County budget back on track ... for now

As was expected, the Salt Lake County Council passed two resolutions Tuesday that provide a fix for legal questions raised by a property-tax-hike veto issued by Mayor Peter Corroon two weeks ago.

The move likely closes the door on 2009 budget adjustments, but council members on both sides of the aisle issued dire assessments of what may be required to find fiscal balance next year.

The resolutions passed Tuesday allayed concerns, raised by the council's legal adviser Karl Hendrickson last week, that the document embodying Corroon's veto may have also wiped out the entire county property-tax levy and undone $20 million in budget cuts passed by the council since the first of the year. The resolutions officially reinstate the certified property-tax rate, sans increase, and enact the previous budget adjustments.

Corroon had parted ways with his Democratic colleagues on the council in opposing the tax hike — one that would have shifted more than $5 million in county debt to property-tax revenues and raised annual payments on a $250,000 home about $10. But on Tuesday, good will was the theme of the day.

"I want to thank the council for … your willingness to work with our office and come up with a resolution that not only works for the county government, but our citizens," Corroon said.

While Corroon's veto stands, other proposals that had been considered for this year, including across-the-board wage cutbacks for county employees, will be staved until the next round of budget efforts begin this fall — a prospect over which dark clouds are already gathering.

Councilman Michael Jensen acknowledged that while a tax increase was avoidable now, all options will be on the table for next year.

"This upcoming budget is going to be by far the biggest challenge for us," Jensen said. "And it is probably going to be a mix of cuts and revenue enhancements."

Spending scale-backs for 2010 will likely include a 5 percent decrease for all division and department budgets, further wage freezes and/or cuts, the suspension of the Salt Lake County Fair, and Sunday closures for county-operated recreation facilities. Council Chairman Joe Hatch also mentioned the possibility of "substantial furloughs" in the cash-strapped sheriff's department — and he painted a bleak picture of the struggles ahead.

"I'm one of the firm believers right now that there is no more fat to cut," Hatch said. "I believe if we're not going to look at revenue enhancements for the next year, then … it's shutting down programs, it's laying off employees or putting employees on furlough."

"If you think the spats, disagreements and debates over the past three weeks have been intense … then you ain't seen nothin' yet," he said.

e-mail: araymond@desnews.com