CITY OF OREM
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
56 North State Street Orem, Utah
June 19, 2012
6:00 P.M. SPECIAL SESSION
CONDUCTING
Mayor James Evans
ELECTED OFFICIALS
Councilmembers Hans Andersen, Margaret Black, Karen A.
McCandless, Mark E. Seastrand, Mary Street, and Brent
Sumner
APPOINTED STAFF
Bruce Chesnut, City Manager; Jamie Davidson, Assistant
City Manager; Greg Stephens, City Attorney; Richard
Manning, Administrative Services Director; Stanford
Sainsbury, Development Services Director; Mike Larsen,
Public Safety Director; Karl Hirst, Recreation Director; Chris
Tschirki, Public Works Director; Donna Weaver, City
Recorder; and Rachelle Conner, Deputy City Recorder
INVOCATION /
INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT
Jake Schow, Scout Troop 463
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Brandon Stone, Scout Troop 463
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
City Council Meeting of June 12, 2012, and the Joint Orem City Council/Alpine School
District Meeting of June 13, 2012
Mr. Sumner moved to approve the minutes of the June 12, 2012, meeting of the Orem City Council
and the Joint Orem City Council/Alpine School District meeting of June 13, 2012. Mr. Seastrand
seconded the motion. Those voting aye: Councilmembers Hans Andersen, Margaret Black, Jim
Evans, Karen A. McCandless, Mark E. Seastrand, Mary Street, and Brent Sumner. The motion
passed unanimously.
MAYOR’S REPORT/ITEMS REFERRED BY COUNCIL
Upcoming Events
The Mayor referred the Council to the upcoming events listed in the agenda packet.
Upcoming Agenda Items
The Mayor referred the Council to the upcoming agenda items listed in the agenda packet.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.1)
Appointments to Boards and Commissions
Mayor Evans recommended Marlon and Ann Snow be appointed to serve on the Beautification
Advisory Commission.
Mr. Seastrand moved to appoint Marlon and Ann Snow to serve as members of the Beautification
Advisory Commission. Mr. Sumner seconded the motion. Those voting aye: Councilmembers Hans
Andersen, Margaret Black, Jim Evans, Karen A. McCandless, Mark E. Seastrand, Mary Street, and
Brent Sumner. The motion passed unanimously.
Recognition of New Neighborhoods in Action Officers
No new Neighborhood in Action officers were recognized.
MAYOR PRO TEM – July 1 – December 31, 2012
Mrs. McCandless moved to appoint Mr. Seastrand as Mayor Pro Tem from July 1 – December 31,
2012. Mr. Andersen seconded the motion. Those voting aye: Mr. Andersen, Mrs. Black, Mr. Evans,
Mrs. McCandless, Mr. Seastrand, Mrs. Street, and Mr. Sumner. The motion passed unanimously.
CONSENT ITEMS
Mr. Seastrand moved to approve the following consent item. Mr. Sumner seconded the motion.
Those voting aye: Mr. Andersen, Mrs. Black, Mr. Evans, Mrs. McCandless, Mr. Seastrand, Mrs.
Street, and Mr. Sumner. The motion passed unanimously.
ORDINANCE – Adopting Section 7-1-5 of the Orem City Code Pertaining to the Current
National Electrical Code
SCHEDULED ITEMS
6:00 P.M. PUBLIC HEARING
RESOLUTION – Approving and Adopting the Tentative Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013,
Adopting Compensation Programs, Adopting Fees and Charges, Setting the Franchise Tax,
Municipal Energy Sales and Use Tax, Telecommunications License Tax, Transient Room Tax
and E-911 Fee Rates, Amending the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Budget and Setting a Public
Hearing on August 14, 2012 to Hold a Truth in Taxation Hearing for the Purpose of Adopting a
Property Tax Rate in Excess of the Certified Tax Rate
Bruce Chesnut, City Manager, presented a staff recommendation that the City Council, by resolution,
approve and adopt the Tentative Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget, adopt the compensation
programs, adopt the fees and charges schedule, franchise tax, municipal energy sales and use tax,
telecommunications license tax, transient room tax and E-911 fee rates, amend the Fiscal Year 20112012 Budget, and set a public hearing on August 14, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. to hold a Truth in Taxation
hearing for the purpose of adopting a property tax rate in excess of the certified tax rate.
On May 8, 2012, the City Council received the tentative budget for the Fiscal Year 2012-2013. A
budget work session was held on May 22, 2012, to discuss the budget. In addition, two public
hearings were held to review CDBG budget requests. In the May 8th City Council meeting, the City
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.2)
Manager, Mr. Chesnut, recommended that the City Council consider a property tax increase for
operations for the first time since 1978. Accordingly, Mr. Chesnut recommended that public hearings
be set for June 12, 2012, and June 19, 2012, to tentatively adopt a working budget, and for
August 14, 2012, to hold a Truth in Taxation hearing to consider a property tax rate increase in
excess of the certified tax rate.
The national and local economies have shown some signs of improvement over the past year;
however, it is commonly accepted that any recovery will be a slow process. The Fiscal Year 20122013 Proposed Budget is a balanced budget that was formulated with this environment in mind as it
recognizes that the continued pressure of the UTOPIA debt guarantee obligation combined with the
rising costs of operational expenditures such as wages, benefits, insurance, gas, oil, and fleet
replacement cannot be addressed by the anticipated increases in property tax and sales tax revenues
nor any other revenues available to the General Fund of the City.
Although an increase in the certified property tax rate is proposed, the franchise tax and municipal
energy sales and use tax rates remain at 6% and the transient room tax stays at 1%. The
telecommunications license tax is 3.5% and the E-911 fee is $0.61 per month, both unchanged from
current rates. With the exception of some minor adjustments to miscellaneous fees and charges, the
only proposed fee changes are represented in the Budget Issues Section below. Personnel wage
increases and fleet, computer and technology replacements are also included in the Budget Issues
Section.
Budget Issues Section
Budget Issue #1 – Water Rate
Should the monthly base rate for a ¾” meter be raised by $0.41/month from $12.66 to $13.07 to pay
for the new allocation of Jordanelle water and to cover increased operational costs?
Budget Issue #2 – Sewer Rate
Should the sewer usage rate be increased by $0.03/1,000 gallons from $1.39/1,000 gallons to
$1.42/1,000 gallons?
Budget Issue #3 – Street Lighting Fee
Should the Special Service Lighting District establish a $2.00/month Street Lighting Operations and
Maintenance Fee?
Budget Issue #4 – Residential Solid Waste Container Fee
Should the primary residential solid waste container fee be reduced by $0.50/month from
$10.60/month to $10.10/month?
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.3)
Budget Issue #5 – Vehicle Replacement Program
Should $600,000 of General Fund reserves be appropriated for vehicle replacement?
Budget Issue #6 – Employee Compensation
Should the budget include a 2% adjustment for all employees?
Budget Issue #7 – Computer and Technology Upgrades
Should approximately $160,000 be included for computer and technology upgrades in the General
Fund?
Budget Issue #8 – General Fund, UTOPIA, and Capital Improvement Needs
Should the City increase the certified tax rate sufficient to increase General Fund property tax
revenues by $3,000,000 to address the UTOPIA obligation (principally) and other General Fund
requirements as well as approximately $350,000 for tort liabilities?
The purpose of this hearing is to consider a tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013, subject to the
outcome of the Truth in Taxation hearing on August 14, 2012, along with the compensation program
and the fees, charges and tax rates of the City. Additionally, the City Council is reviewing
amendments to the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Budget.
Mayor Evans opened the public hearing.
Bob Wright, resident, read a prepared statement asking the City Council to continue paying the
UTOPIA debt service with sales tax revenues and not proceed with the Truth in Taxation hearing in
August.
Wayne Burr, resident, displayed a stack of signed positions opposing the property tax and the Center
for Story. He said he read an article saying that Orem is losing revenue. The reason for this is people
are tightening their belts because money is tight. He asked the City Council to tighten their belts with
the Orem City Budget. Now is not the time to raise taxes because the residents’ ability to pay has
decreased.
Peter Anderson, resident, thanked Mr. Sumner for recommending he read the City Budget. Mr.
Anderson said the City Council knew there was going to be a shortfall over a year ago, but that was
never discussed. He expressed concern that there will need to be another tax increase in five years,
because the payments will be going up another $2 million. The public, as a general rule, is against
this increase, and he fears the CARE Tax will not be voted for again because of the Center for Story.
Royce Van Tassel, Utah Tax Payers Association, thanked the Mayor, Council and staff for the
deliberate way they have gotten information out and the willingness of Orem to be upfront about the
purposes for the tax increase. Orem is the third pledging member of UTOPIA that has gone through
Truth in Taxation in an amount that was almost identical to the amount the cities have to pay to
UTOPIA. It is refreshing to see a city acknowledge this is what the increase would be used for. He
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.4)
expressed appreciation the for openness the City has had with the public in holding a lot of hearings
and open houses. That being said, the Tax Payers Association does feel strongly that this increase is
inappropriate. He stated that when UTOPIA was discussed ten years ago, the Tax Payers Association
indicated it would be a terrible risk, and the cities would likely have to ask the taxpayers to backfill
this cost. Now they are finding themselves in that situation. It is unfortunate, but there are other cuts
that would be more appropriate. A more obvious one is the $576,000 in salary increases. In a
difficult time such as this, when many people do not have a job or have not seen a pay increase, it is
difficult to justify a pay increase for City employees. This is a difficult decision, and the discussion
will likely continue until August 14, 2012. He urged the City Council to find a way to avoid the
property tax hike.
Vicki Crabb, resident, indicated her husband graduated 35 years ago from BYU and came to work
for the Orem Police Department. There were 6 openings at the time, and over 300 people applied for
the positions. Orem was the best of the best. Her husband worked 4 jobs, so she could stay at home
with their children. Her husband retired after working 33 years for the City. Mrs. Crabb indicated
they have had to call for the paramedics on occasion, and they are the best of the best. That is
important to the residents. Orem has one of the best libraries in the nation. The library is in the top
10 percent nationwide for per capita circulation and is in the top 100 libraries nominated for the
Heart of the Community Award in the United States and Canada. The Orem Library has free
programming year round that serves 60,000 patrons. Often times these programs exceed the library’s
seating capacity. This is why there is a need for the Center for Story. The reason the library is so
good is because the City has hired the best of the best. Mr. Chesnut has inherited some interesting
challenges as City Manager, and she expressed her opinion that he is handling his job with class and
wisdom. He is another best of the best. In this day when other cities are seeing their employee’s
names in the papers for wrong doings, she is glad that Orem has been left out of such because they
have the best of the best. They cannot assume to keep the best of the best when they consider cutting
wages by twenty percent in a growing and changing community. She said she is willing to pay
$8.8 per month on a fixed income so that Orem employees can have their first raise in 4 years, and so
they can keep the best of the best.
Will Matheson, resident, stated he came this evening to speak about fiber optic technology. He said
he is supportive of fiber optics, which is more than cable TV. It is what the future is going to be. It
will raise the property value of the homes in Utah and will make it a more desirable place to live. It is
a utility, and it will be just like electricity in fifty years. This will benefit members of the community
and their children in the future.
Jim Gall, resident, said the appraisal values on his home have gone down for the past three years, but
his taxes keep going up. He said he allowed UTOPIA to dig a hole in his yard, but he does not have
access to it. Mr. Gall indicated they should not be talking about budget increases this evening; they
should be talking about budget cuts. He has been out of work for three years. He had to go back to
school to learn new technology. He asked the City to just ditch UTOPIA. He gave the City Council
his phone number and stated they are welcome to call him if they want to talk about this.
Gail Miner, resident, stated there is no project closing date on UTOPIA, and work typically expands
to fit the time available. He said he does not see an end to the tax increase. He recommended the City
consider an end to this project, or it might go on forever. Provo City has tried three times to have
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.5)
private enterprise run the system, and all three companies failed. The $39 million in bond debt was
referred back to Provo to pay. He warned the Council that this will be a lot more expensive than the
City realizes if there is not an end date in sight. He asked whether an assessment has been made of
the required subscription rate in order to sustain it. Once the system is in place, it still requires some
effort to keep it going.
Gary Watts, resident, said a big concern of his is information. A well-informed public can understand
the difficulties the City is going through. Raising taxes for UTOPIA and understanding exactly what
that entails is important, but there is a lot of misinformation that is given out. The same thing goes
for the Center for Story. He suggested the City Council submit a fee through the utility bills for those
who actually want UTOPIA. He has wanted UTOPIA since he heard about it in 2006. Mr. Watts
asserted that UTOPIA has been is mismanaged. They need to target neighborhoods where they have
fifty percent of the residents wanting to subscribe. As far as salaries are concerned, he has not had a
raise in many years. He is a computer programmer. He noted it would be beneficial to see what the
average salaries are and compare the employees with those salaries. He expressed his appreciation
for the police officers and firemen, and he wants them to be the best. In order to have that, the City
needs to make sure they are paid well. However, it needs to be commensurate with what the market
bears.
Val Hale, resident, indicated he has lived in Orem for forty-two years, and he lives here by choice.
He said this is the finest city in the world. He lives here because he loves to go to the parks, drive
down nice streets. Orem has wonderful public servants who make this a great place to live, and the
city has great shopping. At this time, the City is facing a critical situation, and it would be a mistake
to do anything to diminish the lifestyle the residents have enjoyed in Orem for so long. There is a
competitive environment in Utah County, and people have a choice of where they shop and work,
and companies have a choice of where they set up their headquarters and shops. Orem needs to be
very careful it does not take two steps backward and make it a place that is less desirable. These
types of decisions can reverberate for years to come. He said he is willing to pay more in taxes. Orem
already has some of the lowest rates in the state, and even with this proposed tax increase, they
would still have one of the lowest property tax rates in the state. He said he is willing to do what he
needs to do to keep Orem the best city around.
