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If Salt Lake County wants to ask voters to approve a bond to, say, preserve open space, construct new buildings or prop up cultural arts, it soon may have three new rules to follow.
No. 1 • Virtually no voting on bonds could occur during a municipal election year. Bonds could go on the ballot only during a general election year, when voter turnout is typically higher.
No. 2 • Each ballot would have to describe what a bond is — "a debt owed by government" — and indicate what tax increase its passage would require.
No. 3 • The county would have to disclose the ongoing costs of operating and maintaining facilities financed by the bond.
The County Council is considering all three proposed rules as part of a Republican-led bond-reform package aimed at making the public more involved in, and more informed about, proposals that would affect their tax bills.
"If you believe in open and transparent government," GOP Councilman David Wilde said, "these three initiatives all further that goal."
But the package could face resistance from Democrats, who remained wary Tuesday about placing restrictions on the county's ability to bond.
"We have to be very, very careful here," Democratic Councilman Jim Bradley said, "that we don't take a tool away from us that we need, and that we can find very useful, in terms of satisfying the needs of the people."
The council put off a decision on the proposed rules until next week.
The first proposed rule is the brainchild of Republican Councilman Richard Snelgrove. He wants to ensure that bonds are determined by the highest number of voters. So unless the council decided otherwise by a 6-3 supermajority, or unless the mayor declared an emergency, countywide bonds wouldn't appear in a municipal election.
The second is GOP Councilman Steve DeBry's doing. Although state law now requires voters to be notified of any tax increase higher than $15 a year on an typical home, DeBry wants to extend that rule to bond initiatives of any size. He also wants to add a sentence or two describing what a bond is.
The third comes from Republican Councilman Max Burdick. Instead of just telling voters what their money will buy — maybe a park or recreation center — the measure would require the county to spell out the costs of ongoing operation and maintenance.
But Democrats need some persuading.
Mayor Peter Corroon, for instance, worries the proposed rules would prove too restrictive and perhaps keep the county from bonding at times that would save taxpayers money. He also warns that the extra ballot language could make measures less likely to pass by confronting voters with the tax burden, but none of the benefits, of a proposed bond.
"We need to educate citizens on what is going to be on a ballot," Corroon said. "But the time to do it is before they get to the ballot box, not at the ballot box."
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