation 3 percent, water department 17 percent and transportation 10 percent. per-cent. To additionally tighten the municipal belt, the City Manager has recommended few capital outlay expenditures expendi-tures in the operating budget and the reduction of the city work force by at least two persons. According to the proposal, the $3,365,000 capital outlay budget will be financed by impact fees in the amount of 28 percent, redevelopment tax increment 29 percent, sale of property 22 percent, developer contributions 10 percent, revenue sharing or federal aid 6 percent and water development fees 5 percent. Forty percent of the capital outlay budget is proposed to be spent in the redevelopment redevelop-ment area primarily through property acquisitions, specifically speci-fically a $900,000 payment to the School District for the purchase of Marsac School. Four percent of the budget will be used to acquire water rights, 1 percent for building improvements at Marsac School and the Memorial Building, and 5 percent will go towards remodeling the golf course. Parks and landscaping will use up 6 percent of the proposed budget for an entrance to the new library at the Miner's Hospital, and the buffer strip at Prospector Square. Twenty-five percent will finance street improvements primarily access to the new state highway at Bonanza |