Ever wonder how that money is divvied up?

Twice a year, county lawmakers huddle for consecutive nights in a stuffy room and stomach bad dinners until some semblance of a budget takes shape. It can be an exhaustive - and often confusing - process.

"Half the time we don't know what were passing," laments Republican Councilman David Wilde. "We just rubber-stamp the budget."

All that could change under new Mayor Peter Corroon. The Democrat wants to crunch the county's $750 million budget year-round. And he wants the council's help.

"It would be huge," fiscal analyst Darrin Casper says of the stricter scrutiny planned for the state's second-largest set of books. "It could make a big difference."

How big?

Millions of dollars that prop up county programs and facilities would be re-prioritized. Appropriations from the prior year no longer would dictate the bottom line. And, in each case, budget changes would have to garner a majority vote by the County Council.

"It's really a philosophy change on how we're going to run our government," says Corroon, who will outline the overhaul later this month. "We're going to run it as a team."

The mayor's proposal would allow the nine council members to divide areas of interest, weigh in on mission statements, then work with the departments on an ongoing basis.

Until this year, council members met each June to set the tax rate then reconvened in November to arrange the nuts and bolts of the budget. Problem was, to comply with county statute, they had to adopt the document and display it to the public just weeks after seeing the mayor's draft for the first time.

"By doing it only twice a year, you're seeing more of a snapshot in time rather than the dynamic nature of it," says Republican Council Chairman Michael Jensen. "This will let us make more informed, better decisions that should relate to better service for the residents of Salt Lake County."

While "health, safety and welfare" still will dominate funding, Jensen says the council's new focus will create a healthy competition for other budget items.

"It is a nicety versus a need," he suggests.

Corroon, who has vetted the move with the District Attorney's Office, points to the county's fleet management, golf subsidy, cell-phone policy and water usage as areas ripe for change. He concedes it will create more work for department heads and staff but argues it will result in a better product.

"Right now, the adopted budget is just a package of numbers," says Casper, who will be joined by a second full-time analyst next month. "We want to make the entire process more user friendly and understandable."

The council supported such a revamp under former Mayor Nancy Workman, but the idea gained momentum this year, when Democrat Jenny Wilson and Republican Mark Crockett joined the council after campaigning on budget reform. Both support Corroon's plan.

"What they're proposing makes a lot of sense," Wilson says. "Before the council was always held hostage to numbers that came too late."

djensen@sltrib.com