This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The recent announcement that Kane County has finally received ownership of an RS 2477 dirt road on public land is no cause for celebration. Instead, it is a reminder of the fiscal disaster brought upon taxpayers by their county commissioners' financial folly.
In the past few years, property taxes have more than doubled for many Kane County families and businesses. Things got so bad that county government had to borrow money to pay people's salaries.
How come Kane County ran out of money? Here's one reason: The commissioners spent well over $1 million on a protracted legal battle to gain ownership of dirt roads on public land. By any reasonable measure, they have failed to reach this goal.
Taxpayer dollars have been spent on expensive attorney firms, depositions, travel, research, evidence collecting, expert witnesses, consultants, equipment, vehicles and hundreds of hours of county officials and employees.
So now, after years of litigation, Kane County has finally received RS 2477 ownership of 26 miles of Skutumpah Road, a dirt track on the west side of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Has the cost to taxpayers been worth it? Most people say "No."
Sky Chaney President, Taxpayer Association of Kane County
Kanab