Unified Police Department hits snag with billing list

SALT LAKE CITY — With less than a month until the first bills for police service go out to residents and businesses in the unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County, officials are still trying to put together a final invoice list.

In December, the Salt Lake County Council approved a plan to subsidize the new Unified Police Department by assessing annual fees of about $180 a year for residents in the unincorporated areas. Businesses and even tax-exempt organizations such as churches and nonprofit groups also will be charged based on how often they use police services.

In mid-January, the Deseret News requested a list of churches that would be billed. Upon examining the list, the Deseret News found at least one church listed online with a mailing address in unincorporated Salt Lake County that wasn't on the county's billing list.

When county officials were asked about that location, they contacted Lewis Young Robertson & Burningham Inc., the consulting company that did the original fee analysis, and discovered an error.

Kerri Nakamura, Salt Lake County Councilman Jim Bradley's aide, said when the consulting company was reviewing the list of plots in the unincorporated county, some 200 parcels were listed with zero property value. The consultant assumed that meant there were no buildings on that land, Nakamura said.

"We had to do this very quickly," she said.

The county, facing a budget shortfall of $12.6 million, had less than six months to find a revenue source for the new Unified Police Department.

"Because of that, the consultants made certain assumptions," Nakamura said.

The consulting company then used Google Earth to reexamine some of the 200 areas. They discovered that several of the 200 parcels listed at zero property value had buildings on them, including churches and nonprofit organizations. Those buildings and groups are sometimes listed as zero property value because of their tax-exempt status, Nakamura said.

With at least one church discovered among those 200 parcels, the areas will have to be individually assessed before a new list can come out and bills can be sent, she said.

Despite the potential of adding more churches and nonprofit organizations to the billing list, the fee will not be adjusted "because it is unlikely that a couple of dozen parcels will have a material impact on the total budget," Nakamura said in an e-mail.

Under the plan approved by the County Council, those who rely on the county for police services will pay according to use, with fees for businesses ranging from $16 a month for construction and manufacturing to almost $7,000 monthly for retail "super centers."

UPD bills go out March 1. Nakamura said consultants will be reviewing the list again to make sure it's complete.

e-mail: ashaha@desnews.com