Ed Weaver, resident, noted he moved here twenty years ago, and he was able to get his health back.
He also got to know the wonderful people that worked for the City. The men and women who have
been leaders here, including his friends Jim Reams and Jerry Washburn, have worked with all of the
integrity of their hearts to provide a staff and a community worth living in. Mr. Weaver said he was
raised in Los Angeles and watched riots and corrupt government. He expressed his gratitude to live
in Orem.
Chad Jardine, resident, said he was raised in Orem, and he is raising his family in Orem. Tonight he
is embarrassed about the budget issue that is before them. He pleaded with the Council to vote no on
this tentative budget, noting the City Council has all of the power in this decision. The voters have
granted them that right, and it is a serious thing. The tax increase is to pay for a situation that is much
bigger, and this will not solve the problem. He said he would not have a problem with it if the tax
increase was the only solution. UTOPIA is a failure, and the reason it does not have enough
subscribers is because it is not competitive. It costs twice as much to get Internet on UTOPIA. He is
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.6)
on it, and he is paying the higher fees. He said he is all for an increase in wages for public safety, but
that is not the biggest percentage of this increase. They could make some cuts in other directions. He
thanked Councilmember Andersen for holding the line on this issue. Mr. Jardine called on each of
the Councilmembers to vote no on the proposed budget and the employees to reject a pay increase.
The increase for the City Attorney would be $4,000 and most people do not make that in a month.
Attorneys are on sale right now, so they could replace the City Attorney for sixty percent of the cost
within sixty days and not miss a beat.
Sherry Page, resident, thanked the Councilmembers for their service and expressed her gratitude for
living in Orem. She stated she is against the property tax increase and asked the City to look at
creative ways to cut the budget. She said in the past they have paid employees mall bucks to reward
them for exercising. That program can be eliminated to save money. When the residents are cutting
back, the City needs to do the same. There have to be some areas that can be cut back.
Aaron Campbell, resident, nominated Val Hale as “Mr. Orem” and expressed appreciation for the
pamphlet Leslie Nelson handed out. Mr. Campbell stated this meeting is an example of true
representative democracy, and it is fantastic. Rather than build the Center for Story, they should build
Council Chambers that can hold 300-400 people. He said he is personally fine with an $8-10 month
increase. He lived on the East Coast for several years and the property taxes were much higher there.
He has 5 children, and he is educating them for $1,500 a year. It is ridiculous how good an education
and the public services they are getting. Mr. Campbell noted that 5-6 weeks ago he made a robocall
stating the City Council was passing a tentative budget, which many of the Councilmembers had not
even seen. Now, six weeks later, he assumed the Council had had a lot of time to scrutinize the
budget and held many open houses to receive public input. He has not seen the minutes from the
work session where the budget was discussed, but he does not know a single person in any business
or corporation who would give a rubber stamp to a $90 million budget. All he is looking forward to
this evening is to watch the Councilmembers make proposals to change the budget. If they fail to
make changes to this budget and give it a rubber stamp, it will say a lot to him about their leadership
skills and it tells him how much they value the residents’ input. Mr. Campbell stated that he is
looking forward to the leadership, to the Council listening to the comments, and the proposals to
change the tentative budget.
Sherry LeBaron, resident, said she bought a home in Orem ten years ago. She was a single mom with
four kids at home. She had a good job, and her salary and benefits added up to just under $60,000 at
the high point of that employment. A few years ago she lost her job. Prior to that, the company she
worked for cut back on some of its benefits. They removed the quarterly bonuses and employees
were asked to pay more for their health benefit. Finally, her employer had to start laying people off.
For two years, she could not find a job. Partly because the City and State were in hiring freezes, and
partly because she has a master’s degree and was over qualified. For the past year, she has been
underemployed. She barely makes $20,000, and all the money she makes goes to pay her house
payment. Her home needs new carpet, her walls need to be painted, and it would be nice to have new
furniture. However, there are certain things they cannot do when they do not have the money. She
has had to cut back, and that has to be the same with the City budget. She appreciates the job done by
the Police and Fire Department, but the City employees have had steady jobs while others in the
community have not. She asked the City Council not to pass the proposed budget and to look at other
ways to cut the budget.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.7)
Forrest Barth, resident, said he will gladly give up $9 a month to make for the betterment of the
community. He will take leftover spaghetti for lunch one day rather than go out for fast food to make
up for it.
Roger West, resident, indicated he was able to attend a UTOPIA meeting and was asked to pay
$4,000 to sign up, and there is $299 per month for services. He had an occasion to interview an
individual from Questar about UTOPIA, and when Provo started its network, Questar looked at the
system and said it would not work. Mr. West said his view is one of consternation, and he echoed the
concerns of the residents of Orem as they face this prospect. He belongs to a countywide
organization with 200 other individuals, and as they talk about these kinds of expenses, they are not
very encouraged that they will be able to afford it. He asked the Council to consider this carefully
and measure the results for those who want and can afford it, and to be cautious for those who
cannot.
Ila Strasburg, resident, she said she is on a fixed income, and she lost her job three years ago. She has
not been able to find another one. She said she wants to know who made the plan with UTOPIA to
go through this. She said she votes against a property tax increase because she is on a fixed income.
She has to pay prescriptions, utilities, and food. UTOPIA dug up her yard without her permission and
killed half of her lawn. She would prefer not to have UTOPIA and told her renters they are not
allowed to have it.
Catherine Cooper, resident, said she moved to Orem in 1982. She has read the City’s financial
reports for the past few years and has compared them to other cities. She wanted to go on record
stating that she appreciates the well run city that Orem is. She appreciates the effective City Council
and Mayor, the City administrators, the police and protection they have, as well as the other City
services. She has been fortunate to travel to several third world countries, and she cannot come back
to Orem without expressing gratitude for the infrastructure that they have. She said she is willing to
pay additional tax monies, and she knows the City will look at all the creative ways to make it the
least amount of tax increase as possible. Because of previous decisions made with UTOPIA, and the
money that has already been put out, they should continue forward with UTOPIA and make it an
infrastructure for the use of Orem residents. She said she supports the tax increase and expressed
appreciation to this Council for its efforts.
Casey Vorwaller, resident, stated he started working with Orem four years ago, and the City has paid
a lot of money for his training. It has been a great career for him and a fantastic place to work.
However, today was his last day as an Orem employee. The City can no longer compete with wages,
and he is leaving for more money. Loyalty to an organization no longer exists, and people are going
to do what they have to in order to provide for their own families. If the City wants to continue to
lose good employees, people who are sought after throughout the state, it should continue to keep the
raises on hold. The City will lose more people and all of the services will go down the drain. He said
he lives in Orem, and if the services go down, he will move.
Leslie Nelson, resident, said she is the author of the flyer that was handed out in the meeting. She
noted Orem has already made $3 million in cuts and has lost 20 positions. There are people who are
hurting, and her business is still hurting. She has taken a fifty percent decrease in income over the
past few years. However, she believes the tax increase for most people in Orem will be barely
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.8)
perceptible. It is a good idea, and the City needs to continue to invest in the infrastructure and the
personnel they have. There is plenty to be said for loyalty and for rewarding people who have been
doing a good job. She was here last week, when Councilmember Andersen was speaking, and she
made a note to herself that said he does not want to talk about this. It is healthy that they are having
this discussion, and it is good that they are having this public input. She said to put this on the ballot
would not be a good way to inform people. She read a portion of the information she had in her
pamphlet, noting that anyone who brings her flyer to Terra Mia, will receive two for one gelatos.
Bill Gerr, resident, noted he has lived in Orem for twenty-five years. This is a great place to be. He
appreciates the City Council, and he has come to appreciate more the City services and the quality of
the utilities. He said things change and technology changes so fast, giving an example of going from
8-track tapes to cassettes to CDs. He said he is concerned there will be more technology changes
with what they are facing with UTOPIA, and it can happen quickly. Wireless seems to be the way the
youth are going right now. He likes the police, fire, and emergency services, and he likes taking care
of them.
Vic Deauvono, resident, said this comes down to UTOPIA not performing. He heard last week that it
is a done deal, and they cannot do anything about UTOPIA. He advised that his children are
attorneys, and he would be happy to get them to take on UTOPIA. The golf course is under budget
and is not paying its own way right now. He suggested the City put new vehicles on hold, which
would save money. Mr. Deauvono said he is an advocate for having all of the engines go out on calls
because it is important for them to block traffic for safety reasons. In reference to the wage increases,
the residents are hurting, and the employees are making good money right now. There are a lot of
quality people who would love to work for the City. No one has anything against the best of the best
employees, but people are hurting. He indicated the City Council is the Supreme Court for the
residents, and he asked them to look out for the residents.
Scott Tornow, resident, stated that they are in a different period of time right now. Every time they
turn on the TV, they hear there are too many entitlements and expenditures. The City should be
looking at ways to reduce expenditures and not give pay raises to the employees. There are many
resident who are on a fixed income. The City Council needs to vote no on any tax increases and go
back to the departments to ask them to make reductions. They have the best of the best employees,
but the City does not have to overpay them.
Mark Parmley, resident, said he is troubled by UTOPIA. He is not choosing to use it, but he is still
going to have to pay for it. He is paying for the privilege of living in the neighborhood with an ugly
shack that UTOPIA constructed. UTOPIA is cool, neat, and fast, but it is not a necessity. The City is
paying for a want. It is wrong to make the residents pay for it if they are not going to use it. The City
does need the other services, such as water, sewer and public safety. Those are important, but
UTOPIA is not necessary.
Robert Loveridge, resident, said he moved to Orem sixty-one years ago. He said he can afford $8 a
month. When UTOPIA originally came in, he was supportive of it, and he is still supportive of the
concept. However, he thinks the model is broken. He is not opposed to giving tax money, but he is
tired of seeing the eyesore at 400 South State Street. If UTOPIA does not change that, it will be
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.9)
another eyes sore. He said UTOPIA needs to be brought back in and put where the people are who
want it.
Sharon Anderson, resident, asked the City Council to look at the budget line by line. The
Councilmembers do not need to approve each issue. She said that rather than approving the whole
budget, she asked them to consider carefully what the residents are saying. It has been said that
government is force. When they increase taxes, they force people to make that payment. She has
heard people say tonight that they are happy to pay the $8-10 each month. She suggested a collection
box be placed in the City offices for those who want to pay the increase. She asked them not to force
everyone to make those payments. This is not a matter of the best of the best. They do have the best
in Orem. However, she invited the City employees to step down a bit and join with the residents that
cannot afford to give the employees a tax increase. Tax increases are forced, and they are requiring
everyone to subsidize some people that might be overpaid. She asked the City Council to listen to
what the residents have to say and consider the budget line by line.
Don Anderson, resident, noted he is against UTOPIA. Councilmember Andersen was voted in
because is he against UTOPIA. The cost is ludicrous. They are tearing up the streets to install the
fiber and then they have to go back and repair the streets. The worst part is that UTOPIA is obsolete.
It is an underground system. It will not be many years until they can receive all of those services via
satellite, and it will not cost nearly as much. He is totally against the increase. It will decrease the
property values in the city and will discourage people from moving to Orem because of the higher
taxes.
Mike Monsivais, resident, indicated the reason they chose to live in Orem is that someday they will
have UTOPIA at their house. He said he is not happy to pay more money, but as a necessity they are
willing to pay more taxes to expand UTOPIA. They had to sign up for service from an existing (poor
customer service) cable provider, and they are still waiting for them to come and install the system.
He shared insight from a technological point of view. UTOPIA is laying the foundation for another
service that will become essential for the community. As they have more and more companies
deciding to come into the city, they are going to need that Internet connection. Things like wireless
Internet and satellite communication will not be able to make up the infrastructure that will be
required. It is going to be fiber optic Internet. The Internet backbones themselves are fiber optic.
Satellite and cable coax are not able to do those things. Even communication across oceans is done
with fiber optic cables that are laid down. The City is laying the foundation for a service that is going
to be necessary, and it will promote business growth that will ultimately bring in more jobs and
provide more jobs for the residents in Orem.
Arturo Morales, resident, said a few days ago he took his children to the movie Mirror, Mirror. In
the movie, the queen wanted to throw a ball but she did not have enough money. She decided to
collect taxes from the people to pay for the big party. Mr. Morales stated his 12-year old son told him
this is just like Orem City and UTOPIA. He said he wants the City Council to understand that
concept. The City cannot tax its way into recovery. He said the City is subsidizing companies it
should not be subsidizing. He liked the suggestion of having a collection box to pay for UTOPIA but
said they should add a PayPal link on the Orem website so those that wanted to give extra money
could do so. He has three options with Centurylink, Comcast, and Clear Wireless. He asked the
Council not to force him to pay for UTOPIA. He said he has a great respect for the officers in
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.10)
uniform. His children have grown up knowing they need to honor the officers, but many people have
seen a loss in their income. He said he does not understand why they need to look at increasing the
wages of City employees.
Greg Soter, resident, advised that for forty-one years he has appreciated the way City has been
managed. He said he does not particularly like taxes, but he understands the need to pay for services.
He is disappointed that UTOPIA has not worked out better, but Orem is committed. He asked the
Mayor whether Orem can bail out of UTOPIA.
Mayor Evans indicated the City cannot just bail out of it.
Mr. Soter said Orem City has to retain its integrity by taking care of its commitments. A few days
ago, someone came to his house asking him to sign a petition that was mentioned earlier in the
meeting. Mr. Soter told him he would not sign the petition because he did not have enough
information, but he trusted that the City Council and staff did have enough information to make this
proposal. He asked the City Council to look into this matter with as much detail as possible, which
they probably already have, and make the most frugal decision they can. He said he does not want a
tax increase unless it is absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, he will step up and pay his little share.
