By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Sometimes the news that a tax is going to be increased seems justified but county commissioners wondered why they should bind taxpayer money to pay more to the Central Utah Water Conservancy District (CUWCD).
“I am here to speak about the proposed tax increase,” said Chris Finlinson, government affairs director with Central Utah Water Conservancy District.
The district covers all or parts of 10 counties.
There were several reasons for the needed tax revenue, she said. General Obligation (GO) bonds which had been approved many years ago were now coming due.
A GO bond is one in which the issuing entity pledges to use all revenues at its disposal to pay bondholders, including the raising of property taxes. The terms of the bond legally require the entity to raise property taxes to make up the shortfall. The additional tax money is needed to keep up payments on the bonds while maintaining a “AA” bond rating.
There was also a $42 million grant which was part of the government stimulus package but that required a 35 percent cost match so the CUWCD needed $13 million in the bank as that match.
Funds are also needed to complete a $40 million treatment plant expansion in Duchesne County.
The district last increased taxes four years ago, and this year’s proposed increase is the maximum the district is allowed by law. The tax proposed is .0004 which represents an average increase of $5.19 per $100,000 taxable property or an increase of $11.50 a year on a $300,000 home.
“We had our portion of the CUP (Central Utah Project) stolen from us,” said LuWayne Walker, county commissioner. “It is a raw issue in this county. Why should we pay more taxes?”
That fact had also represented a big disappointment to CUWCD, said Finlinson.
However, she said, there had been projects which came as a result of the CUWCD. One of those had been the irrigation water delivery system constructed in Nephi some years ago.
“There has been water set aside from Utah Lake for Juab County,” said Finlinson.
The June Sucker, a native fish, had been planted in Mona Reservoir. At first, the project did not look as though it had been successful but recently the fish was found to be alive in the waters.
“Water put into Mona Reservoir will end up back in Utah County,” said Walker.
“I think we can find a way to keep that water here in Juab County,” said Finlinson.
Any tax increase in Utah requires a truth in taxation public hearing. The district will hold four such meetings across its boundaries, including an August. 12 meeting in Orem on August. 12, at 7 p.m. at the CUWCD District Office, 355 W. University Parkway, Orem.
Another hearing will be held in the Sanpete County Building at 6 p.m. on August 18.
“We think the CUWCD should plan a Truth in Taxation hearing here in Nephi,” said Walker.
The Central Utah Project was a United States federal water project authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956 (CRSPA). In general, the Central Utah Project developed a portion of Utah’s share of the yield of the Colorado River as set out in the Colorado River Compact of 1922.
As originally planned and authorized, the Central Utah Project consisted of six units or sub-projects: the Bonneville Unit, the Jensen Unit, the Vernal Unit, the Uinta Unit, the Upalco Unit and Ute Indian Unit.
The Central Utah Project Completion Act (CUPCA) enacted on October 30, 1992, removed responsibility for completing the Central Utah Project (CUP), a federal water project, from the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Juab County’s portion of the project was dropped.
Construction of the remainder of the Central Utah Project became the responsibility of the local water district—the CUWCD; established the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission to oversee facilities to mitigate for the environmental effects of the Central Utah Project; and placed responsibility for oversight of the project with the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior.
“We can understand your frustration,” said Finlinson, “but that doesn’t put water in the tap. We wish we could have built that big pipeline.”
For years, Juab County residents paid tax money to build CUP projects with the understanding that the East part of the county would get a large pipeline to deliver needed water to farmland.
“Everything that has come to Juab County from CUWCD has benefited the Nephi Irrigation Company,” said Chad Winn, commissioner.
Other wise, the county and its residents had not benefited. Water levels in wells had been lowered. Farms had been ruined and the wetlands of the east part of the county had been dried up, he said.
“The wetlands are gone,” said Walker.
Finlinson said the CUWCD board would be happy to talk with commissioners about projects that would promote conjunctive use. The Central Utah Project Completion Act authorizes substantial funding for the planning and implementation of water conservation measures and projects.
Winn said that he and George Jackson had met with the board to discuss ways to renew the wetlands.
Agricultural water delivery would be very expensive, said Winn.
“We are frustrated,” said Val Jones, commission chairman. “We need to get some water into the ground.”
As it was, said Winn, wells continued to dry up.
Continued payments by taxpayers from the area seemed to not do a lot of good for the local people. Jones said that Millard County had long ago withdrawn from the CUWCD.
One reason the commission had remained part of CUWCD was that they had been told the county would still get M&I water for residences if the county did grow to the point where it was needed.
“We were told that, if the county did have 20,000 residences, we would get water for that use,” said Jones.
Walker said that local residents thought, as did commissioners, that the long-promised water delivery project for Juab County had been stolen.
“Bring your truth in taxation hearings here and they will be well-attended,” said Walker.
The Central Utah Project Completion Act does provides funding for local water development projects in areas that do not benefit directly from the Central Utah Project.
