The chasm in the hierarchy of Salt Lake County government began to play out this past week in a little game of tug of war between the Salt Lake County Council and the new mayor.
As the executive leader, what S.L. County Mayor Nancy Workman wanted was the approval to spend an additional $25,000 to analyze the two appraisals already done on AlliantTech's property in West Valley City.
The analysis has been requested in light of the $5 million settlement the now-defunct Salt Lake County Commission agreed to pay to the rocket booster plant after the company claimed its property has been over-valued for five years and taxed at too high a rate.
The two appraisals came back with vastly different answers, and further analysis was ordered by the Salt Lake County Commission to identify the disparities.
One hundred thousand dollars was set aside by the Board of Equalization in last year's budget to pay for the analysis out of "tax administration funds."
So far, $50,000 has been paid toward the service, but Workman said the firm hired for the analysis needs the additional $25,000 to go forward with the contract.
The request before the Salt Lake County Council to free up that money to pay for the rest of the service became a sticky point Tuesday.
County Council member Jim Bradley argued it is in the best interest of the new county government to steer clear of locking itself into the decisions made by the previous government leaders. "The gyrations that have been going on over this the last two weeks are all over this attempt to validate a bad agreement that shouldn't have been made in the first place."
The current Board of Equalization (which is the Salt Lake County Council acting in that capacity) doesn't want to touch that settlement "with a 10-foot pole," Bradley said.
Approving additional funds to go forward with the contract, Bradley said, is akin to "buying into" the previous decision of the Salt Lake County Commission to settle with AlliantTech. "It's an attempt to validate that settlement of $5 million," he said.
Workman said the analysis of the appraisals wouldn't lock the county in but simply provide additional information. Since she is the signatory on the contract, Workman countered that she takes on ownership. "I'm willing to take that contract on."
Bradley said it was best to let the issue of claimed over-valuation of property be decided before the Utah State Tax Commission and 3rd District Court, where decisions are pending.
"All of a sudden we decide we need a third opinion. I think they are capable of figuring that out without a $75,000 expenditure from the county," Bradley said.
In the end, Workman received her request as aCounty Council, which voted 7-2 in favor of a motion appropriating the money.
Council members made clear it was on Workman's behalf, not their own.
E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com