Editorial in the Daily Herald on Balancing UT County's Budget

http://heraldextra.com/news/opinion/utah-valley/article_9e824d44-9ad5-5910-bd5d-20ec67c14097.html?mode=story

Local Opinion

Challenger blasts Anderson record

Joel Wright | Posted: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 12:04 am

Utah County's government is now in its fourth year of spending more than it receives. This approach is not sustainable, and has dangerously depleted the financial reserves of Utah County. Because Utah County is required by law to balance their budget every year, Utah County will have to raise property taxes, or engage in mass layoffs, once the reserves are gone.

How did this happen? I believe it happened due largely to the single vote of Commissioner Gary Anderson on two key occasions since he was elected to a third term in 2006.

The first occasion was in December 2007, when Anderson was the deciding vote to increase the County budget by 14 percent in a single year on a 2 to 1 vote. The increase led the Utah County Auditor to warn that such a budget was not sustainable, and would require a substantial increase in tax revenue. And since then, tax revenues have only declined.

The next occasion was in June 2008, when Anderson was the deciding vote to increase salaries for county employees on another 2 to 1 vote, including his own salary from $94,000 to $108,000 (even though his salary had been increased from $82,00 to $94,000 the year before). Just before this vote, Anderson stated that Utah County "may have to increase taxes at some point."

Anderson's statements about the need for a future tax increase have been consistent. In October 2007, Anderson said he "foresees a [tax] increase in perhaps three years given current trends" and then said in November 2008 he "doesn't see a way to avoid a tax increase." But there is a way, by simply refusing to raise taxes, and not spending more than you receive. Fortunately, the voters will get to choose in the Republican Primary Election on June 22 between Anderson's approach of raising taxes and spending, or my approach of living within our means.

Our county commissioners should be hoping for the best, and planning for the worst. Instead, they are planning for the best, and hoping they don't have to raise taxes, or cut spending, until after the election. At the commission meeting on May 11, it was announced that sales tax revenue would likely decline another 6.4 percent in 2010, and Utah County was running a deficit of approximately $5 million in 2010. A proposal was made to balance the budget by requiring co-payments on employee health insurance (like they do in the private sector), and cut the match on 401(k) contributions from 6 percent to 2 percent. Unfortunately this proposal was dismissed, and no other proposals were made to balance the budget. Instead of following the example of Utah's state government, it appears Anderson believes Utah County should follow the example of our federal government, and ignore the day of reckoning as long as possible, or at least until the election is over.

I experienced a similar situation when I joined the City Council of Cedar Hills in 2006. Cedar Hills had the highest property taxes in Utah County due to a failing city-owned golf course and a lack of commercial development (or sales tax base). During my time on the City Council we took on these problems. Our City Council approved a commercial development anchored by Wal-Mart that is now universally admired. Wal-Mart gave Cedar Hills a strong sales tax base, allowing Cedar Hills to decrease property taxes during the current recession. When I realized there were not enough votes to shut down our money-losing golf course, I worked with my fellow council members to turn it around. We hired new management, dramatically improving revenue from the golf course. We then created a plan to sell portions of the golf course for homes to eliminate the debt on the golf course.

A similar fresh approach is needed in Utah County. Our county commissioners must start spending less than they receive. We need leadership willing to make the hard decisions today, so we are not "forced" at some point to raise taxes. Most of all, we need county commissioners who will put the interests of the taxpayers first, and not base their budget decisions on the election cycle or campaign support.

• Joel Wright is a candidate for Utah County commissioner.