He expressed appreciation to the City Council for the service they give. He asked them to be as
frugal as they can but not to be stampeded into destroying the parts of Orem that so many people
love. The reasons he likes living in Orem have nothing to do with the fact that it is the cheapest place
to live.
Emily Vance, resident, said he her husband tested with Orem Public Safety six years ago, and she did
not hold out much hope that he would be hired. Competition was fierce because Orem was the best
place to work. He did get the job, and she has been grateful to live here. With that said, she has four
kids, and she is on a tight budget. Balancing her budget is a constant struggle with the salary her
husband makes. The Public Safety Officers serve the community every day and do things that most
people do not think about or realize. Her husband has come home late because he has to clean a
prisoner’s puke out of the back of his car. Her husband does not get paid for that, and he cannot take
it to the carwash to be cleaned because it is a biohazard. The residents do not think about the officers
dealing with someone that has Hepatitis. The officers have to go get tested for months after an
exposure. The firefighters live at the firehouse for forty-eight hours when they are on shift. There are
a lot of sacrifices the public safety officers make for the residents of this city, so she asked the City
Council not to sacrifice their pay.
Judy Cox, resident, stated that a resident in the back of the room had commented about UTOPIA and
the lack of marketing. If the City is stuck with it, UTOPIA needs to step up to the plate and do better
marketing. She noted UTOPIA went into the yard just behind hers about seven years ago, and she
still does not have it. She said the City Council was very good at answering her questions last week,
and she has three more this week. The questions were as follows:
 How will they pay for UTOPIA next year?
 Did they come up with an alternative budget, if they do not go through the Truth in Taxation?
 Can the City keep the $975,000 in tax rebates the City gives to the mall every year?
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.11)
Paul Johnson, resident, said he has watched the budget discussions with great interest. He expressed
appreciation for the tenor of the meeting this evening. People should be able to disagree and still be
civil about it. He encouraged the Council, staff, and residents to remember that everyone just wants
the best for the community. Certain City employees have taken a beating that they do not deserve.
That is unfair, unkind, and unwise. He said he has been watching the decisions of the City Council
for the past thirty years, and he has found almost without exception that the City Councilmembers
are very dedicated, very conscientious, and are good people whose hearts are in the right place. They
want to do what is best for Orem. The same applies to this City Council and the City employees. No
one is trying to gouge anyone or take advantage of the residents. Mr. Johnson said as a general rule
he does not like big government. The Federal government has gotten way too big, and he hopes they
will come to their senses soon, but that same sentiment does not apply at the local level. He
expressed his opinion that the majority of the residents are happy with what they see going on in the
city. Unfortunately they do not hear from the majority of the residents. He gave an example of a City
employee who was working at one of the parks on her day off because she saw something that
needed to be done. That is reflective of most of the city employees, and he does not begrudge them
their raises. If residents want a well-run city, they need to take care of the employees. Mr. Johnson
said he watched the UTOPIA decision, and he listened to the pros and cons of the project. He said he
has no idea of how he would have voted on the issue at that time. Whether it was the right decision
does not matter now. It is what it is, and a property tax is the most stable tax. It is the best way to
resolve the problem. A city that lives and dies by sales tax will die in times of economic hardships.
Mr. Johnson stated that he does not want to vote on every issue in this budget. He trusts the City
Council to do the right thing. That is the form of government Orem has.
Raymond McPherron, resident, said he has lived in Orem for thirty years, and he is grateful to live in
a place that is as pleasant, neighborly, and forward-looking as Orem is. He said he is retired, is on a
fixed income, and he does not begrudge the tax increase in any shape or for anything that they are
discussing now. If the City does not need employees, then they should not hire them. However, if
they do hire them, they should be taken care of. The national average of pay increase over the last
year is 3.7 percent, and the public employees deserve a 2 percent increase. He favored granting that
increase. Mr. McPherron then advised that a lot has been said about UTOPIA. In his military
experience, he has been in a number of different countries. The United States is the last major power
in the world to have a fiber optic network nationally. There are a lot of misconceptions out there. The
person that mentioned marketing has a great idea. A lot of people think this is an Internet service. If
they got the information out about what the system actually does, they would find more support for
the system. He said he is in favor of UTOPIA and is anxious for the time it is available to him. The
only way the City can come out on this financially is to finish the system.
Linda Agler, resident, stated that she works for an adjoining city that is also involved in UTOPIA.
From the beginning, the majority of the people were against it; however, they did not have much say
in it. She works in the Public Works Department, and it started out okay, but then they started getting
water and gas line hits. The city had to go out and make the repairs. It was then a fight as to who
would pay for the repairs. She has tried for over a year and a half to get the service to the Public
Works Office, and it is still not there. She said this is not okay and has not been okay from the get
go. This increase may only be $8 a month, but electricity and gas have also gone up. Residents are
being inundated with fees and taxes. Housing is going under, and there will be more people on the
streets with all of the taxing that is going on.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.12)
Afton Miller, resident, said she has UTOPIA, and in the beginning it was a mess. The contractors
ruined the lights in the front of the condominium project, and UTOPIA refused to fix it. She asked
what UTOPIA is doing for its money. Ms. Miller said this is a wonderful place to live and when the
City Council voted on UTOPIA in the beginning, she did not think they thought this would happen.
She has made a lot of mistakes in her life, and she believes this was just a mistake. She would like to
have the attorneys look at whether the City can get out of it because UTOPIA is not doing its part.
She said she is impressed with the dedication of the City employees. She was at the City Center the
other day, and one of the employees started to vacuum. The custodial crew has been let go from the
City Center, and the employees have taken over those duties. She expressed appreciation for that.
She said she is retired and is on a fixed income. She does have $8 a month that she can pay;
however, she has friends who are unemployed and are absolutely poor. That cannot afford to pay
more taxes.
Jack Steinagel, resident, said he did not intend to say anything this evening, but as he has listened to
the comments, it reminded him of his earlier years. He lived in California for a while, and California
is now in a mess. The Governor at that time invested the pension funds in projects like UTOPIA
because they looked good at the inception. However, when it became apparent that they were too
risky and were losing money, instead of getting out of those investments, California pumped more
money into them to make them successful. Tonight, the Mayor said there is no way the City can get
out of UTOPIA. Mr. Steinagel stated he cannot believe the City would enter into a contract that was
so one-sided that there were no performance requirements and there is no way out no matter whether
there is mismanagement or corruption. There are those who have spoken tonight about fiber optics
being the future, but he questioned how many times people say that and when it comes down
finishing it, the system is obsolete. He noted he is not saying it will be, but it seems they are “kicking
the can” of UTOPIA down the road and are paying for every kick. He expressed concern that his
children and grandchildren will be stuck paying the bill for this endeavor.
Molly Bird, resident, stated that she is an American citizen and the first thing she did after receiving
her citizenship was register to vote. The right to vote is one of the greatest privileges there is. She
asked the City Council to put this tax increase on the ballot to allow every Orem resident to have
their voice heard.
Dana Layton, resident, said she is running for the legislature. She expressed appreciates for Mr.
Sumner’s recommendation to look at the budget. If times were good right now, there would be no
issue with any of these items. However, on budget issues 5, 6, and 7, there is a sentiment that the
residents want the City Council to be extremely sensitive to the hard times. There was a comment
made earlier that the residents need to pay taxes for the services they receive. The issue with
UTOPIA is that the City is trying to charge taxes for services that most of the residents do not
receive. That is why most people feel this is unfair, and they are upset. She gave an example of her
family owning investment property in Provo where they are charged for a drainage fee for the sewer
lines, yet they do not have any sewer running to the buildings. The issues here tonight are hardship,
giving raises to employees that already have good steady jobs, putting off vehicle replacement for a
year, and the fundamental disconnect with UTOPIA. She has a difficult time believing the City has
no exit strategy with the UTOPIA contract.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.13)
Paul Meyers, resident, noted that he has been a high-technology worker for many years and has
invested in many companies. He is on a fixed income, has lived in many places, and this is the best
place to live. He and his wife raised their children here and home-schooled them to give them the
best opportunity to have their intellectual needs met. Mr. Meyers said this is the information age. The
largest companies are growing larger because they deal in information. Information is the coin that
makes people rich. It is knowledge that is power, and it always has been. Shanghai is currently
building out its infrastructure. Korea has a system that will allow someone to get gigabit bandwidth
at attractive rates because they have realized it is the engine that drives their economy. Mr. Meyers
said he cannot believe the City has so many luddites who want to throw away the very progress that
is building society. He said he does not have a lot of money to blow; however, he would love to be
able to pay for the bandwidth that is available with UTOPIA. He hates the wait he has with his
current provider. He wants to have access to better service and wants his kids and their kids to have
it as well.
Roland Henrie, resident, indicated he just bought his first house in Orem. He has lived all over the
United States, and Utah is his favorite place to live by far. He registered to vote recently because he
wanted to be able to made a difference locally. This is the information age, and UTOPIA and fiber is
going to last a long time. He does not see it being replaced quickly. It is the speed of light, and it
does not get faster than that without going to quantum entanglement. He said the City Council has to
find the right balance in the budget. Tax increases are necessary because of inflation. He thanked the
City Council for having this meeting and for giving the residents the opportunity to speak.
Dora Shoenfeld, resident, asked the City Council to consider individually whether they have listened
to the percentage of the people who have said no to a tax increase. She disagreed with Ms. Layton’s
comments that the resident were okay with the first four budget issues. When they have said no tax
increase, those items were included. The residents do not want any increase. She is on a fixed
income, and although Orem has had a great leadership, they have the capability to run a mean lean
machine. They should cut where they have to cut, do not raise salaries when there are people in the
community who have not had a cost of living raise for three or four years and may not get one for a
long time. She expressed appreciation for the services residents have. She appreciates the
Councilmembers and hopes they realize that because of the percentage of people who are asking the
Council to not raise the taxes, they might not be where they are at the next election.
Tai Riser, resident, noted it has been said that the City employees can be replaced rather quickly and
the City will not miss a beat. That is absurd. He hired and trained for a fortune 500 company for
6 years. It did not matter what level of education came through the door, they started from ground
zero and the business put about $100,000 into people in the first 3 years before they made a dime for
the company. Any skilled position has a learning curve that it is going to take time. It is quite
insulting to City employees to say that anyone can step in and do their job. Mr. Riser said no one has
addressed the issue of economic development. Companies have a choice of where they will work and
live. If big companies cannot find the infrastructure or services they need, they will not come here.
That starts a downward spiral where the sales taxes continues to decrease. Businesses will move out
because they are looking for greater places. The company he works for does an extensive search of a
community before deciding to locate offices there. If there are not arts opportunities, places to shop,
and restaurants, they will not move there. There is an old adage, “Grow or die”, and Orem is in a
position where it must either grow or it will slowly start to die. The bottom line is UTOPIA is what it
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.14)
is. It is his understanding that there is no changing that, so he questioned whether they should cut
services or increase taxes. He said he likes the services he receives, and he would be willing to pay
more than $8 a month for these services.
Tom Hover, resident, said he attended the meeting a few weeks ago when the budget was first
introduced to the City Council. At the meeting, Mr. Seastrand commented that he would like to look
at alternatives for what they are facing with UTOPIA. It appeared Mr. Seastrand was searching for a
way to address this issue without burdening the tax payers. Many comments were made about
monies that were available in other sources the City has access to. It has been said before that there
has to be a clause in the UTOPIA contract, and if not, the City attorneys ought to take it to task to
find something that would allow Orem to pay this off without having hundreds of millions of dollars
over the time period it is slated for. Mr. Hover indicated he is trusting that Mr. Seastrand will have
some impact on this Council. Another comment was made at the meeting by Mrs. Street that they
have to think big and in large terms. The problem with that is that there is a time and place to think
and plan and then there is a time to enact. The time to enact is when money is available. People are
hurting right now, and he said he hopes the Councilmembers are listening.
Tom Phelon, resident, said UTOPIA is a good thing. A lot of things are good things The people are
just struggling with how this came about. Things were going good when the previous Mayor was
looking at entering into UTOPIA, and he probably had no idea they would be in this position now.
Right now a lot of people are out of jobs. The Federal branch involved with UTOPIA bailed out on
the program. Mr. Phelon said he has called many of the cities, which was very enlightening. He
expressed his opinion that the residents do not have a problem moving forward, and he does not have
a problem moving forward. He spoke with Brigham City, and there are some issues that need to be
addressed. One is that they charge $2,865 to hook onto this system. They created Special Assessment
Areas (SAA) to help the residents pay $30 a month to hook onto the system. When they go to sell
their house, there is a lien to pay that off. If they foreclose, the buyer has to pay that cost. UTOPIA is
a government agency, and people are not being told what the real cost is. This company has no
competition, so prices are not at market value. The real information needs to be presented to the
residents, who are getting leery and suspicious about what is not being said. He said he is not against
it, and he knows it has to go ahead, and there is nothing they can do about it. The City Council is
going to do what they are going to do.
Alan Young, resident, reflected that cities are much like people. They are born, learn, and develop;
go through an adolescent stage with rebelliousness; move on to adult hood; and then go into old age
and die. Orem is a beautiful city and is far from dying. He questioned what stage the Orem in with
the progress of life, and what they need to do to continue to move forward in the right direction.
UTOPIA is stupid, and he is against it. There must be something the City can do to bow out of it.
