To the editor:
Cities and counties are chartered by the state, and they come under the provisions of the general laws of the state Constitution. As such, they cannot enact agreements, laws of ordinances contrary to constitutional law.Article 14, Sections 3 and 4 of the State Constitution provide: (1) Indebtedness to be incurred cannot exceed 4 percent of taxable property without a vote of the people. (2) Expenditures are not to exceed the yearly tax budget income. (3) A diversion of tax income is restricted to the purpose for taxation (infrastructure: firemen, police, streets, lighting, water and sewer, etc.). (4) It is illegal to bind future administrations to a long-term distribution of future tax income without a vote of the people.
Many people are surprised to hear that the Orem City Council has signed an agreement to refund, yearly, $220,000 of sales tax and property tax income to the Boyer Development Co., for the next 24 years - amounting to $5.2 million. This, in effect, is a diversion of funds from the purposes intended and is not legal unless approved by the taxpaying public. I contend that this agreement should be set aside, until and unless approved by the voting public.
I do not believe that government should be involved in competition with private enterprise.
I am also opposed to using taxpayer money to subsidize the Olympics. Those who are going to directly benefit from the Olympics, such as the ski resorts, hotels, motels, restaurants, food distributors and service stations, should be putting up the money, not the taxpayers.
Bob Wright
Orem