This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake County Council members aren't expecting a lengthy public hearing Thursday on mid-year revisions to the county's $1.1 billion budget.
After all, what's the public going to gripe about when the Republican-majority council could find nothing to oppose Tuesday among 148 line-item revisions in Democratic County Mayor Ben McAdams' proposed mid-year adjustments?
"We got specific directions from the council to keep this budget flat. No increases. And we did that," McAdams said after the council signed off on department-by-department changes, generally without objections, occasionally with a minor question that required staff clarification.
"Things that couldn't wait six months to be addressed are included in this budget. Things are good. We're staying the course with the budget that was set last December," he added.
The proposed changes, which the council is expected to approve after the hearing, reflect expectations of an improving economy over the latter half of the year, offset by some extra costs to comply with federal environmental laws. They also include 11 new jail employees — positions to be funded with state money to reform the criminal justice system, something Sheriff Jim Winder says he's keen to do.
GOP Council Chairman Richard Snelgrove was pleased the mid-year budget review went so smoothly. He particularly liked financial reports that said county revenues were projected to continue picking up after a slow start to 2015 while expenses have been held below budget in several areas. That will lead to interesting debates in the 2016 budget deliberations, he said, as the council decides whether to use the money to expand existing programs, start new ones or build fund balances.
The necessity of balances was emphasized by the county's need to hire five employees to beef up its team for managing stormwater runoff in the far-flung unincorporated area.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the county's four-person staff was insufficient for such a large task. The county agreed it would be better to use some of the extra projected revenues for five more employees and come into compliance, rather than face an EPA sanction.
Heading into Thursday's hearing, the only public concern expressed about McAdams' mid-year plan involved doing away with the Community Access to Technology labs at four recreation centers.
Greg McDonald, who runs the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in Salt Lake and Tooele counties, noted that his volunteers had used the labs' computers for many years to help low-income and English-as-a-second-language taxpayers fill out their federal and state tax returns. He asked the council to consider allowing VITA to continue using the recreation centers for this project and, rather than scrap the labs' computers, store them there for use next tax season.
Public hearing
The proposed revisions to Salt Lake County's 2015 budget will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in the County Council Chambers, North Building, County Government Center, 2001 S. State.