During the 10-minute break between the council meeting and work session, three council members chose to keep walking Wednesday.
"Marilyn [Brusch], Pono [Sitake] and I didn't return to join in the work session on the Chamber of Commerce," acknowledged Councilman Shane Siwik.
The trio had just cast votes opposing the city's 2006-07 tentative budget, which includes a 134 percent property-tax increase.
"I told the City Attorney it's a waste of time for me to sit in the work session and argue. I said I was going home," said Councilman Sitake, who opposed the tax increase because the city has $7 million in a capital fund it could tap for employee wage increases.
The schism reflects the sharp divide between supporters of current Mayor Bob Gray, a former police chief, who advocated a tax increase to raise below-par wages of public-safety personnel, and fans of Wes Losser, Gray's tight-fisted predecessor who balanced the city's budget by cutting personnel, freezing wages and trimming City Hall fat.
"We've been encouraged to look beyond the end of our nose when we make decisions," said Council Chairman Bill Anderson, one of the four who favored the tax increase. "To me, it's about doing the right thing. We've balanced the budget on the backs of our employees for several years, and now the wolf is at the door. We can either let it eat us or shoot it."
Anderson said 24 staff positions were trimmed under Losser, or 12 percent of the city's work force; capital spending also was cut in half and employee wages lagged behind those of neighboring cities by 12 percent to 20 percent.
"We've added three full-time employees in this budget, and we're trying to take care of the people we have left," Anderson said.
Sitake said he represents many constituents on fixed incomes who cannot afford the proposed tax increase, which would amount to $157 a year on a home valued at $175,000.
Wednesday's work session also involved discussion of a possible increase in funding for the Chamber of Commerce, which draws $11,000 a year from the city.
cmckitrick@sltrib.com
