Bill scrapping Salt Lake County police fee gains House committee approval

SALT LAKE CITY — Unincorporated Salt Lake County residents could be bidding a not-so-fond farewell to the highly-criticized Unified Police Department fee by the end of the year.

A bill prohibiting counties from charging such a fee was approved Monday by the House Political Subdivisions Committee. The bill now moves to the House floor for debate.

Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, sponsor of HB226, removed a provision of the bill that would have required Salt Lake County to pay back money collected from the fee this year. Committee members also amended the bill to make it effective Jan. 1, 2012, instead of this July, giving the county more time to find other ways to fund the UPD.

Salt Lake County Councilman Michael Jensen said the changes make the bill more palatable.

"It's not so draconian," he said, adding the county would have had to lay off 150 deputies midyear.

The Legislature granted the county authority to create the department in 2009 with the understanding it would be revenue neutral. But an $11 million budget shortfall due largely to slumping sales-tax revenues prompted the County Council to impose a fee on residents and businesses for police service.

"The majority of the council wants to get rid of the fee," Jensen told the committee.

The council has already reduced the fee twice the past year.

Harper said he is running the bill "to give taxpayers assurance that this will go away."

Rep. Larry Wiley, D-West Valley, tried unsuccessfully to push the effective date to July 2012.

"My concern would be that were not giving the county enough time to find alternative means to funding to keep the service going," he said.

Harper said waiting longer would just give residents more time to be angry over a tax they believe isn't fair.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, who vehemently opposed the fee from the outset, said the faster it can go away, the better. Residents, he said, have taken their disdain for it out on his officers. The longer the debate goes on, the more rancor they will feel, he said.

"It is not the police officers who serve in the UPD that have anything to do with this," he said.

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