Our Salt Lake County budget process is wrapping up and I wanted to share some of the things we’ve done as we look to approve the 2025 budget.     As we look to be fiscal prudent, one of our top priorities is to maintain our AAA bond rating. We are one of only a few dozen counties in the nation with this highest bond rating. That equates to much lower interest rates on bonds/loans.    I want to outline some of the key principles I’ve brought to the budget this year, and every year prior. 

First and foremost, tax dollars collected don’t “belong” to the county. They are your dollars. Taxpayers entrust the county, or any government for that matter, with a portion of their hard-earned money, and in exchange, expect the government to perform essential, necessary functions for the constituency. There is no amount of tax dollars that is too small to be scrutinized. That is why I push back aggressively anytime I hear someone say, “It’s only x dollars… so we shouldn’t worry about it.”  

Any expenditure whether it is $10,000 or $10 million should be reviewed, and if it can’t be fully justified to the taxpayers, it should be cut. 

Second, I believe that all government functions should be viewed in two different categories: “need to have” and “nice to have.”

The “need to have” list obviously includes things that are statutorily required of the county to perform, as mentioned above, including public safety.

The “nice to have” list includes quality of life aspects, as well as any other program or effort that can easily be described as “good” or of benefit to the county, but not absolutely necessary.

These two lists are by no means exhaustive, but this demonstrates the same principle that every family in our county goes through in their annual budgets. 

Because of inflation it’s been a hard budget year. As you know, everything from food to gas has increased over the past few years. This is especially hard on government budgets.

This year, since we’ve been asking our departments to do more with less, I believe the council should have to do the same. I will be proposing that we do an office restructure in the county council office. Currently each council member gets to hire one full time policy advisor. We have additional central staff who help us with communication, legislative, fiscal and legal matters. 

Because three of our nine council members are leaving office, it’s a good time to make a change for the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the council. I hope the majority of my colleagues will join me as I propose that each political caucus gets two policy advisors rather than everyone getting their own. It will cut four full time positions and almost a half a million dollars of taxpayer funds. We are asking others to do more with less, and we should be willing to do the same.

Lastly, I review each aspect of our budget and ask, “Is this the proper role of county government?” I’ve said many times that government can’t and shouldn’t be all things to all people.

I’m confident that these principles are the essence of good budgeting, and I will always advocate for this approach any time government is given the trust of the public through their tax dollars. You can rest assured that for 2025, Salt Lake County has a balanced budget with no tax increase.

In August the Salt Lake County Council voted to put a $507 million bond on the ballot for voters to decide on this November. Our jails are at capacity and urgently require expansion. The proposed public safety bond will enable us to consolidate two jails into one, add more beds, expand mental health treatment services, create a facility to support inmates transitioning back into the community, and build a Justice and Accountability Center.

Low-level offenders who continually cycle in and out of jail continue to place a considerable burden on taxpayers and our criminal justice system. Many of these individuals experience instability and struggle with underlying mental health issues and substance use disorders. Unfortunately, our current jail and criminal justice system are neither designed nor equipped to address these needs.

The goal of the Justice and Accountability Center (JAC) is to remove repeat offenders from the streets and place them in a lower-security correctional facility where they will have access to outpatient mental health services and substance use treatment, job training, housing opportunities, and other vital services to help them get their lives back on track. The JAC aims to ensure these people receive targeted interventions at a cost that is much less than a high-security jail.

We believe the public safety bond reduces the number of offenders on the streets, keeps our neighborhoods safer, protects our businesses, and ultimately is the most fiscally conservative way to invest in public safety and improve quality of life. If voters approve this bond it would cost the average homeowner an additional $58.94 per year.

Luckily Salt Lake County is one of only 29 counties in the United States with a AAA bond rating. Because of that the interest rate on these funds would be around 3.25% with an opportunity for us to refinance if rates go down.

No one wants to pay more in taxes and this was not an easy decision for county leaders to make. As we’ve looked at the best way to ensure your safety, protect your property, and best help those who are struggling, we felt this was necessary and we want you to weigh in. Not only is the most fiscally conservative way to handle this massive public safety issue, but it will give the best chance for those in the criminal justice system to get real help.

To learn more about this you can go to slco.org and you will be able to read about the bond.

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Changes to the Unified Police Department are coming. Some of the information out there has not been entirely accurate, so I thought it might be helpful to share some insight. This past legislative session, state legislators decided to remove language about the Unified Police Department (UPD) from state statute. This meant UPD would need to operate by interlocal only, and without the state giving specific guidelines. ​

This legislation originally removed the county sheriff as the CEO of UPD, as many cities questioned whether it was a conflict of interest with the sheriff wearing two hats. But when the sheriff’s association and Sheriff Rivera met with the legislative sponsor, they supported just removing the UPD language altogether from state code. 

Unified Police Department is a governmental agency created by interlocal agreement. It serves areas such as Millcreek, Holladay, Midvale, unincorporated Salt Lake County, and the townships. The board can choose their CEO, but for years they have just kept the county sheriff as the CEO. This has created some heartburn for cities not in UPD who wonder if there is appropriate financial separation between UPD and the countywide sheriff services. I have also been asked about this and have been participating on a committee to gather more information. 

All of our county residents receive great countywide public safety services from the sheriff’s office. Some of these countywide services include the statutory duties of the sheriff, such as operations of the jail, warrants and extraditions, and search and rescue. There are additional countywide services that provide a countywide benefit such as drug court, metro gangs, major investigations and drug enforcement, and canyon patrol.  

For those who are UPD officers or live in UPD service areas, rest assured that leaders from Millcreek, Midvale, Holladay and other areas are working hard to ensure UPD remains a stable and top-notch police agency to take care of your needs. There will just be one difference and that is a cleaner separation between your policing agency and the county sheriff who represents all areas of the valley. I believe this will give UPD a better chance to grow and thrive. It will also help other police agencies rest assured that there are no conflicts of interest, and all agencies will be represented well by the sheriff’s office. 

As a Salt Lake County Councilmember, I believe funding transparency is vitally important for all county services. This is especially true as it relates to law enforcement services that are provided on a countywide basis. The tax dollars used for these services come from residents and all taxpayers throughout the county. When deciding which programs to fund on a countywide basis I provide careful consideration to determine the usefulness of these services to your community, if the current resource allocations and service levels are appropriate, and the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the programs.