Duplication thriving in Salt Lake Valley
Jay Evensen
Would you pay three different piano teachers to give lessons to the same child? Would you buy the services of two high-speed Internet providers for your home?
Why is it different when taxes are concerned?
The Salt Lake Valley has become a tightly sewn quilt of cities and towns, with some large squares of unincorporated areas mixed in. A visitor traveling I-15 would have no idea where one government begins and the other ends. To a large extent, that holds true for Utah and Davis counties, too. Each area occupies a unique square on the quilt, but each is dependent on the others, as well.
So when residents of South Salt Lake clamor to do away with their police department and to contract with the county sheriff, or when Cottonwood Heights decides the opposite — to pull out of its contract with the sheriff and form its own police department — that affects you. You may be robbed or assaulted in one of those places, or you may get into a car accident there. You may have to dive out of the way of a speeding car chase in one city, only to see police give up the chase in the next, where city policies keep officers from pursuing dangerous speeders.
On a more personal level, my taxes as a resident of South Jordan have paid to construct an impressive new city recreation center, which happens to be about a mile down the road from a more modest county recreation center my taxes also support.
Chances are, you live in one city, work in another, shop in a third and dine out in yet another. You do this all without thinking much about where your sales taxes are going or whether they are paying a tax subsidy that lured the business from your town.
I haven't a clue how much money is being wasted in this continual competition to do the same thing. But I know there is a better way.
Twenty-one years ago, Salt Lake County commissioned a panel to show us how to get there. It was called the County Government for the Next Century Task Force, and its members spent 1,995 hours studying the best way to prepare for the growth that, at the time, was becoming apparent — and that now is a raging reality.
Speaking of the many hours of research, the chairman of this task force, Grant Holman, wrote in the study's preface, "From the outset one particularly strong feeling was perceived. I share this feeling ...that the ultimate solution to meet the problems of expected growth in the Salt Lake Valley can only be met by a consolidated government for the total area."
Recent comments
Consolidated services = Bigger Government. Taken to its logical conclusion...
commonsenseguy | Feb. 25, 2008 at 1:23 p.m.
Mr Evensen said: "I haven't a clue how much money is being...
A better way? | Feb. 24, 2008 at 9:22 p.m.
Since the entire justification for government is to expedite matters...
Anon | Feb. 24, 2008 at 12:13 p.m.
