Straight Talk, Straight Facts from Steve White
“An Attack Unanswered is an Attack Believed”

People want to know why I am the “only” commissioner who knows about the “other” resources in the county budget and if it is legal to use them for general fund purposes.
I spend an average of 1 to 2 hours a day looking at the expenditures of the County.  Until 8 years ago, I was a businessman who managed and had ownership in an office furniture business.  I have brought to my job on the Commission my knowledge of how to operate in a budget.  This means I look for ways to take care of the needs of the County without requiring a tax increase to pay for the extra wants of County departments. 

This is why I know where all of the money is in the County budget, and why I know where there are monies that can be moved to other places when there is a critical need.  The budget is an open process that anyone can understand if they choose to.  Unfortunately, very few people have taken the time to examine it as carefully as I do each day.

Once again as I explained in the letter you received, it is absolutely legal to move money from reserves to the general fund.  Most of the money in the budget is appropriated to restricted areas and can not be moved, no matter how much someone might want to.  The balance is kept in accounts that are accessible when needed, and it takes three weeks of advertising in a local newspaper and an open and public meeting to move any money in the budget.  It usually costs $8,000 to re-open the budget and advertise it in the press. This is done every year in December and sometimes at mid-year.

I am alarmed to hear that there is a rumor that I am planning to drastically reduce the Sheriff’s office personnel if I am re-elected.
Rumors are just what they are: rumors.  As I have shown in numbers and charts in a handout I offer at the delegate meetings, year after year the budget for the Sheriff’s office has increased, with only this past year remaining the same because of the recession and lower sales tax revenue. 

As a Commission, we feel that one of our most important jobs is to protect our citizens from crime through the services of the Sheriff’s and Attorney’s offices.  I have continually made sure that the money was available to fund them, and there is absolutely no reason to believe that I would change my core belief that this is my duty.

A claim has been made that the Sheriff’s office did not really receive $37,503,831 in 2009 because some of it went to capitalization funds.
Every office and department in the County has needs that must be funded.  The Sheriff’s Office has many vehicles, computers, radios, telephones, cell phones, buildings, and jail food services that need to be maintained and paid for.  These are the Internal Service Funds referred to as capitalization funds in the accusations. 

In every government, business, and family budget, you have to include the costs of doing business, not just wages and benefits.  So a real budget includes all costs, not just personnel.  Please look at the spreadsheet on my website not1redcent.com to see that the percentage of the budget that is just for personnel in the Sheriff’s Office has gone from 69.81% in 2003, when I took office, to 76.11% in 2009.  The percentage for Internal Service Funds has dropped from 19.78% in 2003 to 17.33% in 2009. 

Once again let me explain why a convention center now.
Many people are concerned that building a convention center during an economic downturn is irrational.  As it turns out, this is the very best time to build it.  Costs to build are lower right now than they have been in over 6 years, especially the costs of steel and cement.  The overall savings versus 3 years ago for the same building is 40%. Also, interest rates are under 4% for the construction of this project.

We did two market studies, one in 2004 and the other last year, to determine the viability and size of such a center for Utah County.  We found out that there is a tremendous need for a convention center by the businesses of the County that are holding their meetings in Salt Lake County because there aren’t adequate facilities for them here.  These people are staying in hotels and eating food in restaurants in Salt Lake County and leaving their sales tax revenue there also.  Since the announcement last year of our convention center, one hotel has been completed and two more are planned near its site.  This exhibits the private sector’s confidence in this project.

Another positive for this Convention Center is that it will be a mainspring for economic development throughout the County as we continue to seek major corporations to establish their companies here, bringing with them jobs that pay higher-than-average wages.  They will also use the center for their training meetings and conventions.

As explained in the letter I sent to you, the funding for the building and management of the Convention Center is through tourism taxes and not paid by Utah County residents.  We are building a facility for tourists with their own dollars.  It will be managed by a private company, currently out to bid, as a “for profit” facility.

Fifty percent of the increase in sales tax revenues in Provo City will be distributed throughout the County.  Also, the motels and hotels in the County will be more profitable because the Provo hotels will not be able to accommodate all of the casual and business travelers during conventions.  This looks to me like a win-win for all of Utah County.

Please visit my web site not1redcent.com to read more in depth responses to these and other questions you might have.