Comments about ‘Property tax hike in Orem sparks action, discord’

How is a tax raise even possible in the conservative enclave of Orem? Sounds like communism is creeping in.

UTOPIA is an albatross around the necks of every city that joined. Those who contended that it was a legitimate government function, like roads or sewers, have been proven wrong. It's boondogle that will cause trouble for decades.

What this story is missing are facts - the City of Orem is being mismanaged by the City Manager and Council. They have a huge UTOPIA payment that they should have been planning for all along. Sales tax revenues have actually been on the increase according to their own website for the past three years. They give generous sales tax rebates to a few select businesses in the city. Employee pay scale is high, benefits generous, out of pocket expenses low. No tax increase in 30 years may not be responsible government (have there not been economic slumps before?}.Asking for a 50.55% tax increase while giving employees a pay raise then decreasing to 25% to placate the citizens shows a real lack of understanding of what the average citizen is going through in Orem. We didn't get to vote for UTOPIA. More than half of the city isn't wired. Only 9% in the area that is even subscribe. This is our only way to vote. We want out of UTOPIA and the city needs to learn to tighten it's belt until we are.