FARMINGTON — Davis County has decided to give a little to get a little when it comes to Antelope Island. The county Tuesday amended its agreement with the state to kick back a dime per car that enters the park and let the state do all the hiring of toll collectors.
The county until this year paid for the toll collectors during the slack winter months. When the state Division of Natural Resources raised the park entrance fee to $8, the county quit funding part-time employees to man the toll booth. The county receives $2 of the $8 fee to pay for maintenance of the 7.2-mile causeway. The causeway was given to Davis County by the state in 1990.
Now the state division will use the extra dime per car to hire all of the employees, which will save the county money. "It's been budgeted as an offset," Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings said of the $6,000 in revenues the county will give up in order to let the state hire more gatekeepers. The county will still keep an estimated $114,000 annually.
A little more than 300,000 visitors per year visit Antelope Island. Commission Chairman Dan McConkie said the new park manager, Ron Taylor, is working to increase that number by up to 500,000. "We see increased visitorship as a good impact for the county," McConkie said. "Some of those visitors will stay a little longer in the county and spend money."