From Deseret News archives:
IProvo may get tax money
Council backs using $1.2 million in surplus funds
The council altered the proposed budget to use $1.2 million in surplus sales tax revenue from the fiscal year that ends this month to help pay for iProvo construction debt for the fiscal year that starts next month.
The decision isn't final. The council will hold a public hearing on June 19 and then could amend the $141.5 million budget again before it adopts the budget for fiscal 2008 at that meeting.
The council's decision was expected, but the discussions Tuesday night were testy.
Mayor Lewis Billings had proposed a budget with a loan to iProvo from the energy department of $1.1 million. The loan would have been the third in three years between the departments.
Billings termed the use of sales tax revenue to fill the gap in the annual $3.2 million bond payment a "subsidy" that could draw a lawsuit from Qwest or Comcast, who object to iProvo as a government entity entering a private market for telecommunications because iProvo, through two service providers, offers phone, Internet and cable TV services.
"I've been told there's a very good likelihood there will be litigation against the city," Billings said.
"I continue to believe this will be a project that will continue to be embraced," Billings said.
He said seven or eight new service providers want to provide products over the network, which provides fiber-optic cable to every Provo home that subscribes, boosting Internet speeds.
"We are the largest subscriber city with fiber to the premises in America," Billings said.
He also said committees are working on new products that could be offered over the network in coming months.
"Maybe that's why some of us are more optimistic than others," he said. "Maybe when we're able to share those publicly, that optimism will be shared by others."
City Council Chairman George Stewart lobbied the six other council members to reject the mayor's proposed loan because he said it added too much future debt to a project that already is on the hook for $68 million through 2025.
"You don't make something more successful by adding debt," he said.
Comments
- Messy Monday morning commute 12:28 p.m.
- Stocks extend gains 12:06 p.m.
- Top 3 stay same in AP Top 25 12:05 p.m.
- Two arrested in pharmacy robbery 12:03 p.m.
- GM to invest $336M in Volt plant 11:54 a.m.
- Church History Museum D&C tours 11:52 a.m.
- QB Clausen says he's turning pro 11:46 a.m.
- Dr.: Mitchell controlled FBI interview 11:33 a.m.
- Cautiously optimistic Bernanke 11:29 a.m.
- Tens of thousands protest in Iran 11:24 a.m.
- BYU professor remembered
- BYU and Utah's bowl games
- Cougars going back to Vegas
- TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
- Utah/BYU rivalry can be more civil
- Utes excited to go to San Diego
- Bring the true spirit of Christmas
- Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
- Y., U. to learn bowl destinations
- The forgotten ship: USS Utah
- Letters: Liberal because LDS
268 - Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
243 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
190 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
182 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
179 - N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage
134 - Cougars going back to Vegas
127 - George lost in rivalry hatefest
116 - Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
98 - Harpring's NBA career is over
96
Amazon.com, Target.com, Sears.com, Walmart.com, Kmart.com and...
That does it — I'm having an affair! Thanks to Tiger Woods, David...
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Lots of Aggie whining about officiating and focusing on everything other than...
same old same old states: Carbon dioxide which we breath (sic) in every...
You've never been to a river with a Dam before, have you. Built first to...
I vote for you for post of the day - not because of your sports commentary,...
OK, I wouldn't vote for Merrill Cook for anything. That said, Eagar is...
I love the baseball cookies, they are pretty and yes very sweet. I don't buy...
People in africa starve for a lot of reasons, one being governments and...
I applaud their courage. Sometimes peace comes only when people make a stand.
To Kenneth D. Payne (and all whiny paranoid libs): Were you equally...
Follow the money | 11:52 a.m., You're playing with numbers in an awfully...



You can be the first to comment on this story.