Midtown Village is an eyesore. In reference to adding onto the library, he understands there is
sufficient parking right now, but he question what would happen down the road. He wondered if they
will lose some of the ball fields. He asked for patience in starting new investments. They should wait
until the existing investments are settled. He expressed appreciation for the service of the
Councilmembers and said he would like the residents to have more say in the major projects the City
gets involved with.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.15)
Jared Jardine, resident, said he took a notice about this meeting to every home in his precinct. He
went to over 400 homes. There are many people trying to sell their homes in Orem, and it is even
more tragic that there are many vacant homes with foreclosure signs on them. While $8 a month is
not a big deal to him, there are many people in his precinct who cannot pay it. That $8 might mean
the difference between these residents keeping their homes or not. It seems like $100 is a small thing,
but UTOPIA is not worth it. The City has banded with other communities to create UTOPIA, and it
is really a bureaucracy that is unelected, unaccountable, and nontransparent. Mr. Jardine indicated
that he loves fiber optics, and it is the wave of the future. However, if they were doing it as a city, the
residents would know what is going on. However, with this conglomerate of cities they cannot. As
far as the debt that has already been incurred, they will have a hard time getting out of that, but they
only have one-third of the city built out. He said it does not make sense to pretend that they will not
have a similar amount of debt to build out the next two-thirds. It does not make sense that the next
two-thirds will be free and cover itself. He has three personal friends who have had UTOPIA service.
Of the three, only one of them still has it. The other two got a better deal with Comcast. The only say
the residents have on this issue is this meeting and the last meeting. He indicated he voted for the
majority of the Councilmembers, and he loves Orem. However, UTOPIA is a real mistake, and even
if the City has to pay the debt they have contracted for, it will be a real mistake to push forward and
get more debt. By the time the City pays the final payment, Orem will have paid over $4 million. It
has been said the City has not had a property tax increase since the 1970s. The property has not
decreased since the 1970s either. He said he has the utmost respect for the Councilmembers and
urged them not to pass this budget tonight. He expressed his opinion that they can do something
better.
Peggy Burdett, resident, said the thing that is being overlooked is that it is not a blanket $8 fee for
everyone. It starts at $8 and goes up from there depending on the size of the home. The $8 increase is
for a smaller home.
Mrs. McCandless clarified that the $8 is for the average size home. She will pay less because her
house is worth less.
Ms. Burdett then wondered if businesses would pay more. Mayor Evans replied that they will.
Ms. Burdett indicated that businesses looking to come to Orem will look at the rate and see that they
can get a better deal by going to Provo or Lindon. These things need to be considered. She gave an
example of her church paying out more money each month than they were taking in to meet the
needs of the people in her area. The biggest tragedy of all is the surprise this was to the residents of
Orem. They have only had six weeks to take this information in. They voted on the Alpine School
District property tax increase six months ago, and they had no idea the City would spring another
increase on them without a bond election. Ms. Burdett said it is scary to think the City Council did
not know this was coming or that they did not have this information six months ago. She asked what
is going to happen next when they try to build out the remaining two thirds of the city. She
encouraged the Council to look at other options with the City budget rather than a property tax
increase. She has a feeling they will need a property tax increase to complete any more of the
infrastructure throughout the rest of the city.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.16)
Dan Skousen, resident, said he came to listen tonight. The last time he was here was when he was a
Scout. He is a part-time resident of Orem right now. He invested in real estate and bought a home in
southwest Orem. He bought it for $225,000 and ended up putting $33,000 into it. It appraised for
$265,000 at that time, so he was able to refinance it. It now appraises for $188,000. That is small
change compared to what others have lost. He is working for $10 an hour right now because he
teaches school and is off for the summer. That $8 means a lot to him. In the last 4.5 years, he has
taken a sixteen percent pay cut in his district. He cannot afford health insurance and has not had it for
2 years. He is still doing good compared to most people. There are some celebrity attorneys out there
who could get the City of this UTOPIA thing. He expressed appreciation to the City Council. They
are very powerful. Many of the things he loved while growing up in Orem, such as the fields and
orchards, are gone. It seems that everyone just wants to grow, grow, grow. They are no longer selfsufficient and can barely take care of the community. He expressed his opinion that technology is not
the way of the future, and they will need more open land and more property. They have taken prime
real estate and developed over it. He does not want fiber optics because his 4G phone is as fast as he
needs.
John Greenhalgh, resident, said he has been at this meeting for some time, and he is proud of the
residents of Orem who came to participate in this process. He said he hopes to be proud of the
Council in that they have listened to what is being said. There have been some strong opinions about
a lot of things. When people come to a meeting like this and spend their evening expressing strong
opinions, those opinions are important. They are important to them and should be important to the
City Council. These people elected the Council to represent them. If the Council does not understand
that, they should not be in those seats. They were elected to take care of the City on the residents’
behalf. That is an important trust that the residents gave to the Council. He said every one of the
Councilmembers campaigned on the fact that they would not raise taxes. However, now they are
talking about raising taxes. There has been a lot of representation about what is happening in the
world with the economy. The economy is not getting any better. He questioned if they will raise
taxes again next year if they have another shortfall. One of the greatest fallacies of the “stable tax” is
that property values fall, and the City will get less money. He said that is not stability. The home
values are not going to increase rapidly. The economy will not allow that to happen for ten to twenty
years. There is not an impetuous source of revenue in the residents’ pockets. The City has to figure
out a way to be frugal and as appropriate as possible when dealing with the residents. Mr.
Greenhalgh then addressed the recycling deal. He said he did not ask to have the City make a
decision for him about recycling. He wondered why the City did not speak with Waste Management
and have them allow the residents to sign up rather than opt out. That is not looking out for the
residents. The Council is here to represent the people and their well-being. Not some business entity.
Bob Wright said he appreciates all of the comments that have been given tonight. He clarified that
the residents do not pay the property tax by the month. They pay the full amount once a year.
Someone had asked how they would pay for it if they do not increase the property tax. It is already
set up in the UTOPIA agreement that sales tax will pay for it. Someone questioned if there is some
way to get out of it. The answer is no. UTOPIA has made it very clear the City is obligated. The City
can be sued if it do not pay, but there is no stipulation that UTOPIA can be sued if they do not
perform. It is set up to pay with sales tax revenues already, and there is no necessity to force a
property tax increase on all of the residents to pay for something they did not get to vote for and do
not want.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.17)
Raymond McPherron said he is grateful to live in a country that has a representative democracy that
allows the residents to elect people to make decisions on their behalf. He asked the City to please let
the residents recycle glass.
Kim Jardine, resident, stated that he does not think the City Council understands the courage it takes
for people to stand up and say something in these meetings. The people have come to speak about
this issue because they are in pain. Mr. Jardine said he was disappointed in Mr. Sumner at the last
meeting because he said he would not cut the employees’ salaries. They need people who will make
the tough decisions for the future.
Dave Spencer, resident, noted that last week the Mayor and City Council said they have the best
working employees in Orem. He applauded that they have the best. However, the Council is
forgetting that they have the best citizens in Utah living in Orem. All of the City employees,
including the Mayor and Council, work for the residents of Orem. The residents keep giving and the
City keeps taking. He asked the Council to look at what they are asking the residents to do and stop
the madness. He said Mrs. Black mentioned last week that the City Manager makes $30,000 less
than other City Managers. He did his own research, and he is not sure where Mrs. Black got that
figure. Orem’s City Manager is one of the highest paid City Manager’s in Utah County. Mr. Spencer
indicated that last week he suggested the City Manager and Department Heads get together to see if
they could cut anything out of the budget. If they cut 3 percent out of the $88 million budget, that
would save the City $2.6 million, and they would be halfway there. He said that the residents would
meet the Council halfway. He thanked the Councilmembers for their time.
Michael Arnold, resident, stated that he was reading through the agenda and saw that the
Commission for Economic Development (CEDO) has been brought under the City operations. He
said it was his impression this program was self-funded and was something to encourage economic
development in Orem. He asked if this is now funded with tax dollars and included as a budget item.
He then asked about the $500,000 that will be used for the construction of the facility. It appears the
money is being pulled from somewhere other than where the commission had originally agreed to
contribute those funds to this project. Mr. Arnold expressed his opinion that government needs to
fulfill a proper role. He would like to see rules followed at this local level. In respect to the CARE
Tax, that is not a role the government should be involved in. While some are willing to give, others
may not be interested in giving at all. He does not think they should even have a CARE Tax. He did
not think businesses should come to the City requesting funds for their particular entity or interests.
This deal at the City Center falls in that category in his mind. It would be nice, but in times like this,
it is not something they should be worrying about. Even if they have the funds allocated from CARE
Tax and other things, in his opinion it is not a role the City should be playing. It should be entirely
voluntary and entirely charitably funded. The same would go for UTOPIA and other projects that the
City should not be involved in.
Mayor Evans closed the public hearing.
**The Mayor called for a break at 9:06 p.m.
**The meeting resumed at 9:19 p.m.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.18)
Mr. Chesnut said the process has included public input over the last few weeks as far as open houses
and public hearings. They have heard from a lot of people who have opinions of varied issues that
are being addressed by the City of Orem. When he took over as City Manager eighteen months ago,
they embarked on a journey, knowing they had tough issues to face and situations to deal with. The
City wanted to reach out to the community over the last couple of meetings and have received a
variety of input.
Mr. Chesnut then answered some of the questions that were raised during the public comments and
clarified some of the comments that were made. They were as follows:
 The property tax is being raised to pay for UTOPIA but property tax is not being used to pay
for The Center for Story. That is being paid for with largely private donations and some
CARE Tax.
 Another issue was putting the opinion questions on the ballot. The County Elections Office
has advised that State law does not allow opinion questions to be placed on the ballot for
General or Municipal Elections. This has been verified through the Attorney General’s
Office.
 Comments were made about the City putting money into the golf course. The City owns the
property for both golf courses in the city. A long-term agreement was made many years ago
with the Cascade Fairway Group. The City does not put any money into that golf course for
ongoing expenses or operational costs nor does the City put any money into the operational
functions of the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course. It does buy water at a reduced rate. Other than
that, there are no tax dollars being used from City funds for either golf course.
 There were questions about the building on 400 South State, Midtown Village. All of the
lawsuits and hurdles have been cleared in reference to that project. Big D Construction has
ownership of that facility, and they are moving that project forward. This is a privatelyfunded project. The City is involved with a Special Improvement District on the parking
garage, but all of the financial obligations have been met by the owners of that development.
The City has not put out any cash or tax payers’ money for Midtown Village to this date and
does not anticipate it ever will. Big D Construction is very interested in finishing the project
as soon as it can. Big D is rebranding and retooling the direction it wants to go.
 The question has been asked how the City will pay for UTOPIA next year. The proposed
property tax would for UTOPIA for a few years down the road. It is all based on performance
of UTOPIA in the years to come. The property tax that is being proposed is not just for this
year’s payment. It will be used for several years in the future.
 There have been questions about an alternate budget if the Truth in Taxation does not move
forward. If the City Council wants to cut $3 million from the budget, it is the City Manager’s
responsibility to do that. In this form of government, the City Council does not go line by line
to make cuts. He asked everyone to keep in mind that it has been stated that the City has an
$88 million budget, which is true. However, it encompasses every fund within the City. The
General Fund budget is much less than that, and that is where the property tax, sales tax, and
franchise tax provide the revenue. The Water, Sewer, Storm Water, Fleet, and Recreation
funds are all separate Enterprise funds from the General Fund operations. They are all
included in the $88 million budget. The City will not cut those, because they do not apply to
the General Fund operations. Staff would need to look at General Fund monies, which are
$45-47 million. Operations that are in the General Fund are all of the Public Safety and Fire
operations, Library operations, Development Services and Finance.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.19)
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In reference to the agreement with Woodbury Corporation, the agreement was not with
Nordstrom. It is a 20-year agreement, and there are still 10 years left in that agreement. The
City does not always pay $975,000 per year. It is based on sales tax performance, and they
have to meet certain benchmarks before they receive the funds. The City has made millions
of dollars in sales tax revenues above the money the City pays Woodbury each year. The City
is in the process of moving forward with some negotiations with Woodbury on the agreement
and with things they are doing at the mall. The University Mall and the Parkway have long
been a regional shopping destination for Orem. It is vital to the city’s economic and retail
area. The City has been working with them to move forward and it is vital to keep moving
forward with that retail base within the community.
Mr. Arnold had asked about the CEDO and its functions. Mr. Chesnut said CEDO has a
board that operates within the community. The board is made up of business leaders. The
employees of CEDO have always been paid by a donation from the City, which has always
paid for the operations and salaries. Those operations have now been moved under the
umbrella of the City. They brought economic development to the City building, so the
$175,000 that was being contributed to CEDO is now a part of the City budget to pay for the
ongoing operations and expense to run the economic development component. The $500,000
will be discussed in a later agenda item during this meeting.
Mayor Evans explained that Mrs. Black had misunderstood a comment he had made about the
average median salary for Chief Executive Officers (CEO) for companies with 400-500 employees in
Utah County. He had said that Mr. Chesnut makes $30,000 less in wages than other CEOs, which is
true. He clarified that Mrs. Black had thought he meant other City Managers in Utah County.
Mr. Wright stated that the City Manager had said if the City Council does not approve the property
tax increase, he is going to cut $3 million out of infrastructure. Mr. Wright noted that is not his
prerogative. That is for the City Council to decide.
Mayor Evans explained that with Orem’s form of government, if the City Council did not pass the
Truth in Taxation, the City Council would go back to the City Manager and ask him to make the cuts
to come up with the $3 million. The City Council would then have the opportunity to vote on the
new proposed budget. The City Council can give suggestions on where to make the cuts, but it is the
City Manager’s job to balance the budget.
Mrs. Black said there was a comment that the UTOPIA hookup is $4,000.
