Santaquin seeks bus service

SANTAQUIN, Utah County — Local voters may get to decide whether they want the Utah Transit Authority to provide bus service to Salt Lake City.

City leaders recently passed a resolution to authorize Mayor Jim DeGraffenreid to seek annexation into the authority's district, which would mean a quarter-cent sales tax hike.

Residents who shop outside the city already pay that tax, city manager Ben Reeves said, but Santaquin isn't benefiting.

The anticipated bus service would include three runs in the morning and two runs later in the afternoon to Payson and Spanish Fork, where riders could then transfer to an express bus to Salt Lake City as an extension of the Spanish Fork line, Reeves said. Santaquin is about 65 miles south of Salt Lake City.

City officials already have met with Hugh Johnson, the bus service's regional manager, and the issue will also go to the transit board, which would make the final decision, UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said.

First, the City Council must hold a public hearing and ultimately place the tax increase on the ballot for voters to approve. If it all works out, the service could start in January, Reeves said.

Santaquin is the last Utah County community to seek bus service. Unlike most counties in the district, Utah County joined piecemeal, Carpenter said, rather than all at once. The most recent Utah County city to join was Saratoga Springs.

— Rodger L. Hardy