This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
South Salt Lake • Only a handful of people turned out on a chilly Tuesday night to talk about Salt Lake County's plan to pay for law enforcement in unincorporated areas next year through property taxes instead of a vilified police fee.
More had questions than comments about the dense formula that would enable the county to get rid of the $162 fee a year before its ban under state law and make long-term funding for law enforcement dependent solely on property taxes, which are more stable than sales taxes.
It would be done by having residents of the unincorporated county, Riverton and Herriman pay property taxes to the Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Service Area (SLVLESA). In return, unincorporated-area residents would have their property taxes for municipal services reduced by the same amount, in addition to being relieved of the fee. Riverton and Herriman residents would have their city property taxes and two other fees cut.
Lawrence Ponce of Kearns said he was taken aback when he saw notice of a tax increase. But he was relieved after Kerri Nakamura, aide to County Councilman and SLVLESA board member Jim Bradley, showed him he would save $85 a year under the new formula.
"I'm always happy to hear I'll save money," Ponce said in concluding his testimony at the headquarters of the Unified Police Department, which actually provides the law enforcement coverage paid for by SLVLESA and several other municipalities in the county.
David Mahaffey of Emigration Canyon was not mollified.
"I'm dead set against a property tax increase," he said, recommending instead that "police should be living within a budget and, if necessary, should lay off officers to live within their means."
County Sheriff Jim Winder responded that Unified Police Department expenditures were reduced 7 percent at the onset of the recession and have remained flat in the slow recovery, while still allowing adequate service.
For county Mayor Peter Corroon, one hearing highlight was an endorsement of the plan from the Utah Taxpayers Association, whose representative, Chase Everton, called it "appropriate" and "transparent."
That's one of the first times the association, headed by Republican legislator Howard Stephenson, has liked anything the Democratic mayor has done, Corroon quipped.
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