Mr. Manning advised that there are two ways to connect to UTOPIA. The first is to buy the
connection for $2,750, which can be financed. The second is to lease it for $30 per month plus a fee
for whatever provider is chosen. That is assuming the service is available in the area. The City
committed in 2002 to pay this debt. UTOPIA is nothing more than an agreement between 11 cities
that have become partners with each other to build this fiber optic network in their cities. It is not a
separate entity. If the City pulled out and sued UTOPIA, the city would be suing itself. Orem is
UTOPIA and committed to it. The bonds that this property tax hike would be going to pay for are the
original debt UTOPIA issued, and right now UTOPIA has not grown to the point where it can pay
the debt service. The partner cities, when they joined, agreed that if they got to the point they are in,
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.20)
that they would pledge sales tax for this purpose. The City has exhausted its options in making cuts
and has gone as long as possible without raising property taxes.
Mr. Sumner asked if a lien would be placed on the home. Mr. Manning said if the homeowners go
into the purchase agreement, they are putting a lien against their house. It is not the same as the
Special Improvement District lien that they have in Brigham City. This lien would pass to whoever
buys the home.
Mrs. Street explained that a Notice of Interest is actually a mechanism used to record that the
homeowner has agreed to have the infrastructure brought into the home. Instead of using a lien,
which can be foreclosed upon, a Notice of Interest just notifies the purchaser of any property or
anyone else who has a financial interest in a property, that there is a contractual obligation that can
be passed on to a new homeowner.
Mr. Seastrand said a general concept that seems to be misunderstood is that when property values
increase the City’s property tax also increases. He said as he has spoken with the County Assessor,
and that is not the case. The City receives a certain rate per year regardless of the valuations.
Mr. Chesnut agreed, saying the City informs the County Assessor of the amount needed, and the City
receives that amount every year. If the valuation of the home goes higher, the City does not receive
any extra money. If the value of the home goes down, the City still receives the same amount of
money. It is a stable income.
Mr. Seastrand indicated there is a way to check this online at utahcountyonline.org. He said he was
comforted to know this is the case. There is a misperception that as property values increase, the
residents are automatically paying more taxes to the City.
Mr. Sumner said there is a misperception to how businesses are taxed as well. He asked if they are
taxed the same as a home.
Mr. Manning explained that the tax rate is the same, but the State gives a discount to residential
properties of forty-five percent. Businesses do not receive that discount. They pay one hundred
percent of their valuations.
Mayor Evans expressed appreciation to Dick Brunst for the research he has done in reference to the
salaries. Mayor Evans said he wanted to research some information himself. Prior to working in the
private sector, he worked for 12 years for the State of Utah in the Department of Workforce Services.
He searched information they had online, and he also called the State Chief Economist to make sure
he was reading the information correctly. Mayor Evans then reviewed the statics he had found:
 The cost of living in Utah County four years ago, when the City employees received at
4 percent raise, was 3.7 percent.
 The year after that it was -5 percent
 It was 1.5 percent in 2010.
 It was 3.1 percent between last year and now.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.21)
Mayor Evans said he also checked the employment cost index, which looks at the cost of a business
hiring employees. As a part of that, it looks at how the wages go up and how much an employee’s
benefits go up as well. He found the following information:
 Private Sector –
o In 2012 the average increase cost was 1.9 percent
o In 2011 it was 2 percent
o In 2010 it was 1.8 percent
o In 2009 it was 1.3 percent
 Public Sector
o 2012 was 1 percent
o 2011 was 1.2 percent
o 2010 was 1.2
o 2009 was 1 percent
Mayor Evans indicated that another thing he wanted to mention was that some cities are giving raises
this year, and others are not. The City Council has to weigh all of these things when making its
decisions.
Mrs. McCandless stated that she would be true to what she said at the last meeting in terms of taking
time for her comments at this meeting. She said she has read, researched, pondered, asked questions,
challenged, and pressed the City staff on issues and how they came to certain numbers in the budget.
She has listened to the public through phone calls, emails, and talking to them on the streets. This
has all helped her to reach the decision that she is going to make this evening. She has heard from
many people and contemplated their suggestions and appreciated the input. Like Mr. Jardine said, it
takes a lot of courage to come and speak at these meetings. She has spoken with her colleagues and
studied the information that some colleagues have given her in order to come to a conclusion. Mrs.
McCandless then laid out the following facts:
 The Center for Story is not part of any type of tax increase proposal
o It is not funded by the General Fund
o Its funding comes from voter approved CARE Tax and private donations
 UTOPIA is the City of Orem
o Orem’s pledge obligation is to UTOPIA, its bond trustee, and the bond holders
o The City cannot get out of this
o There is a provision in the contract that allows the bond holders to pressure and
demand the State garnish the City’s sales tax revenues if they decide not to pay this
obligation
 Orem City has cut millions of dollars and twenty positions out of the budget since 2008
 This is not an “us versus them” situation. Everyone is in this together
 The State Attorney General’s Office has said that State law does not allow for an opinion
question to be placed on the ballot
o She has never said that she would not vote to raise taxes. She does not want to raise
taxes; however, she did not have a crystal ball to see the future when she was
running for office. She would not make a promise she could not keep.
Mrs. McCandless then reviewed how she came to her positions on the various topics. She indicated
her position can be changed; however this is how she feels right now. Her decisions are based on
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.22)
factual data, what she feels is best for the entire community, and what she stands for because that is
what the residents expected when she was elected to office.
 Budget Issue #1 – Water Rate Increase
o The wise decision to purchase Jordanelle water was made decades ago, and the City
needs these increases to cover each new allocation.
o This is a pass-through cost.
o Orem has a lot of water, which is something she is thankful for.
o The cost to provide water has increased with higher power and gasoline costs.
o Currently, she will be voting yes on this budget issue.
Mrs. McCandless reemphasized that if something comes up during the budget discussion, she is
willing to look at changing her position.

Budget Issue #2 – Increase Sewer Rate
o Things cost more to operate.
o She is thankful to have a working sewer system.
o She will be voting yes on this issue.
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Budget Issue #3 – Streetlighting Fee
o She was not on the City Council when the street lights were approved; however, it is
fiscally responsible that any utility-like item in the budget have its own Enterprise
Fund separate from the General Fund.
o She wants this fund to be self-supporting.
o She supports being more transparent, so to speak, in having street lighting pay for
itself rather than be grouped in the General Fund.
o Right now, she is inclined to vote yes on this budget issue.
Budget Issue #4 – Solid Waste Residential Fee Reduction
o If the pass-through cost goes down, the cost for the residents should go down.
o This is a no brainer, and she will vote yes on this issue.
Budget Issue #5 – Vehicle Replacement Program
o In 2002 there were some tough economic times, and the City Council saw the need
to keep costs down. They suggested cutting vehicle costs, and Mr. Reams had a lot
of angst over that.
o As she pondered this issue, she knows the fleet manager and mechanics can work
wonders with the vehicles; however, if this issue gets kicked down the road, the City
will be paying more for it later.
o The wish list the City has for vehicles is $1.6 million. Staff has taken the wants
down to the $600,000 needs that they feel are important. The top of the list is an
ambulance.
o She does not want to be the one that has a flooded basement that is made worse
because the City truck is not readily available to fix the problem.
o She does not want a friend or loved one to suffer because ambulances are in the
shop.
o She has studied the list of proposed replacement vehicles and is comfortable with
what that provides
o Currently, she will be voting yes on that issue.
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Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.23)
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Budget Issue #6 – Employee Compensation
o Back in 2008, she was in a meeting with then City Manager Jim Reams. They saw
that sales tax was beginning to decrease. There was a feeling of “what will the City
do?”. They needed to cut way back because they could not sustain and maintain the
employee base and the services they had with the decrease in taxes. The City cut
millions of dollars and 20 positions through attrition. They did not lay off anyone.
o The City of Orem was criticized because it was not suffering enough.
o The City was fiscally prudent, the employees stepped up to provide outstanding
service with less, and the City was able to maintain their level of service.
o That budget was extremely difficult.
o The City of Orem organization’s greatest investment and asset is its employees.
o The residents are an extremely valuable asset as well, but she is talking about within
the organization itself.
o Orem City enjoys the reputation of being one of the most efficient cities in the state.
o Orem employees’ hard work and creativity have allowed the City to maintain a high
level of service through one of the most difficult financial times in the last century.
o She stated the organization is run as lean as possible, and 20 positions have already
been cut.
o She questioned if Orem should risk losing the many years of knowledge and
experience that reside in its employees. She said she does not think so.
o Some people are suggesting pay increases for those who make less than some
arbitrary number. She asked what number that should be: $30,000, $40,000, the
median income of the valley, or whose statistic should be used. Maybe someone
making $60,000 a year and has six children would receive no raise, but the one
making $40,000 who is single gets a raise. She wondered whether that would be fair,
or if giving a raise only to some employees would be fair.
o She questioned what she would be rewarding and not rewarding if the City Council
did this.
o She indicated that she values all of the employees equally. All do a fabulous job
within their own sphere. She will not differentiate between who gets a raise and who
does not. The cost of living has risen and according to data that Mayor Evans just
gave, wages have risen in both the public and private sectors since 2008.
o Currently, she will be voting yes on this budget issue.
Budget Issue #7 – Computer and Technology Upgrades
o She has the same kind of feelings towards the IT people as she does the fleet
manager and mechanics.
o They could have serious problems if they do not keep up with technology.
o Currently, she will be voting yes on this budget issue.
Budget Issue #8 – Truth in Taxation
o City staff is proposing a 47 percent increase in Orem’s portion of the property tax,
which comes out to be approximately $8 a month on a $180,000 home
o Cities have 3 sources of general tax revenue: sales tax, property tax, and franchise
tax.
o Cities are reluctant to raise property taxes, and the franchise tax can only be raised
so much, so cities work hard to create a large sales tax base.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.24)
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Sales tax revenues can vary greatly from year-to-year and are not a dependable
source of revenue for an organization charged with providing constant services.
Orem’s sales tax has declined by millions of dollars in the past few years, and she
believes city funding models need to change so cities are not so dependent on sales
tax.
She stated she will not cut the employee match for retirement, as that is Orem’s
Social Security Program, since the employees are not a part of Social Security.
 She said it is ironic that those who would advocate the privatization and
personal choice of Social Security monies are so quick to want to cut Orem’s
program, which is one that allows personal choice.
She will not cut the number of employees or the operational funds of the City any
further.
 They are at the point where any more cuts will greatly hurt the community.
 The level of service Orem residents have come to expect, deserve,
and demand will be compromised.
 She listed several scenarios that could happen if cuts were made.
She will not use Enterprise Fund reserves for operational costs.
 Last summer a steam roller fell into a large hole on 1200 North. The incident
cost about $200,000 to fix, and the monies came from reserves or emergency
funds.
 She questioned what would happen if they did not have that money.
 She asked what would have fallen by the wayside if that cost had to
be covered with another funding source.
She will advocate keeping the $975,000 for the University Mall agreement.
 The agreement is between the Woodbury Corporation and Orem City, not
Nordstrom .
 The agreement specifically addresses the viability of University Mall.
 It does contain very strong language about what the City may or may not be
obligated to do regarding Nordstrom; however, the agreement has a much
broader scope with the viability of the entire mall property.
 Everyone is anxious to see new anchors at the mall, but she does not think
they are any more anxious than the Woodbury Corporation.
 If the Council reviews the agreement and feels it is best to terminate the
agreement, the money could be reprogrammed to one-time-cost projects.
She supports the concept of UTOPIA; however, she is very unhappy with how the
last 8 years have evolved.
 The bottom line is they have a multimillion dollar annual pledge payment the
City has to make. They cannot get out of it. If they stop paying, the bond
holders will demand the State withhold Orem’s sales tax revenue to cover the
pledge amount.
 The City has used General Fund reserves to pay the pledge payments, and
they have reached an amount with the reserves that the State will not allow
the City to go below.
 There may be a need to use those reserves for something else, so she is
reluctant to postpone any funding decisions.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.25)
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She attended a meeting with City staff on January 11, 2012, (the day before
the meeting Mr. Andersen referenced in his recent Daily Herald editorial).
Staff made presentations about the UTOPIA situation, the need to pay the
pledge, and different options to do so. They discussed fees and taxes. The
staff reviewed all of the possible payment options they could think of.
 According to case law, in determining whether a municipal fee is
constitutional, taxes raise revenues for general governmental
purposes, examples are sales tax, property tax, transient room tax, and
franchise tax. The Utah Constitution says cities can levy and assess
taxes and borrow money, and Orem is at its maximum with all taxes
except property tax. The same case law says fees raise revenue to
either compensate the government for a provision of a specific service
such as a water, sewer, or street lighting fee, or for a regulatory
function to defray the governments cost of regulation, so that would
be like a business license or a building permit fee. A UTOPIA related
fee would have to be classified as a service fee. The same case law
mentions that to be a legitimate fee for service, the amount charged
must bear a reasonable relationship to the services provided. This
requirement is intended to prevent a fee from being used to generate
excessive revenues and becoming indistinguishable from a tax.
UTOPIA is not available throughout the entire community so,
therefore, the City is not able to charge a fee.
There have been suggestions of having a separate telecommunications utility
assessment area or local district, increasing the rate of an existing utility, or
adding UTOPIA as a line item on a utility bill. Again, that goes back to a
demonstrative benefit. Those who truly benefit are those who are connected.
People like her are not connected. Cities cannot create utilities to pay off
General Fund obligations such as UTOPIA. A telecommunications utility has
to be for infrastructure in Orem, and there is a lot of UTOPIA infrastructure
outside of Orem. The same types of problems exist for assessment areas or
local districts. Adding UTOPIA to a water or sewer utility runs afoul with the
courts as well, because case law holds that one cannot charge a fee to raise
General Fund revenues. UTOPIA is a General Fund debt. She said she
cannot, in good conscience, tuck a UTOPIA fee under the guise of a water or
sewer fee. In her mind, that is deceptive.
