Fox 13: Kearns residents surprised, angered over police fees

KEARNS - A new bill for the increase in police fees is expected to arrive for property owners in unincorporated areas. A crowd of angry residents had the opportunity to ask council members and sheriff questions in the last of three open houses Thursday night. Despite extensive news coverage and packed public comment hearings, many were caught off guard by a flyer in the mail announcing the additional fee.

"I'm fine with paying taxes for it but i'm not fine paying an additional fee and an additional tax that is disproportionate to some citizens of Salt Lake County, relative to others," Gregory Von Ax said.

Salt Lake County lost 30 percent in sales revenue in the recession and a $13 million dollar hole was left even after all the budget cuts. "We've crunched that budget down to the bare bones and now we're at a place where we have to provide law enforcement to our community and we have to pay for it," Jim Bradley from the Salt Lake County Council said.

The police fee bills will arrive March 1. The cities within the county will not get the bill because residents pay the fee with a tax on utilities. The legislature is considering a bill that will allow the county to do the same thing.

Mayor Corroon: Hurting Utah’s economy by restraining free trade

Hurting Utah’s economy by restraining free trade

Mayor Corroon proposes to create more jobs in Utah by paying more than is necessary. He wants to “require major firms that win state contracts to subcontract a substantial
portion of the work to Utah businesses.” On its face, that sounds like a reasonable requirement. However, as the great French economist Frederic Bastiat noted, what is unseen is usually more important than what is seen. The problem with this proposal is that it guarantees that Utah
taxpayers will pay more than is necessary. If major firms are already subcontracting with Utah firms, this requirement doesn’t matter. Those Utah companies are subcontractors because they offered the best value for the money. So Mayor Corroon’s proposal only matters where a Utah
company doesn’t offer the best value for the money. Mayor Corroon, though, thinks Utah taxpayers should pay more, just because a company is from Utah. Paying one contractor more
means Utah must provide fewer services elsewhere. That isn’t economic development; it’s warmed over protectionism.

Mayor Corroon has some good ideas. Creating a positive climate for private investment is good economic policy, as is the apparent goal of ending RDA abuse. Unfortunately, those
laudable goals are outweighed by the Corroon tax, property tax increases, his support for UTOPIA, and his devotion to protectionism.

Tom Barberi Rants Against Unified Police Tax.

Barberi Rages In 'A Return To Reason' | Salt TV Network
Click the link to view Barberi's rant.

It looks like the rage towards Salt Lake County for the Unified Police Tax has even frustrated legendary liberal members of our community. The tax that apparently Thousands not paying bill for Unified Police service because of the ridiculous burden it poses.

But of course our dear Salt Lake City Council and Mayor Peter Corroon reject the discourse that this really is a "tax" at all by insisting that it is called a "service fee."

Tom Barberi, thank you for feeling our pain.