Provo divvying $4.9 million windfall

PROVO — Say you received a bonus at work or a rich uncle left you some cash. Would you and your spouse or significant other know exactly how you'd spend it?

Or would you have to talk long and hard about differing wants and needs?

The city of Provo is enjoying the rare treat of having millions in extra moolah — and it may have you to thank for it. If you've spent any money in the state's third-largest city in the past two years, you contributed to a windfall in sales tax revenue.

Now Mayor Lewis Billings and his seven political significant others on the City Council are discussing how they'll spend an extra $4.9 million.

They've spent — or decided what they'll do with — a little more than half the money, but tonight Provo residents can weigh in on how they think the rest should be spent. A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. during the final City Council meeting of the fiscal year at City Hall, 351 W. Center St.

Extra money is a rarity for a city, especially since the economic downturn that followed Sept. 11. Provo tightened its city belt for five years.

"This is unusual," Provo finance director John Borget said. "We haven't very often had an excess in sales tax that we can use for other projects."

The city collected $2.5 million in extra sales tax revenue in the 2006 fiscal year and is expected to take in an additional surplus of $2.4 million in the fiscal year that ends in 11 days.

The mayor and City Council have agreed on how to spend nearly $3 million, but they have struggled for several months over what to do with the rest — about $1.95 million.

The council is expected to finalize its decision to use more than $1.1 million to pay for the expected deficit in the iProvo telecommunications project. That decision has been a point of contention for the mayor and council.

Billings proposed loaning the money to iProvo from the energy department's reserve fund, which already has loaned iProvo $3.08 million. The council balked at another loan and preliminarily voted two weeks ago to use the extra cash to pay the deficit, thereby sparing iProvo from future debt obligations.

The network owes more than $60 million in construction bonds, with interest, and the previous loans provided by the city. The rest of the extra money will go to projects on which the mayor and City Council see eye-to-eye.

They propose to spend $400,000 on seismic upgrades for City Hall and put $56,000 into an economic development fund.

Both sides propose to hold the final $340,000 for next year, when they want to put money toward a new recreation center and a city investment fund that would purchase land for future economic and community development.