Provo owns its own utility company, considers iProvo to be a part of its
electrical utility, and is available to all residents and all the bonding only
benefits Provo residents. These four facts make it possible for Provo to
charge a utility fee. Orem does not have any of these with UTOPIA.
All of the preceding information was given in the January 12, 2012, meeting
Mr. Andersen attended and the January11, 2012, meeting she attended. After
listening to staff, it became apparent to her that there was really only one
option left to raise additional funding, and that was property tax.
Property tax is only one of three general revenue generators available to
cities. Since the UTOPIA bond payment is a General Fund debt, guaranteed
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.26)
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by sales tax revenue, it made sense and was the most transparent to her to
have a General Fund generator pay for a General Fund debt.
It has been suggested that the City put off any property tax increase until next
year or later. She would love to never raise property taxes; however, Orem
residents enjoy a quality of life that she is not willing to compromise.
She has been threatened by some that if she votes to raise property taxes she
will never see reelection. She stated that those people should feel ashamed of
themselves. They are demanding that she put her self-interest and any
political future she might have ahead of her community and those she serves.
During her tenure, she has always put the good of the community ahead of
any personal interest. The residents who are demanding she put self-interest
first tell her that they believe self-interest over public good is an appropriate
and acceptable behavior. She expressed concern for the community if any
more people who feel that way get elected.
Last week she was told it would be political suicide to vote for a property tax
increase, which she took to mean a Truth in Taxation hearing. If her political
career ends because she did her best, stood for what she believed, and voted
in a way that she felt was in the best interest of the community, then so be it.
Mrs. McCandless said she will be voting yes on this budget issue.
Mr. Seastrand thanked everyone for their comments that evening. He noted that he has enjoyed
talking with people about these issues. Many of those people have not attended the meetings, and he
feels it is important to get as broad a perspective as he can as he tries to represent the community as a
whole. He said he tries to balance decisions on a strategic level that are tied in with a vision he has
for the community. He has tried to go back and look at visional statements or feedback from
residents in terms of what they expect from the community. There was a recent survey done that gave
some pretty good indications of things that are important. Safety is very important to him. Orem
police officers do a wonderful job, and the vision they have for community safety is second to none.
Orem is currently ranked as the eighth safest city in the country for a city of its size. There has been a
significant reduction in gang activity and improvement in safety overall. The City wants to hire good
people. He did not think its vision is to have the lowest total cost and no taxes, therefore, they are not
looking for the most qualified but the person who will work for the least amount of money for the
job. He does not believe they should be the highest paid city, but he does not think they should be the
lowest. They should be fair and try to have an environment that is appreciative of the public
employees and recognize that the jobs they do are difficult and require a huge amount of sacrifice.
That is what they are paid for, and they should be paid fairly. They should try to do all they can to be
supportive of the community and try to work to improve it as a whole. He appreciates the work the
public employees have done. Mr. Seastrand said it is important that the roads continue to be in good
repair. The City needs to have an adequate level of funding to be able to maintain them. The
proposed budget seems to fit that level. He is sometimes concerned that they are cutting a little too
tight in that area, but he trusts staff’s recommendation that the proposed budget has adequate funds
to continue to maintain the roads. The parks in Orem are wonderful and provide a great place for the
community to come together. He was truly impressed with the level of participation in the
neighborhood cleanups and the efforts of the Neighborhoods in Action program. That is a strong
vision the City should continue to work toward to continue to have the parks clean and safe. The
long-term strategy the City has had in terms of the parks, in trying to work with other organizations
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.27)
such as the Alpine School District, has been a very valuable and conservative approach to provide an
excellent resource at the minimal amount possible. Economic development is important to the
community. The economy has suffered, and some residents are suffering. He is fully aware of that,
and he does not take it lightly. There is an important element in fostering an environment of
economic development. They needs jobs, they need the retail sector, and they need things to continue
to progress. He said it is important to keep the incentive for the University Mall as a vital element to
fill the anchor spots and generate additional retail sales tax. It also helps to maintain solid businesses
in the mall area. They have seen some tremendous growth in this area. He said he has confidence that
the incentive as a portion of the sales tax generation is important to maintain a strong retail base. The
community wants the City Council to be conservative and conscientious of what it costs to live in
Orem. There is no doubt that they expect a lot, and they expect to get a good value for their money.
He has been impressed with the relative rates compared to what similar cities charge for services.
Orem’s rates are currently the cheapest in the county. Some of the proposed budget changes will
move Orem up on the list, but they will still be lower than many cities. He recognized that it is not
prudent for the City Council to micromanage the staff. City management has prepared a budget, and
there are some areas that he would like to propose ideas for tweaking the budget. He said he is just
throwing these out as discussion points and looks forward to talking about them with the other
Councilmembers. Those ideas are as follows:
 He is fine with the increase in the water fee.
 He is fine with the increase in the sewer fee.
 He is concerned about the street lighting fee and would like to look at that.
 He is fine with the reduction in the solid waste fee.
 He is fine with retaining the incentive for the University Mall.
 He would like to find options to promote Orem businesses.
 The savings account is getting low.
o He does not want to dip into the reserve fund any further.
Mr. Seastrand said he received an interesting phone call today from an individual who brought up the
fact that the residents receive a tax benefit by paying more property taxes. He asked Mr. Andersen if
that is correct. Mr. Andersen indicated that it depends on the amount of a person’s income; however,
there could be a twenty-one percent benefit.
Mr. Seastrand indicated that he would like more property tax aspect versus the fee because they can
dial down the property tax but that may prove to be less cost effective than tweaking the fee side
down because the fee is not deductible. There are some pros and cons there that the $100 property
tax could have for a number of individuals in receiving $20 to $30 off their income tax.
Mr. Seastrand said he does not want to minimize the value of what the employees do. He wants to
recognize that this is a hard time for the residents as well as the employees. It is difficult to do a pay
raise when they are asking the residents to kick in more money. He said he is looking for a bit of a
balance in terms of not just one group of residents carrying the full bill and others not. Rather than a
pay raise, he asked if it would be possible to ask the employees to look at cost reductions to save
money and possibly receive a bonus at the end of the year based on how they perform. He said he
thinks the City runs pretty lean; however, from his management experiences, there are always
opportunities for continued improvement. He does not have the detail that staff has, but he would
like to push back and ask them to cut where they can and the result could be a bonus or longer term
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.28)
pay raise. He said he is hopeful that as sales tax revenues increase they can look at other options for
the UTOPIA payments and pay raises.
Mayor Evans said one variation he thought of was to do an up-to-2-percent merit increase based on
performance reviews. He had asked Mr. Chesnut about looking at those in the upper range of their
salaries and those employees would receive a smaller amount.
Mr. Sumner noted that he has been told in emails that if he votes for these increases he will not be
reelected. He said he is doing what he feels is best for the community. It is not necessarily the best
for himself. He was a good person before he was elected, and he will still be a good person when he
is done. The Councilmembers and the Mayor are doing the best they can with the information they
have and the difficult situation they are in. These are tough decisions. He invited many of the
residents to talk to him, email him, and call him to talk about the issues.
Mr. Sumner reiterated that he will not cut salaries, and he will not cut benefits. As he said last week,
that is what they do if they want to destroy an organization. He stated if that means his Council seat
next year, then so be it, but he will not cut salaries.
Mr. Sumner then reviewed the following issues as follows:
 Issue #1 – Water Rates
o He is fine with the $.41 increase.
 The City leaders many years ago had the vision to know that Orem would
need water.
 The City needs to pay their fair share for this water.
 He asked what size of meter most businesses have. Mr. Chesnut said most of
the residential meters are ¾”. The cost is going from $12.66 a month to
$13.07. He does not have a breakdown of the business meter size. A 1” meter
is $32.08 and will go to $33.12. Anyone can change from a 1” to a ¾” if they
want. It just depends on the water volume they want.
 Issue #2 – Sewer Rates
o He enjoys the benefits he gets with the sewer system and does not mind that
increase.
o He questioned if the increase is for multiple units. Mr. Chesnut said it is based on
the volume of water that is used according to the meter.
 Issue #3 – Street Lighting Fee
o He noted he has some questions about the $2 increase. He met with a group last
night, and one of them just returned from being the maintenance engineer for the
Nauvoo Temple. They use LED lighting and are saving $25,000 a year. He stated he
is not familiar with Led lighting, but he understands they can get more hours with it
and save maintenance and repair. Chris Tschirki, Public Works Director, stated they
currently have a little over 5,150 street lights in the city. Most of those are not LED;
however, staff is converting some at this time. Staff is looking at acquiring a federal
grant that would help pay for a transition to more energy efficient or cost saving
solutions for the street lighting. They project that Led usage will probably reduce the
power consumption between 50-80 percent. There is a one-time capital
improvement cost with that that staff is trying to work out through grants.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.29)
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Issue #4 – Solid Waste Fee Reduction
o He agrees with this reduction.
Issue #5 – Fleet Replacement
o He questioned where the old vehicles go, and where the money for them goes, and
whether staff has looked into leasing vehicles. Mr. Chesnut indicated the original list
was very long; however staff cut it back to fourteen vehicles. Public Safety will
receive eleven of the fourteen vehicles. Based on the condition of the vehicles, many
of them have high mileage, they are sent to the auction to be sold. Some of the
vehicles, such as ambulances and fire engines, are marketed. There is not a lot of
money that is gathered by selling them. Some vehicles are down streamed. The
money from the vehicle sales go back into the General Fund. Staff has looked at
different lease options on various types of equipment. They do implement lease
programs on some of the equipment such as backhoes and loaders. Public Safety has
looked at leasing police cars before; however, the studies that have been conducted
do not prove it will save the kind of money that would justify going to a lease
program.
Issue #6 – Salary Increase
o He stated his position was not to cut salaries or benefits.
 He gave several incidents where his family needed the City employees.
 The employees are what makes the City of Orem a great place to live.
o He suggested looking at a new incentive-based raise system, such as paid days off or
comp time.
 Washington City instituted a tiered pay raise that benefited the lower end
employees.
 He asked the City Manager to look into something like this and other
incentives.
Mr. Sumner indicated UTOPIA had some management problems when it first started out.
The bottom line is the City owes money for UTOPIA at this point. They are doing much
better with the organization now, and they have made progress in improving the financial
structure of the fiber optic network. Mr. Sumner indicated the CEO of UTOPIA, Todd
Marriott, is in attendance at the meeting. Mr. Sumner told him that Orem needs to get this
thing moving. They need some help, direction, marketing, and whatever it takes to sign up
the people who can get it and expand to the people who do not have it. He challenged Mr.
Marriott to do that. He said he does not care about the ten other cities. He just cares about
Orem.
Mrs. Black said it gets harder and harder not to repeat something that has already been said;
however, it is her responsibility to say what she thinks and how she feels. She thanked those who
attended the open houses and expressed appreciation that they took that time to investigate and find
out the real facts. She thanked staff for their herculean efforts to get the information out to the public.
She voiced gratitude to those who have spoken this evening and at last week’s meeting. It does take
courage to speak up because it is a scary thing to do. Mrs. Black noted she is very sensitive to the
challenges residents are facing. Many people who have learned the real facts, are okay with the
proposed increase of $8 a month; however, for others it will be difficult for them to come up with
that amount. The Council realizes that. She reviewed her thoughts on the issues as follows:
 Issue #1 – Water Rate
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.30)
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o This has to be done to pay for the increased cost from Jordanelle Reservoir.
o She is in favor of this proposal.
Issue #2 – Sewer Rate
o This will cover the higher cost for gas and power.
o This is a reality that they have to pay.
Issue #3 – Street lighting Fee
o This is additional funding that is needed for power and repairs.
o This is a valid need; however, she feels this fee could be put on hold for the time
being and reconsidered in the future if that is what the City Council felt was a good
action to take.
Issue #4 – Solid Waste Fee
o She is happy to have that fee reduced.
Issue #5 – Vehicle Replacement
o Vehicles have not been replaced for several years.
o They have done the very thing that people are recommending to do.
o They must do some replacement now for cost effectiveness.
Issue #6 – Employee Compensation
o Employees have had no raises for four years. They have been asked to do extra, and
the City has eliminated twenty positions. Employees have performed well and even
done janitorial work on a voluntary basis to help the City save money. There is some
cost of living increase needed. Other entities have cost of living adjustments this
year, such as Utah Valley University receiving a 1 percent increase, Provo City over
2 percent, and she thinks she read that there will be a 3 percent Social Security
increase this year.
o The question is what percentage the City can do. As she has listened to Mr.
Seastrand and his idea of incentivizing the employees, she is recommending a
1 percent cost of living adjustment for all of the employees and then perhaps do
some incentivizing at the end of the year depending on what happens.
o It has been interesting to see all of the rhetoric and handouts that have gone out. She
has been a little disturbed that the average Utah gross income is compared with the
Orem employee income will all of the estimated benefits included. That does not
seem to be a fair comparison. In reality, there are 17 employees out of 436 full-time
employees who make more than $100,000 base income per year. Those who earn
these salaries are highly educated, trained and experienced, and they manage many
employees with very complicated responsibilities. Most of these people have
worked for the City for 20-30 years. These professional employees contribute
greatly to the quality of life and services the residents enjoy in Orem. Employee
salaries are based on a nationally recognized and respected compensation scale, the
HAY scale, that is measured against the same or similar job descriptions of other
like cities in this area.
o Orem City does not participate in Social Security, so the 457 Savings Plan the City
participates in with a percentage match is intended to replace that, in addition to
helping some employees who do not participate in Medicare.
Issue #7 – Computer and Technology Upgrades
o This is a one-time expense to maintain efficiency.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.31)
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It is a cost effectiveness measure. If they do not upgrade to what they need, they will
start losing rather than gaining.
