Salt Lake County Council OKs budget that chops $12 million

Months of preparation and weeks of wrangling came to a close Tuesday evening as the Salt Lake County Council affixed its official stamp of approval to a 2009 budget that slashes $12 million from last year's operating fund total — but not before an 11th hour proposal by outgoing Republican Councilman Mark Crockett to re-compute and find an additional $10 million in cost savings.

Crockett, who has had the most cautious voice in a process that has looked for reductions across the board, proposed an omnibus package that sought cuts in addition to those pitched by Mayor Peter Corroon, and included, in part, provisions to double the level of planned staff reductions, rethink the decision to reopen Oxbow Jail and nix a one percent cost-of-living increase for county employees. Crockett urged the council to make deeper cuts immediately to avoid what may become a more catastrophic situation if economic declines worsen.

"I believe we should do more now and not wait with our difficult decisions until a later date when things may be even more difficult," Crockett said. "And require far more drastic action."

Councilwoman Jenny Wilson took issue with the last moment pitch.

"I guess we all have the right to make a modification late in the process ... but this seems very untraditional," Wilson said. "I find this, frankly, out of order."

Crockett countered that the council was well aware that he would be presenting an alternate package and, in fact, had been encouraged to delay the input until the final hearing. Councilman Joe Hatch concurred with Crockett on that assertion, and motions on two aspects of the package — delaying the Oxbow opening and cutting the cost of living increase — were defeated by votes of 6-3 and 5-4 respectively. The rest of Crockett's line items went un-debated.

County Auditor Jeff Hatch made a formal presentation of the final budget to the council and called this year's fiscal challenge "the toughest in decades" and one that accomplished a goal that few government agencies can boast of in the current economic environment — a balanced budget that found reductions without raising taxes or firing employees. Though the county has set a mandated five percent workforce reduction, the target will be reached via attrition, aided by an enhanced early-retirement program.