Fairfield crying foul over fund woes

FAIRFIELD — When the small town of Fairfield officially incorporated Dec. 29 of last year, residents were looking forward to seizing control of their own destiny and deciding how their land would be used in the rapidly developing Cedar Valley.

But controlling the destiny of an entire town, even one as small as 134-resident Fairfield, requires money. And when residents received their tax notices not long after incorporating, they had a rude awakening: No money was coming, because state law severely limits the sources of revenue for newly incorporated towns.

"It kind of blindsided us," said Michael Burch, a resident who spearheaded the incorporation movement and now serves on the Town Council.

Burch said the town was waiting for much-needed funds when tax notices informed residents that they were still being taxed for four of the county's special service areas.

Special service areas provide vital services like police and fire protection, waste removal, planning and others for unincorporated areas of the county; services that incorporated towns like Fairfield must pay for out of their own budgets.

By state law, a town may only leave a special service area by voting out of it in a regular November election. For Fairfield, that meant a 10-month wait while much-needed tax dollars went to the county.

That, combined with another state law that prevents newly incorporated towns from collecting sales tax for the first six months of their existence, left Fairfield officials with a bounty of needs and a dearth of finances to fulfill them.

"As the town's first mayor, I feel like every step we take, we're being kicked in the teeth," Fairfield Mayor Lynn Gillies said.

He added that there is an inherent contradiction when the state charges him with enforcing its laws within his town, but doesn't give him any money to do so.

"How can you pay for these things (police, fire, road maintenance) when everyone else is collecting your taxes?" he asked.

Gillies said the town's operating budget for the first six months of existence was about $490, the money collected from issuing 14 business licenses at $35 a pop.

Gillies said he has tried to persuade state legislators to change the law, but to no avail.

"I get to a point where I just get frustrated and don't know which way to turn," Gillies said. "I just want to holler at the people up there making the laws."

Gillies is not the only one who has tried to change the laws he considers outdated. Utah County Commission Chairman Jim Grover, who also questions those laws, has lobbied the Utah Legislature for a change but encountered harsh resistance from Salt Lake County officials, and so the proposal didn't go anywhere.