Until Salt Lake County decided to raise his property taxes, James Reynolds had never spoken at a government hearing.
But Tuesday night he felt he couldn't keep quiet any longer. The leader of a Blazer Scout troop, he drove the Scouts to the Deseret Gym and left them on their own while he stood in line to face county commissioners at the county government center."You've got to have the courage to stand up and run your affairs the way I run my home," he told them when his turn came. "I'm sick and tired of being warned and threatened that we have to keep you in money and happy. You want to make everyone happy? That's what a clown does."
A resident of Salt Lake's west side, Reynolds this year has endured a new $36 yearly fee to fix the city's storm drains, an increase in taxes for schools and a new 1 percent restaurant fee every time he eats out so the county can expand the Salt Palace Convention Center.
His mother, who also lives in west Salt Lake City, is trying to hold onto her house with a $365-per-month income. Her yearly property taxes already exceed $800. Reynolds believes it's time people start volunteering their time to government.
"There's going to be anarchy," he said. "We've got poor people out there who are getting fed up."
He had plenty of company at the hearing, as hundreds of feisty people jammed the commission chambers, booing, applauding and shouting down commissioners and fellow residents.
Democrats Jim Bradley and Randy Horiuchi have proposed the tax increase, which Bradley likened to the cost of a cheap pair of sneakers. For the owner of a $100,000 house, the tax would add as much as $37.57 more in yearly property taxes.
Commissioners said they need more money to run a new minimum-security jail, buy new fire trucks, build a new library and hire six new deputy sheriffs. Voters in 1989 approved higher taxes for the jail, but the county has never imposed them.
Republican Commissioner Mike Stewart has opposed the size of the increase, saying a smaller one is needed. He also has criticized the Democrats for hiring political friends for high-paying county jobs.
Commissioners will adopt a final budget Friday. If they proceed with the increase, residents will notice the extra charge when they receive property-tax notices in the fall.
The tax hike will raise about $8.7 million and is being proposed despite an estimated $26 million surplus projected for the budget by the end of I'm sick and tired of being warned and threatened that we have to keep you in money and happy. You want to make everyone happy? That's what a clown does - James Reynolds.