The Kane County Commission met on Tuesday, August 13, with a sizable attendance in the commission chambers. The public comment period that opened the meeting had two comments made, one requesting the commission remove both Deer Springs and the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary property from the upcoming fire protection special service district vote, and the other from a representative from the local chamber of commerce thanking the county for its cooperation and help with recent chamber events.
After approving the consent agenda for previous meetings, the Commission started in on this meeting’s action items, starting with board appointments. The Commission appointed Karla Johnson to the council on aging board, and Dr. Bruce Goldberger to the hospital service district board. Both received hearty endorsements from the commission, and the public comment period on the appointments went unused. Dr. Goldberger’s appointment is interim and will require a vote in an upcoming election.
The next item was an expression of recognition for Barbara Hall from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Hall has been working for the DMV under the Kane County Assessor’s Office for almost 18 years; County Assessor Ryan Maddux said of Hall, “Her service to the DMV has made it a good office. Her being there has taken huge stress off of me as the assessor because I know that if something comes up she can just handle it. She will be greatly missed.” The county presented Hall with a plaque memorializing her service.
Following a brief item formalizing the budget for the council on aging, the county went into a discussion on funding for the community outreach center being planned for the property adjacent to the Kanab Center. The outreach center has multiple budgets for which it qualifies, considering it will serve functions for the drug court, active living center, county aid programs and more. Of the center’s cost, Commissioner Wade Heaton said, “It has doubled since the first plan was presented to me … We’re well past the point of no return, but if this project had been presented to me at this cost … I’d be uncomfortable.” The commission approved over $500,000 from the various budgets discussed at this meeting.
The following item, a report and discussion of property taxes and truth and taxation, would take the majority of the meeting’s time. County Assessor Ryan Maddux presented the information, stating, “Utah used to be a rate driven system … it is now budget driven which means part of the taxing process requires truth in taxation hearings, which makes the process more transparent.” A mass appraisal by the assessor is due this year, which will likely include notifications of changing statuses for citizens of the county. Said Maddux, “This notification opens a window of appeal for citizens to correct details within their appraisal … give our office a call if you have any questions about the information in this tax process. Come down and talk to me and we’ll be able to figure it out.” The Assessor’s Office is located at the DMV building in Kanab and can be reached at 435-644-4967. The town hall informing the public of the assessment will be on August 27 at 6:00 p.m. in the Commission chambers.
The following agenda item was related, with County Clerk/Auditor Chameill Lamb summarizing some of the tax abatement options available. Lamb detailed some of the tax relief citizens can qualify for, such as senior citizens under a specific income bracket, citizens whose property value reaches a certain bracket of their income or veterans with a certain disability rating. More information is available at the Clerk’s Office.
The next item on the agenda would require some in-depth discussion, as the commission considered the boundaries and board appointments for the Vermillion Cliffs Fire Protection SSD. After some back and forth consideration of options, the commission unanimously voted to remove the Deer Springs area from the district and concluded on a hybrid elected/ appointed system for the board; the board is currently planned for three appointed seats and two elected seats.
The final few items on the agenda went relatively quickly, with the commission approving funding for waste disposal for some local visiting locations, reporting on the county fair over the weekend - calling it “one of the smoothest fairs ever,” - and ultimately going into closed session to consider upcoming RS2477 litigation.
