Few Salt Lake County leaders are talking about d) returning it to the sender - the taxpayer.

A notable exception: the county's fresh-faced new Auditor Sean Thomas, a self-described "hall monitor" between the mayor and County Council.

With the calculator as his foremost constituency, Thomas says cutting the people a break is certainly possible.

"That's a novel idea," he joked.

In all seriousness, he said, the county "would be fine doing a fee decrease in some areas. Absolutely."

But Councilman Randy Horiuchi calls it shortsighted to return all that cash. And he says sprinkling it across the county's general fund, as the Mayor's Office suggests, is disingenuous.

"It gives you a false sense of security," Horiuchi said. "It lets people bloat their operations."

Even so, the county's reserves - hovering at 20 percent of the county's $750 million budget - are maxed out under state law.

And yet, no one - besides residents and the Utah Taxpayers Association - has advocated a rebate.

Salt Lake City print-shop owner Gary Matsuura has an idea.

"Let's freeze taxes," he said. "Just tell me you're not going to raise my taxes for a couple of years; that would make me happy."

Don't expect any decisions on the sizable fund balances until year's end. County officials won't solve what they call a "nice problem" until budget sessions in November.

Until then, they are floating funding plans as divergent as their politics.

Some want more money for open space and maybe a green-waste program to clear room at the landfill. Others hope to roll out more dough for drug courts, freeing beds at the jam-packed jail.

Council members, who ultimately will decide, also covet capital projects and stepping up county services.

Still, all sound the solvency horn, careful to be conservative with a surplus years in the making.

Councilman Joe Hatch, for instance, warns that the extra money in the general fund could plunge into the red once other spending commitments kick in during the next several years.

And Councilwoman Jenny Wilson notes multiple funds have statutory constraints.

Others such as municipal services, sheriff's operations and the library budget can't be touched at all.

Still, Chief Administrative Officer Doug Willmore says each county operation should compete for funding annually, during the normal budget process. Leveling the playing field, he says, is the "proper role of government."

In New York earlier this week, county leaders were informed by leading bonding officials at Standard & Poor's that they can draw down surplus levels without jeopardizing the government's premier triple-A bond rating.

In response, the auditor and mayor are consolidating the county's 43 funds to 35.

Last year, thousands of county residents received a $75 refund check after council members decided to divvy up $7 million from a sanitation surplus.

Faced with more bloated balances, Horiuchi says he would rather funnel the money into everything from Zoo, Arts & Parks projects or a green-waste program to protecting open space in Holladay and Cottonwood Heights - the county's two newest cities.

"People think tax cuts and returning money to the taxpayers would be a popular thing," he said.

"Many people would be satisfied to reinvest in the community. People are for that."

Salt Lake City resident Jim Byrne sure is.

"If it's been allocated for a job, I'd like to see them do the job," he said, criticizing the county for having "too many personal fiefdoms."

"Everybody wants their taxes to go down," Byrne said, "but I would prefer to see them provide the services."

Mayor Peter Corroon says he won't rule out fee decreases or tax cuts but warns the county is simply comfortable, not awash in cash.

"It's a snapshot in time," he said. "We may look like we're flush. But, in actuality, we're just in good fiscal condition."

Either way, county officials had best watch their words come budget time.

"When I hear them say, 'We don't have any money,' " Matsuura said, "I can say, 'You're full of beans.' "

djensen@sltrib.com