Rocky's budget proposal gets few comments

Despite increases to certain park and recreation fees, an 8 percent increase in green fees at golf courses and significant cuts to the city's library system, the Salt Lake City Council received only a few complaints Tuesday about Mayor Rocky Anderson's proposed budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year.

The only item that received negative comments was a plan to charge right-of-way fees on communication cables that run through the city.

While city bean counters suggest the plan would only generate $327,000 for the city, a lawyer representing several communications companies said the new fees would cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars and force them to relocate their lines from Salt Lake City to the suburbs.

"Sandy city would be the beneficiary of this ordinance," attorney Jerry Oldroyd said.

Of the money generated by the right-of-way fees, $77,500 would fund two additional paralegal positions in the City Attorney's Office. The remainder would be used for capital improvements like street repair, park repair and sidewalk reconstruction.

One proposal that Anderson has abandoned is the notion of increasing parking-meter fees from 25 cents for 20 minutes to 25 cents for 15 minutes. That plan, according to estimates, would have raised $353,600. However, due to an accounting error, Anderson's administration found an additional $1.2 million. That will make the parking-meter fee increase unnecessary.

"I congratulate the mayor for changing his mind because I think it was a bad idea anyway," Councilman Dave Buhler said.

For years now, Anderson and the council have committed to spend 9 percent of the city's $165 million general fund on capital improvement projects. The money is needed, city leaders agree, because Salt Lake City is old and its infrastructure of roads, parks, sidewalks and gutters is quickly declining with age.

Anderson has said it is not fiscally possible, given the lean budget figures, to spend 9 percent of the general fund on capital improvement projects. He instead recommended that $3.8 million be taken out of the city's reserves to reach that 9 percent mark. With that money gone, the reserve amount will be closer to $3 million.

Following the public hearing, the council discussed proposed increases to park and recreation fees. Buhler wondered why fees at some east-side spots, like Mountain Dell in Parleys Canyon and the Dee Smith Tennis facility, were higher than similar facilities in other areas.