Issue # 8 – General Fund Operational and Improvement Needs
o The major reason for the property tax increase proposal is to provide a way to have
balanced sustainable funding for all City services, including the UTOPIA pledges
the City is legally obligated to pay.
o The bottom line with UTOPIA is that City’s best course of action is to make
UTOPIA succeed so these pledge amounts can be reduced
o The City has organized a very able citizen’s committee to look into all aspects of
UTOPIA and make recommendations regarding this effort. They are working hard to
see what the best course of action is.
o In the past couple of months, a backbone structure has been installed in Orem that
connects important things like schools, wells, and hospitals. That will make it easier
in the future to connect neighborhoods and businesses.
o UTOPIA has been doing marketing in the areas where the infrastructure is available
 Several hundred new customers have signed up. That needs to continue and
be more aggressive.
o The City has relied heavily on sales tax revenues in the past. During the last 4 years,
Orem has lost nearly $4 million in sales tax revenues. They have made cuts in the
budget to offset it.
 She has seen the challenges with that and the efforts the various departments
have made.
o Orem’s property taxes have not been raised in 34 years and is among the lowest of
comparable cities
 If the proposed increase is approved, Orem’s taxes would still be less than
Provo’s.
o It is important to have an appropriate balance between sales tax, which is a highly
volatile, and property tax, which is more stable.
 The portion of property tax that goes to Orem City is a small amount. It is
about 15 percent of the total property tax.
 The increase is only on Orem’s portion of the tax.
 The average home would pay $8 more each month.
o Truth in Taxation should go forward because it is important for the City to have this
balanced taxation that will make it possible to move forward in a viable manner in
the future.
Mrs. Black indicated Mr. Andersen had given them some suggestions during the meeting last week.
She was disappointed that she did not receive those directly from him ahead of time. She had to ask
for a copy after the meeting. Some of his suggestions were as follows:
 Cutting the University Mall subsidy
o As she has considered this, she feels it is an important economic tool that the City
must retain at this time. They need to have a viable healthy situation in that area.
 Cutting organization dues
o Drop some of the memberships in elective organizations
 The biggest organization is the Utah League of Cities and Towns
membership.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.32)
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She is the City’s representative for that, and she sees the value of
keeping that membership. it is an important lobbying tool for the
City.
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They need to keep those essential organization dues.
Travel for Training
 Travel and food for training has been cut to what is absolutely necessary for
employees to have the training that they need.
 This has already been addressed by the City Manager.
Economic Development
 CEDO has been taken under the umbrella of the City, and those funds are
used to pay for the employees.
 Economic development is vital to the City of Orem.
Matching retirement funds
 This is the City’s alternative to Social Security.
Health and Dental Insurance
 She said the City has a viable program and the $50 per month might seem
small; however, the employees have a very large deductible amount they need
to pay.
Mrs. Black expressed her appreciation for everyone’s efforts to look at things and think about them.
She said she is ready to listen.
Mrs. Street asked Todd Marriott to speak about the status of UTOPIA.
Mr. Marriott stated that he essentially works for the City. He has heard this evening that it is a job he
needs to work harder at in letting the residents know that UTOPIA is an extension of Orem in putting
a very critical infrastructure into the city. He moved to Utah four years ago to help revitalize, build,
and put it in place. As he has listened to the comments this evening, he would like to make certain
that the residents know they can call and come up to his office to express their concerns. He would
have many of the same concerns the residents have if he did not know a lot of what is going on. It is
frequently difficult for UTOPIA to communicate those things because it is are not a public relations
firm. They are careful about the dollars they spend and are sometimes criticized for spending money
on marketing and other times criticized for not marketing enough. He stated that, in terms of
UTOPIA, he believes in this effort. He sees it like the electrical infrastructure that was put into place
100 years ago. There were some against that infrastructure, too. Over time, that electrical
infrastructure made lives better and more effective. UTOPIA is also infrastructure. Mr. Marriott said
he is extremely fiscally conservative, and he agrees with Abraham Lincoln that the government
should not do for the people what the people can do for themselves. He has worked in the private
sector most of his life. This is not about faster connections to the Internet; although, UTOPIA
provides those pipes that private companies use to provide the fastest Internet on earth. UTOPIA
helps the firefighters be safer and more effective. It helps the water flows be better, and monitors
things that will affect residents’ lives just like electrical infrastructure. UTOPIA is not a fiber
company. It is a connectivity agency. This infrastructure is critical, and if there was any private
company that could provide it in the way and under the same parameters that it needs to be provided,
then he would recommend that UTOPIA step out of the way and let them do it. The fact of the matter
is, just like they did with railroads, electrical, and sewer, this infrastructure is the build of this
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.33)
century, and to do it makes the community better. Mr. Marriott noted that they have, as an agency,
made mistakes. There have been unwise decisions made, not maliciously or negligently, but at times
UTOPIA was at the forefront. People have talked to him and said that UTOPIA was the worst
experience they have ever had. However, UTOPIA is pipes. They do not provide any of the services.
They provide the conduit for those services. Mr. Marriott said UTOPIA is the most free market
infrastructure and quasi-public/private partnership in the United States. He agreed with Mr. Sumner.
He is here tonight, and he has heard the complaints about the lawns being torn up. UTOPIA
subcontracts that work out, but in the end it is UTOPIA’s responsibility. He committed that they will
work harder and be more aggressive to continue to promote these solutions. Mr. Marriott gave the
following statistics:
 Thirty-eight percent of Orem is built
 Twenty-eight percent of the residents in those areas subscribe to UTOPIA
 Many businesses use it.
 This year alone, 2,800 residents of Orem called UTOPIA and asked them to get the service to
their homes.
Mrs. Street expressed appreciation to Mr. Marriott for his comments. She thanked the residents for
staying at the meeting and for their willingness to be a part of the conversation. She had someone ask
her tonight if she was listening to them, and Mrs. Street said yes she is listening and is taking notes.
There are people in the audience that support UTOPIA and cannot get it. There are people in the
audience that are philosophically opposed to UTOPIA and would not get it if they had the
opportunity. She said she can help one group, but she cannot help the other. Not only is the City
obligated to UTOPIA because they have a fiduciary responsibility to support UTOPIA, she believes
in UTOPIA. It is not just something she is doing against her will. It is something that she full
heartedly supports. This is a benefit to the community. She relayed an experience she had working as
a cashier at the grocery store in 1985. The food had the price tags on them, and she would punch that
number into the cash register. One day she had a customer tell her that someday the food would have
a bar code on it, and the cashiers would be able to scan it instead of punching buttons. She said she
thought they were crazy. She also had a customer tell her that someday everyone would carry a card
they would use to pay for things with and it would take the money directly from their bank accounts.
Mrs. Street stated at the time she thought that would be pretty cool. A few years later she graduated
from college and started working for Word Perfect. While working there, she traveled to the
southeast and met with someone from the Georgia Institute of Technology. This individual told her
about a project he was working on that would be called the Worldwide Web. He told her that one of
these days educational institutions would use the Worldwide Web as would government and regular
residents. Mrs. Street said she had no idea that when these people told her about these things that
they would actually come to pass. She never envisioned that she could do all her banking at home.
There are so many different things that her family can do now because of the technology that did not
exist 25 years ago, and that rides on the fiber that the City is putting into its streets as infrastructure.
Mrs. Street said a resident commented earlier that a Statesman is concerned about future generations
and a politician is concerned about the next election. She stated that it may not be politically
expedient to approve a property tax for things that some folks do not understand or do not support;
however, it is her job to understand where the City is in the cycle of infrastructure. Utah Valley is
growing incredibly intelligent people. It is the home of two major universities with about 70,000
students, and they are the home of high-technology companies that are attracting talent, attention,
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.34)
and jobs from all over the world. That is partly because of the commitment to things like fiber optic
infrastructure. The benefits to that are far reaching because it is those jobs that bring money into the
community by shopping at the mall, to support the local businesses, to give them the sales tax they
need to be able to pay for the library, parks, policemen, and ambulance, etc. Fiber optics is an
absolute necessity moving forward. It is not something they want everyone doing one of, just like she
would not want parallel sewer lines going to her house. She wants a fiber optics infrastructure in the
street owned by Orem City. For the people philosophically opposed to UTOPIA, she cannot change
their minds, but she can say that, moving forward as a city to make the most fiscally responsible
decision they can make, would be to roll it out and to get it deployed throughout the entire city so
everyone has equal access to it. That is something they could have a fee structure for. The current
infrastructure has an existing obligation, and it is an appropriate expense to include in the budget as a
general obligation and a candidate for a Truth in Taxation hearing. Moving forward, she agrees with
Mr. Sumner in that she supports the UTOPIA partners and the UIA partners, but her primary concern
is Orem. She does not want to do anything to hurt or work against the UTOPIA partners, but she
does want to make sure that Orem puts its interest out there and does everything it can to reduce the
overall cost, which they will. If they deploy the system on a quicker schedule, they get the benefits of
economy of scale. Getting the residents to sign up would reduce the overall total cost of the system to
the City. She said that is the discussion they should be having. The City should be adding that fee to
the budget and considering it right now. They can go back and discuss this after the Truth in
Taxation hearing, because as a fee the City can take time to get more input from residents. They do
not have to make the decision tonight. They can have more public hearings on it and ask City staff to
prepare an RFP and go out to providers to determine the cost. They do have an estimate of $30
million to complete the system in Orem. The City needs to know an exact number, how long it will
take to complete, and what the fee would be. They could then do a revenue bond to finish it out, so
they can immediately start realizing the benefit for the entire city.
Mrs. Street advised that she supports moving ahead with the Truth in Taxation hearing, and she
supports that portion of the budget. In terms of employee compensation, she said she will not send a
vote tonight of no confidence in the City Manager or City employees. She will not do it because they
have asked a lot of the employees. There has been a decrease in sales tax revenues, and staff has
economized where possible. City employees do the janitorial work. Mrs. Street said Mrs.
McCandless did a fabulous job of describing her thoughts on the Orem City employees, and Mrs.
Street supports that 100 percent. She said she does like the idea of asking staff to look at a merit
based structure. She agrees with the dollar amount. Regarding the other budget items, such as the
water, sewer, and street lighting fee, she is in support of those. If she could get other
Councilmembers to support it, she would recommend the City get a firm commitment that evening to
go ahead and do the rest of UTOPIA now.
Mr. Andersen noted that Councilmembers have made suggestions about the pay increase and three
have questioned the implementation of the street lighting fee. He wondered if the City Council will
vote on this tonight, or if they would have another meeting next week. Mayor Evans indicated they
will vote on this tonight. They will try to come up with a motion where they get a majority tonight on
all the issues in the proposed budget.
Mr. Chesnut suggested the Council go through each issue and decide on each item. The budget has to
be submitted to the State by June 22, 2012.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.35)
Mr. Andersen said he appreciates the people being here. Last year four City employees and Bob
Wright participated in the budget hearing. There are 111 so far this year, which is something. There
were some questioned raised about this petition. They got going on it after talking with the City
Manager, City Attorney, and the City Manager in Highland. Mr. Andersen said he has also spoken
with Utah County. He was trying to get a petition to put things on the ballot with Wayne Burr, but a
few weeks after that, the County said it could not be placed on the ballot. Now the petition
encourages the City Council not to vote for the tax increase. It is not over; round two will be on
August 14, 2012. Mr. Andersen said his perspective on the power structure in Orem is the residents,
then the City management and employees, and then the City Council. That is how things operate.
One of the reasons he pushed this petition for was that he feels the residents were left out of the loop
in what has happened before. Two years ago the City Council voted to put $6 million more into
UTOPIA and UIA, and most of the residents did not know that. Sales tax has been dropping since
2008.
Mr. Andersen asked his wife to put information on the overhead projector. He said the primary
things they are discussing this evening are the pay increase and UTOPIA. One of the things that has
been raised on the UTOPIA issue is there are 31,000 businesses and homes in Orem. That would
give them 31,000 potential users of UTOPIA, and right now the number is 3,050. That is less than 10
percent of the people in Orem that actually use the service. That is what they are up against. He
wondered if they are going to pay for this with a property tax increase or not. This is not new. Sales
tax has been dropping, and everyone knows that. He said he feels that 2 years ago the residents got
left out of the loop because if they had had a chance to vote on this, he would not be having this
discussion. They would not be discussing how much money the City wants, how much they are
going to raise in taxes, and how much they are going to have in pay increases. They would be
discussing this is how much the residents said the City can have and this is what the City is going to
do. He expressed his opinion that the residents got left out of the loop, which is the reason he wanted
to push the petition. He urged the residents to contact Mr. Burr because that might be the only way
they can vote on this.
Mr. Andersen indicated he does not know what will happen in the future as far as UTOPIA goes.
One thing they have talked about is building out the whole city. As he looks at Provo City, they have
about 10,000 more population and they are totally built out. They have had as many as
10,500 customers, and they are down to between 5,500 and 6,000 now. Provo City makes the
payments. He noted he is not sure Orem has to follow that, but he is afraid that is what they are faced
with.
Mr. Andersen then proposed the following:
 Eliminate the pay increase of $576,000
 Eliminate the $400,000 utility increase
 Eliminate the $176,000 of proposed property tax increase for the Self-Insurance Fund
Mr. Andersen advised the disadvantage to this is that City employees have not had a pay increase in
three to four years depending on how they want to overlap the cross years. That is not good either.
However, he is proposing that for one year the City hold off on the pay increase. That will give the
residents time to vote on it. He does not want just the City Council or City employees to have a voice
in this. This is not a Teton Dam disaster. This was known. The residents should have voted on this
but did not. The people that pay the bills are the ones who should be listened to first.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.36)
Mr. Andersen moved to eliminate the pay increase. The motion failed for lack of a second.
