Farmington Council votes no on recreation complex

FARMINGTON — The proposed South Davis Recreation District and a $23 million recreation complex proposed for Bountiful won't get Farmington's help, the City Council here voted unanimously Wednesday night.

Five of six cities in the proposed district have agreed to sign onto the project, but Farmington's City Council, after hearing the results of a Dan Jones & Associates poll of its residents and comments from the public, declined to encumber its residents with a further tax increase.

Council members cited the distance of Farmington to Bountiful and the fact that its residents approved a $2 million recreation bond within the past 18 months.

Bountiful city manager Tom Hardy and recreation director Neal Jenkins addressed the council, giving a breakdown of the use of Bountiful's outdoor pool and ice-skating rink by Farmington residents.

Earlier this year the mayors of Farmington, Centerville, Bountiful, West Bountiful, Woods Cross and North Salt Lake asked the Davis County Commission to allow residents to vote on the formation of a special service district in the south end of the county to build a new recreation complex.

State law allows such districts, but only if county commissioners approve putting the issue before the public. Two weeks ago the three commissioners approved a resolution of intent to form a special service district and told the six mayors they had 30 days to get council approval.

Five of the city councils overwhelmingly agreed to support the recreation complex and to ask their residents to approve a property tax increase of about $3 per $150,000 of assessed valuation per month. The six south Davis mayors also received the go-ahead from the County Commission to put a recreation, arts and park (RAP) tax on the November ballot. A RAP tax would increase sales tax paid in the south end of the county by 1/10 of 1 percent.

Several residents of Farmington who spoke Wednesday night, however, said they thought taxes were too high and that not enough residents would make the trip to Bountiful.

Viola Kinney, Farmington Leisure Services director, presented the results of the Dan Jones poll to the council. In general, she said, those polled were most concerned about property taxes being raised and the distance they would have to drive to Bountiful to use the complex.

Eleven percent of residents would definitely support the city joining the district, the poll showed, and 44 percent definitely opposed joining it.