At a regular Carbon County Commission meeting held on October 18, Carbon County Clerk Auditor, Seth Oveson presented proposals to increase property taxes which has troubled residents throughout the county. Carbon County Commissioner, Jake Mellor took time to shed light on this topic, in hopes of clarifying some concerns taxpayers may have.
“We have various funds throughout the county that we operate out of, there is the general fund, which is kind of like the behemoth, the big fund, then we have a municipal services fund that technically is money that is used for the unincorporated county and that fund right now is very small,” stated Mellor. This was originally funded through a substantial amount of mineral lease monies that the county has spent over the years for government services that are now no longer affordable. This has lead the county to diminish their reserves in order to cover the annual expenses that cannot be covered by the present annual revenue.
Many folks are asking themselves if the 700 percent tax hike is a responsible way to assist the county’s current budget. “If we don’t make up the difference from what we overspend compared to what we bring in that would be irresponsible. So, there’s a couple of ways of doing that and you can definitely go through and slash the budget or you can raise property taxes to cover the budge or some mix in between,” said Mellor. The time has come to look at the size of the government, as well as the services that are being provided to citizens.
Mellor has formed a group of citizens from various walks of life to discuss the budget and provide feedback to the Commissioners as tax payers within the county. “There’s three of us, we have to make decisions collectively that affect the entire county. I’m going to place a lot of value on the voice of the public. I’m going to place a lot of value on this group of 10 to 14 individuals and see what comes out of it,” stated Mellor. Along with the input from the group there has been two Open House Meetings scheduled for all county taxpayers to attend, so that they may speak their minds in a public forum.
The first meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 8 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Carbon County Commission Chambers located at 751 East 100 North. The second meeting will be on Monday, November 13 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Carbon County Fairgrounds Event Center located at 450 South Fairgrounds Road. The public hearing for the proposed tax increases will be during the regularly scheduled commission meeting on November 14.
If a decision cannot be made in a swift manner, the county will have no choice but to take out a loan in anticipation for revenue to cover the county’s expenses.