After multiple meetings and months of discussion about the cost of emission tests, the Salt Lake County Council has decided it needs more information.

Which means that, at least for July, emissions tests will still cost $25 or less. During that month delay, the council will try to figure out a way to keep testing stations from going bankrupt without excessively burdening drivers of older cars.

Station owners had initially requested a fee increase of $7.50, the most allowed by state law, to help them cover the losses associated with new state regulations, which took effect Tuesday, allowing cars six years old or newer to be tested every other year.

Councilman David Wilde, however, said that the numbers from the station owners about their possible losses have simply not passed muster, and before he could consider a fee increase he needed better financial figures.

"I've been trying to listen, trying to be sympathetic," he said. "You've (the station owners) got to show us something more . . . maybe open your books."

The delay also gives new life to various proposals that failed to pass the council on Tuesday, as well as some that were not considered. They include:

• A fee increase of $5 to $7.50 on all tests.

• A fee increase of $7.50 on the vehicles that only get tested every other year, which failed 6-2.

• No fee increase.

• Ending the regulation of fees by the county and allowing the free market system to dictate prices, which failed 5-3.

After the meeting, Michael Duncan, president of Just Emissions in Midvale, called the delay "a disaster from hell, the stupidest thing I've ever heard." He doubted that more information would make a difference, especially since opponents of the increase seem more inclined to look at estimates from the Salt Lake County Health Department than at the shop owners' figures.

"We gave them our information, and now they want more, even though they only believe the government numbers," he said. "I don't think they'll believe us. As far as they're concerned, we're liars."

The proposal to create a free market environment for emission testing received considerable debate, with some council members hesitant to pass it because of state law that caps the fee at $32.50. Instead, some members wanted to wait for a change by the Utah Legislature that would allow a true free market, with no government-imposed price cap.

"The prices will rise to that cap," Councilman Russell Skousen said. "To call it a free market system is not a proper appellation of what we would do."

Councilman Joe Hatch said that the council should deregulate the fee and then place the cap squarely on the shoulders of state leaders.

"If there is a cap put on by the Legislature, we have to live with it," he said. "I would like to emphasize the free enterprise aspect, not the cap."

During a public hearing prior to the council's debate, resident Paul Schmidt pleaded with the council to avoid raising the fees, since it would primarily hurt lower-income people driving older cars.

"This fee increase is absurd," he said. "You're giving the people who can't afford new vehicles a shot in the pocketbook."

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E-MAIL: jloftin@desnews.com