"I would ask if you have any surpluses that you look at our needs in mental health, in dental health, in health insurance for the uninsured," Mayor JoAnn Seghini of Midvale told legislators at the Salt Lake County Council of Government's annual legislative luncheon.

But she acknowledged it would be challenging.

"We have many people with many needs. You are a few people with limited resources." Mayor Dennis Nordfelt of West Valley City gave an update on Proposition 3, a quarter-cent sales tax increase for transportation projects approved last month by voters.

He expects the Salt Lake County Council and the county's mayors to have a prioritized list of transit and highway projects in January. A legislative committee is scheduled Wednesday to review the formula for creating that list.

Legislation that allowed Salt Lake County to levy the new sales tax for transportation projects is "really just kind of a baby step, and there needs to be some giant steps taken with respect to transportation funding," Nordfelt told the audience.

Nordfelt also asked legislators to remove a cap on road funds that cities can receive from gasoline taxes, and to funnel all of the automobile-related sales tax to transportation investments.

Following the meeting, Nordfelt said lawmakers will have to adopt more dramatic measures - increases in gas and sales taxes - to make up for a $16 billion transportation funding shortfall projected over the next 15 years.

"Our Legislature seems reticent to do that," Nordfelt said. "Every year we wait to do something about this, the problem grows in magnitude."

Draper Mayor Darrell Smith asked legislators to vote for the Land and Water Reinvestment Act, which would channel tax revenue collected from the mining and oil and gas industries into watershed restoration, rangeland programs and the LeRay McAllister Critical Land Conservation Fund.

Holladay Mayor Dennis Webb asked for continued funding of a new campaign that encourages parents to address the issue of underage drinking.

Webb cited research that found that 40 percent of people who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 15, become alcohol-dependent later in life.

rwinters@sltrib.com