On Tuesday, acting Mayor Alan Dayton introduced the 2005 budget, which calls for no new taxes and a $743 million operating amount. It also proposes to slash 31 percent from the mayor's office, including six personnel positions, and eliminate car allowances. And the budget offers a tripled financial incentive - as part of the county's healthy lifestyles program - for employees who lose weight and keep it off. (The incentive also applies to those who quit smoking.)
As proposed - budget approval is scheduled for Nov. 24 with final adoption Dec. 7 - the draft also eliminates the flat rate county employees pay for prescription drugs. Instead, employees will pay a percentage and a $5 increased co-pay to help offset a 17 percent increase in health-care costs.
"I recognize that this may be tough, particularly for those using expensive medications, but it is something that we have to do," Dayton told the County Council during a budget presentation.
While employees will see a 2.7 percent merit increase, another 1.5 percent payroll adjustment will be eliminated. To compensate, Dayton is offering a one-time $600 check - called a Healthcare Impact Offset - to help cover increased medical costs. It is expected to hit the mail in January.
Under another proposal, Dayton wants to convert the county's "old school" analog system to digital.
"I want our citizens to have the opportunity to hear how their money is being spent," the acting mayor said about the plan to add public meetings to the Internet in the form of streaming audio.
Dayton also is calling for a handful of new attorneys and staff members for the District Attorney's Office and the Legal Defenders Office. Both, he said, have empirically demonstrated an increased case load.
Perhaps most surprising, if only because it is unusual, is a proposal to stop the hemorrhaging in the county's annual golf fund.
To reduce the subsidy - this year at $2 million - officials had discussed selling South Mountain Golf Course, which is a county facility in Draper that has seen disappointing turnout. But on Tuesday, Dayton floated a plan to sell development rights to an existing course and use that money to overhaul Meadow Brook Golf Course in the heart of the Salt Lake Valley.
He says a smart designer could reconfigure the 18 holes and add residential lots.
"That would give county taxpayers millions of dollars in development revenue and millions of dollars in taxable property," Dayton added. "It would also give our golfers a brand new course, built free of charge."
If approved, the 2005 budget's general fund would maintain its 10 percent cash reserve. Overall, county officials have vowed to remain fiscally responsible in an effort to save $12 million over the next five years.
djensen@sltrib.com
