• Budget crunch will delay certain projects in Mona

• Auditor says Mona City needs to tighten purse strings

• Dip in road causing controversy in Mona City

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By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent

Because of the budget crunch, it was decided that the small strip of asphalt in the drive into the parking lot will not be paved this year.

There is a small strip that is along the old driveway but next to the new city center where the asphalt was disturbed to lie utility lines.

“Since we haven’t started with the asphalt I told our contractor that we would need to wait until spring,” said Molli Graham, council member.

Katrina Long, council member, said that since that money was not going to be spent for asphalt, she would like to see it used to begin work on the city’s general plan.

“We could put off the asphalt until next July and use the $20,000 to begin work on our plan,” she said. “One of the bidders said he would start with $20,000.”

“What part of ‘we have no money’ don’t you understand?” asked Everd Squire, city finance director.

He asked where the council thought the money would come from to pay $20,000 for either project.

Graham said she was proposing that the city not spend the money for the asphalt but, in line with what the auditor had pointed out, she was also proposing that the city not spend the money, period.

Squire said the city had ended up paying $100,000 more for the building than had been first planned and that had put the city in a bind.

“We were $90,000 in the hole before we ever started to build,” said Greg Newton, mayor. “The CIB would not give us credit for the land we already owned.”

Long said that the city, along with all cities, had been mandated by the state legislature to have a city plan that was up-to-date. The plan Mona was using was so outdated because it was created in the 70s that it was not useful anymore.

She said that Mona did not even have an agricultural zone.

“Nephi has nine zones,” said Newton. “The legislature says we have to do something and that it is critical.”

Jeff Hearty, council member, said that he would check with the student who had said he could help the city with the project as part of his thesis at Utah State University. It would benefit him and the city.

“I will tell him that he needs to get his ducks in a row,” said Hearty.

“It is a critical need,” said Long. “We need to have a consultant begin work. We need to decide who we are going to use and get them started.”

Squire said that the time had come to stop all spending until revenue started to come back in to the city at tax time.

“You are in the hole in the capital projects fund $64,000,” said Squire.

There was no funding available in the water fund, the sewer fund was in the hole and there was very little cash in the general fund.

“The figures say that it is time to not spend money,” he said.

Tax money will begin to come in during November and the city can determine which projects are critical at that time, the council decided. Meanwhile, the asphalt project will not be done this year but will wait for spring.

Jonathan Jones, council member, said that he did agree that the general plan needed to be moved to the front burner as soon as it could be financed.

“Unless something changes,” said Squire, “we need to hold the line on expenditures.”

The will have to transfer money from the natural gas fund to the general fund in the spring to cover necessary budgeted expenses.

There was only so much money in the budget and there was no way of manufacturing more.