Corroon tweaks budget

Mayor Peter Corroon took full advantage of his first chance to tweak the Salt Lake County budget, proposing more than $11 million in cuts and a restructuring of administration.

The midyear budget adjustments are Corroon's initial crack at revising the budget of former Mayor Nancy Workman. Even more substantial changes will likely come this fall during annual budget negotiations, chief administrative officer Doug Willmore said.

"He's changing direction from how business has been done," Willmore said.

Part of that change includes scaling back budgets for the county's fleet and sanitation divisions. Corroon's proposal will cut $4 million from the fleet, with about $1.3 million of that coming from changes in operations and another $2 million from an expected halt to the county's rapid rotation system.

Corroon also wants to lop $6 million in expenses from the sanitation division and another $1.5 million from the municipal services fund. Much of that decrease stems from a loss of revenue at the county landfill and from the incorporation of Cottonwood Heights, which cost the county about $5 million in tax revenues.

An additional $10 million is set to be refunded from the county's fleet division to various departments that county officials now say were overcharged for vehicles. That money will be distributed to the overall balance of funds that include departments like the sheriff's office and public works.

The municipal services fund, for example, will receive nearly $5 million in fleet surplus payout and the county's general fund will get a boost of roughly $2.6 million.

"Once you end the rapid rotation program and you're not in the business of buying $20 million worth of new cars every year, you don't need that much money set aside," Willmore said.

But that payment will only increase the county's fund balance, which is already inching close to $190,000. County Councilman Randy Horiuchi isn't sure that sticking taxpayer dollars into already growing fund balances is the right direction for the county.

Instead, Horiuchi said that money should go toward specific county projects.

"There will be a tendency to want to just spend that fund balance," Horiuchi said. "We ought to take those monies and reinvest them in the county."

But councilman Joe Hatch said pumping the money into fund balances is the logical choice and could take the pressure off the county to raise taxes down the line.