OK center district, mayors ask Davis

FARMINGTON — Davis County commissioners have taken the first step toward creating a special service district for six cities in the south end of the county that want to build a $21 million recreation center.

Mayors from several of the cities appeared before the County Commission Tuesday asking commissioners to approve a resolution of intent to create a South Davis Recreation District. The mayors have 30 days to get their city councils to approve such a district or the county will back away from it.

A public hearing has been scheduled at 6 p.m. May 25 in the Bountiful City Hall.

The six cities involved are Farmington, Centerville, West Bountiful, Bountiful, Woods Cross and North Salt Lake. State law requires the County Commission to give its approval of special service districts.

Farmington Mayor David Connors told commissioners that he supports the creation of the district and the construction of a recreation center in Bountiful, but that doesn't mean his City Council members will vote to approve it.

Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson, who has taken the lead on the recreation project, said he believes his council is 100 percent behind it. "I also believe it will be approved by the city councils of North Salt Lake, Woods Cross, but I'm not sure about Farmington," he said.

The project would be built in Bountiful on the site of the city's park at 400 North and 200 West. The center would include an ice sheet, swimming pool, baseball fields and tennis courts. Existing buildings on the site, including a former National Guard armory, would be razed, and new buildings, including an indoor basketball complex funded by the Davis School District, would be built.

To pay for the construction and operation of the recreation complex, the special service district with its tax-levying authority would put a tax of $3 or more per month on a home valued at $180,000 in the six cities and the unincorporated part of the south county, Johnson said.

"The thing I like about such a tax is that we can identify for our citizens what the tax will be used for and they can see what they are getting for their tax dollars," Johnson said.

The south Davis mayors are also seeking an increase in the sales tax of one-tenth of 1 percent to fund arts organizations. The recreation, arts and parks tax, called a RAP tax, will be on the November ballot. County Commission Chairman Dannie McConkie told the mayors in January when they proposed the RAP tax he would support it if they came up with a "good plan to tell the people what they will get with the sales tax increase."

The RAP tax could be used to help fund the recreation center, but at this point the mayors want to see the special service district impose all the taxes necessary to pay for it, Johnson said.

County commissioners, who have taken heat from residents for increased taxes in the past two years, will not be responsible for the two tax hikes proposed for voter approval in August and November, Johnson said. "We (the six mayors) are taking the lead on this and we will take the lead at the public hearing May 25. Any criticism of new taxes should be on the mayors and not on the commissioners."

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