Salt Lake County may drop reports on emissions

If the price of an emissions test jumps because of deregulated fees, the Salt Lake County Council expects to hear about it from county residents.

What some council members do not need, however, is a report from Mayor Nancy Workman's staff, or their own assistants, about how well the deregulated fees are working. Today, the council is expected to discuss whether or not to require emissions-testing stations to compile reports on the price charged for tests.

Last month, the council decided to remove any cap on the emissions-test fees, which had been set at $25 by county ordinance. By doing so, council members hoped that a free market system would lead to lower prices.

Letting the market set the price was suggested after station owners requested a fee increase to cover losses they expect to incur because of changes to state law that permit vehicles 5 years old or newer to be tested every other year. It was estimated that 25 percent of the cars inspected would not need testing.

Currently, emission stations are required to fill out reports for each test, including how much they charged the customer, a requirement that Councilman Joe Hatch said was unnecessary and the doing of overzealous county officials. He plans to ask the council to complete the deregulation of the emissions-test fees by also getting rid of burdensome paperwork.

"When we deregulate an area of industry, we have to have a reduction in the regulation, to keep paperwork down," Hatch said. "We shouldn't be in the business of accumulating data just to accumulate data."

David Marshall, Workman's chief administrative officer, said that the price information was being compiled at the request of the council staff based on their interpretation of the council's intent when it deregulated. If the council decides that it would prefer to let the public alert them to price increases or compliment them for price decreases, the mayor's office will stop compiling the information.

"We can report to them through the normal processes, or if they can just have a general feel for the prices," Marshall said. "We can do whatever they want."

An informal telephone survey of prices at emission centers around Salt Lake Valley last week showed that, for the most part, the deregulation has had very little impact on the actual costs of an emissions test. Most test-only stations were still charging $25 for the test, which amounted to a $42 fee when coupled with the state-mandated $17 safety inspection. Some stations charged $2 to $4 less, and coupons could make the prices as low as $15.