Residents facing increased monthly garbage collection fees turned out Wednesday night to protest the proposed 1992 Davis County budget.
Also lodging protests were west Kaysville property owners who say the county's flood control program has made their situation worse instead of better.But with no hike in property taxes and no major changes in the county's spending level for next year, the public hearing was relatively calm.
The county commissioners are proposing a 1992 budget with a $15.2 million general fund, up from the current year's $14.8 million. The increase will be generated through growth and a higher overall property valuation in the county, not a tax increase.
After hearing about an hour's worth of public comment Wednesday night, Commission Chairman Gayle Stevenson said the proposed budget will be considered for final adoption at the commission's meeting on Monday, Dec. 16.
Under the new spending plan, the county will no longer pay the garbage tipping fee of $50 per ton for residents in the unincorporated area of the county, served by a special service district with its own additional property tax levy.
Commercial garbage haulers who service the area will have to pay the fee and in turn pass it along to their customers. The tipping fee at the county's garbage-burning plant is $50 per ton and the average homeowner can expect an increase of $7.50 to $10 per month in the garbage fee, the county estimates.
Budget analyst LaMar Holt said revenue dedicated to providing services in the unincorporated area is declining, leaving the commissioners the choice of either raising taxes for property owners in the area, adding a user fee to the county services offered, or cutting services.
For several years, Holt said, the special service district has been generating less in taxes and revenue than it produces, and surpluses accumulated in the past have been used up.
And one of the district's largest revenue producers, a grocery store in the Val Verda area, was annexed last year, resulting in a shortfall projected to be $130,000 for 1992.
Although not required to legally, the commission sent residents in the district a letter informing them of the cutback in the county's contribution to their tipping fee and inviting them to Wednesday's budget hearing. About 50 showed up.
The majority of the residents who spoke against the change said it will cost them up to $100 a year in additional fees. Some said they would rather have a property tax hike, which is tax-deductible on the state and federal level.