Commissioner Suzanne Rees argued for trimming more than $50,000 in expenses and tapping surplus funds to reduce the size of the budget boost by about $200,000, but Commissioners Clark Davis and Scott Hansen disagreed.

“Spending less isn't always the best decision,” said Davis, a certified public accountant and former Brigham City mayor.

The 2006 budget of $20.8 million will be $925,000 higher than in 2005. It will mean an increase of about $47 a year on the average $200,000 home.

Although that represents a 20 percent jump in county property taxes, residents' overall property tax bill will rise by 4 percent to 5 percent, depending on where they live and the other tax levies they pay.

Davis described how the previous commission retreated from a big tax hike after public opposition, but then had to engage in deficit spending the next year to cover county costs.

“We need a long-term strategic plan. . . . Otherwise we continue to have these peaks and valleys,” Davis said.

There was no tax increase for 2005, but county taxes shot up 24 percent in 2004.

Rees said the commission should pay attention to the residents who spoke against a bigger budget at last week's public hearing. Residents are not able to adjust their own incomes to meet inflation, she said.

“If we can get by with less than [$925,000], we should,” said Rees, who farms with her husband. “We could have made additional cuts.”

Among the cuts rejected by Hansen and Davis were several thousand dollars for three laptop computers for the commissioners, a printer for the auditor's office and $37,000 for space remodeling and rental to relieve the crowded Justice Court office.

County Auditor Roger Handy had suggested the commission also could dip into surplus funds, which amount to $7 million total, for about $150,000, but Hansen and Davis said were wary of doing that.

That $7 million represents about 65 days of cash flow that the county would need in a pinch, Davis said.

Besides, they said, it's possible the county soon will be stuck with a $500,000 bill to remedy problems at the county road shed, and it needs a cushion for that.

The $20.8 million budget approved Tuesday includes 2 percent cost-of-living raises for 156 full-time employees. The county will cover health-insurance price hikes.

It also will:

* Allow beefed-up security in the Justice Court at the historic courthouse.

* Give the road department a $275,000 infusion to pay for higher fuel costs.

* Provide $102,000 for new touch-screen voting equipment.

kmoulton@sltrib.com