New fee isn't just for corridor after all

Members of the Salt Lake County Council thought they had found a way to fund the Mountain View Corridor.

Turns out, they were wrong.

The council levied an additional $10 fee in March on motor-vehicle registrations to fund road-corridor preservation. Several members of the council thought the money would be used solely for major road projects, such as a planned west-side highway.

But on Tuesday, the council approved three minor road-widening projects in Sandy and Holladay — not exactly the types of projects Councilman Mark Crockett thought the $10 fee should be used for.

"This has now become a Ponzi scheme," Crockett said. "It appears we do things under false pretenses. This is a violation of trust with our voters."

Crockett was so angry about it that he made a successful motion to not approve any more projects until the council makes it clear what types of projects they want the money to be used for.

The council technically did have a say in establishing the criteria for projects to be funded with the $10 fee. The Salt Lake County Council of Governments set the criteria — and two members of the council as well as the mayor are on the COG — and the County Council gave final approval.

"I believe the majority of our council thought it was going to Mountain View, because that was the example," county Councilman Michael Jensen said. "I think there were some mayors in the valley who had a different understanding on the use of the money."

Now the entire council wants to sit down with the COG and make decisions on funding criteria.

"It's not about little teeny neighborhood road projects," Crockett said.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com