Mr. Seastrand indicated that part of the issue they are looking at is to identify what the options are
and have the discussion. He would not mind discussing more around that line, but he is not ready to
second Mr. Andersen’s motion.
Mr. Chesnut asked whether the elimination of the utility fee is the street lighting fee. Mr. Andersen
stated that is correct. He had people call him to say that when the City said they were going to do the
lights, they said they would leave it in the General Fund. Now that the lights are done, the City is
trying to move it.
Mr. Chesnut said he appreciates the relationship Mr. Andersen has with the street lighting fee and the
salary increases. The salary increase Mr. Andersen has on his overhead display of $576,000 is for all
funds and not just the General Fund. The General Fund is $477,000 and when the employees are
added in from the other Enterprise Funds, it does total $576,000.
Mr. Andersen moved that employees lose one year of the matching savings account, which would
save $960,000. This has been referred to as a replacement for Social Security. In addition to this
matching fund of $960,000, the State provides 17.9 percent which is mandatory. In addition to that,
the City has chosen to have matching savings retirement accounts running from 4 to 7.5 percent. Mr.
Andersen said when he was sworn in last January, he asked the Human Resource Manager how
many City employees participate in this program and he said all but 2 or 3. Mr. Andersen said this is
a great program, and if someone is going to match his funds, he would do it, too. What that amounts
to though is $976,000 and almost every single City employee participates in it because they realize
that saving money is better than spending it. That is almost like a 4 percent pay increase. He is
proposing this be stopped for 1 year, and this does not affect the firemen or the police. The motion
failed for lack of a second.
Mr. Chesnut clarified that the police and firemen do participate in this program, so it would affect
them as well.
Mr. Andersen moved that employees making over $100,000 each year lose 1 year of matching
savings retirement and employees making over $90,000 would pay $450 per month for their health
insurance. This would save $858,000. The disadvantage to this is that employees making over
$90,000 would have an additional $4,800 that they would pay for out of their check. The motion
failed for lack of a second.
Mr. Seastrand said Mr. Andersen quoted a lot of numbers in terms of wages. He asked whether the
$90,000 is the total compensation amount or if it was the actual gross wage.
Mr. Andersen said it is the total package.
Mr. Seastrand noted that if they take that down, they are talking about employees who are making
between $50,000 to $60,000 in wages.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.37)
Mr. Andersen said he did not back in to where that landed down below because there are policemen
and firemen who have one retirement fund that is entirely different. They have health and dental
insurance, so he did not attempt to break it down. He got a list of payroll from the City and took their
total compensation and went down like that.
Mr. Seastrand reaffirmed that the reality is that Mr. Andersen is talking about eliminating the Social
Security equivalent benefit for employees who are making in the $50,000 to $60,000 range.
Mr. Andersen said he supposed they can call it a Social Security equivalent but 17.9 percent is
something that most people do not have. He said he is also just proposing this for 1 year to allow the
residents a chance to vote on this.
Mrs. Black stated that it is her understanding the Utah County Elections officer indicated that placing
these issues on the ballot is not allowed under Utah State law. That fact has been reaffirmed by the
State Attorney General. It does not give an option for the ballot in a year from now.
Greg Stephens, City Attorney, clarified that his office gave its opinion that based on State law, only
things that are specifically authorized in the Utah Code can be put on the ballot. That includes ballot
propositions, but not opinion questions. The Utah County Election officials agreed with that
interpretation as did the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. However, it is his understanding that the
Lieutenant Governor has requested an opinion from the Attorney General, but to his knowledge, that
opinion has not come forward.
Mr. Andersen said the attorneys are still discussing this, but he did not want to stop his efforts while
they talked about it.
Mr. Andersen then moved to eliminate the University Mall subsidy, which would save $975,000.
The mall has received over $10 million over the last 10 years. The current agreement is $975,000 a
year. The agreement specifically says that if Nordstrom moves out, they will no longer be entitled to
the $975,000. He questioned how rich someone has to be before they do not need a subsidy. He said
the mall should be able to carry its own water. He does not see the City going up and down the street
helping other businesses. The single restriction he saw on the $975,000 a year they have given them
is that they have to spend $50,000 on advertising. In 1998, when the agreement was initiated, the
sales tax generated was $1.4 million. The City made an agreement to give them back $975,000.
While the residents are paying for police and fire and everything else, the mall is getting two-thirds
of their money back. He said he does not know what the numbers are now, because he does not have
them.
Mr. Chesnut indicated the City received much more than that.
Mr. Andersen said he would like to have those numbers. Private enterprise should carry its own
water. He said the subsidies the City has given out are $55 to $60 million. The rich get richer, and
the smaller companies are paying for it. They are paying for stuff that the others do not, and the City
is subsidizing competition.
The motion failed for a lack of a second.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.38)
Mrs. Street said she has a comment about incenting the development the City wants and incenting
the outcomes they hope to achieve. With a Redevelopment Area (RDA) the City takes something
that is not giving them value, and they put in place a mechanism where they recapture a portion of
the value on a post-performance-based system. For example, if the City takes property that currently
needs help in order to generate income and provides incentives to develop that property, instead of
generating $1 tax dollar, it now generates $100 tax dollars. Giving $10 back to help pay for the costs
makes sense for the community. That is the kind of program they are looking at. It is a wise use of
resources in order to make sure the City gets the development it wants in the community. She
supports giving the mall the subsidy, and she will not vote against it.
Mr. Andersen stated that it is a philosophical opinion, and his is that the City should not give
$975,000 for the next 10 years to the mall.
Mr. Chesnut clarified that the Woodbury agreement is purely performance based. They have to
achieve certain benchmarks before any of that money is paid. The City protects itself by setting a
minimum that must be generated based on what happened prior to the remodeling of the mall and the
sales tax that was generated. If the mall generates revenues above that, the incentive kicks in and
they established a maximum that the City captures. The City has received millions of dollars above
the money it has paid to the mall. He asked Mr. Andersen to keep in mind that when the City entered
into this agreement, the mall invested millions of dollars of its own money into remodeling and
reconstructing this facility. That was part of the whole deal when the City went through with this
agreement. There are many components in this agreement that need to be considered. The City is
evaluating that right now as they move forward with economic development in trying to keep that
area vibrant and vital to the retail base in the community.
Mr. Andersen said his proposal to take away the incentive was for one year. They could go without it
for one year, and the agreement does say that Nordstrom is supposed to stay in there.
Mr. Andersen moved to cut employee travel for training, which would be a savings of $200,000. He
joked that people learn about things like UTOPIA when they go to these conventions. It might save
the City money if they do not come back with ideas like this. The motion failed for a lack of a
second.
Mr. Andersen moved to charge a credit card fee to users, saying it would save $200,000. The motion
failed for lack of a second.
Melodee Andersen, Mr. Andersen’s wife, commented that Mr. Andersen is striking out.
Mayor Evans advised that some of these suggestions might be something the Council will discuss in
a minute as a combination, but not directly how it is proposed.
Mr. Andersen moved to sell the surplus property the City owns. The City is in the process of selling
property right now, and he is going to be getting a list of all the City property. He proposed using the
$250,000 from the pending sale to help cut the budget shortfall and cut the property tax increase. The
disadvantage to this is they would not spend the money somewhere else. The motion failed for a lack
of a second.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.39)
Mr. Chesnut clarified that the property Mr. Andersen is referring to has already been sold, and the
revenue coming in from that had to be divided among the funds that purchased the property. The
majority of that money went into a water and storm water fund because that is what was used to
purchase the property, and the General Fund only got a small share of that.
Mr. Andersen moved to delay the purchase of half of the new vehicles and equipment. He proposed
cutting the amount down to $380,000, and this is for 1 year.
Mr. Andersen then moved to have the City leaders pay for their own meals at all City meetings. He
said thinks that will get them $4,000 into the budget. The Orem City Council and City Manager
would pay for their own meals. The disadvantage is that no one would get their free lunches.
The other Councilmembers stated they would be willing to look at that.
Mayor Evans noted there are a couple of key issues. Mr. Chesnut recommended the City Council
take them one-by-one.
Budget issue #1 – Water Rate Increase
Mrs. Street moved to approve the increase. Mrs. Black seconded the motion.
Mr. Seastrand asked Mr. Andersen how he feels about this one. Mr. Andersen indicated this has been
identified as a pass-through cost, so he does not think there is an option.
Mayor Evans called for a vote. The motion passed unanimously.
Budget Issue #2 – Sewer Rate Increase
Mrs. McCandless moved to approve the sewer rate increase. Mrs. Black seconded the motion. The
motion passed unanimously.
Budget Issue #4 – Solid Waste Fee Reduction
Mr. Seastrand moved to approve the solid waste fee reduction. Mr. Andersen seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.
Budget Issue #5 – Fleet Replacement
Mayor Evans wondered how much was originally submitted for fleet replacement. Mr. Chesnut
advised it was $1,583,000.
Mrs. McCandless moved to approve the fleet replacement of $600,000. Mrs. Black seconded the
motion.
Mr. Seastrand asked what the impact would be in delaying this.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.40)
Mr. Chesnut said they have watched this in the Fleet Services Department, and there is more cost
with repairs. It also makes response time slower. It is important to keep the ambulances up to date
and modern. The consequence would be the lack of performance and the high maintenance costs on
the older vehicles.
Mr. Seastrand stated that the majority of the vehicles is for Public Safety. He asked what the
potential impact would be for the four that are not Public Safety vehicles.
Mr. Chesnut indicated that one vehicle is for street lighting maintenance and the others are street
maintainers.
Mr. Seastrand said the impact of not replacing those would be increased maintenance costs. He said
he does not understand all of the aspects with this, but there comes a point when it becomes more
costly to keep than it does to get new ones.
Mr. Chesnut agreed. The Fleet Maintenance Division has specific criteria that a vehicle has to meet
in various areas, such as mileage, years of use, and the amount spent on corrective maintenance.
Mr. Seastrand asked Mr. Chesnut if it is his opinion that keeping these vehicles any longer really
does add additional cost, or if he thinks they could go a little longer. Mr. Chesnut explained that staff
has prioritized these vehicles as ones that need to be replaced.
Mayor Evans questioned how much this would leave in the General Fund reserves above the required
5 percent. Mr. Chesnut said they would be approximately 9.7 percent in the General Fund reserves.
Mayor Evans called for a vote. Those voting aye: Mrs. Black, Mayor Evans, Mrs. McCandless, Mr.
Seastrand, Mrs. Street, and Mr. Sumner. Those voting nay: Mr. Andersen. The motion carried with a
majority vote of 6 to 1.
Budget Issue #7 – IT Upgrades
Mayor Evans proposed they take the $160,000 out of the reserves instead of the General Fund.
Mrs. McCandless moved to take this amount out of reserves. Mrs. Black seconded the motion.
Mr. Seastrand clarified that this is equipment that has been prioritized. Mr. Manning concurred,
saying this is not for laptops or desk tops. It is primarily servers.
Mayor Evans called for a vote. Those voting aye: Mrs. Black, Mayor Evans, Mrs. McCandless, Mr.
Seastrand, Mrs. Street, and Mr. Sumner. Those voting nay: Mr. Andersen. The motion carried with a
majority vote of 6 to 1.
Budget Issues #3 and #6 – Street Lighting Fee and Employee Compensation
Mayor Evans moved that the City not increase the street lighting fee this year and that they do a
wage increase from 0 to 2 percent based on merit, and take the money out of reserves in the
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.41)
appropriate funds. He said they can look at this again next year to see if they need to have a street
lighting fee. Mr. Andersen seconded the motion.
Mr. Seastrand noted the current proposed amount for the full 2 percent is $575,000. He asked if
Mayor Evans is proposing this drops to 1 percent.
Mayor Evans stated that or maybe 1.5 percent. With the merit system, they budget the full amount,
but they go from 0 to the full amount based on performance. He would like to think that everyone
would meet the performance, but there are some who will be lower and others that will be higher.
Mr. Seastrand indicated he would like to have a total dollar amount to use as a guideline. Mr.
Chesnut said that would be appropriate. If they go up to 2 percent, then they would have that full
number in the budget.
Mr. Seastrand asked if that would take into consideration those employees who have been here a
shorter amount of time and are at the lower end of the scale versus the more senior employees who
are at the higher end of the scale or if it mattered. Mr. Chesnut explained that it would be based on
their performance.
Mayor Evans indicated this will be coming out of reserves, so if someone only received 1.5 percent,
it would be less coming out of reserves.
Mr. Chesnut said, knowing this is an ongoing expense, they will have to come back and address this
later. Mayor Evans indicated that is correct. If the sales tax does not pick up, they might have to
come back and look at the street lighting fee next year.
Mr. Chesnut questioned if it would be appropriate to reevaluate this in January next year. Mayor
Evans stated they can look at this during the year to see if the revenues are climbing. He is just
suggesting they postpone the street lighting right now because they have reserves over that 5 percent.
Mrs. Street asked whether they can reevaluate a fee midyear. Mr. Manning said they can look at fees
anytime there is a need.
Mrs. Street then requested clarification that if they move forward with this motion and find that sales
tax revenues are not where they need to be at the end of the year, they can come back and make the
appropriate adjustments to the lighting fee. Mr. Manning said that is correct.
Mrs. McCandless noted they tied issue #3 and issue #6 into the same motion, so she wanted to know
if they were voting on both of those together.
Mayor Evans changed his motion and moved not to to implement the street lighting fee this year.
Mr. Andersen seconded the motion. Those voting aye: Mr. Andersen, Mrs. Black, Mayor Evans, Mr.
Seastrand, Mrs. Street, and Mr. Sumner. Those voting nay: Mrs. McCandless. The motion carried
with a majority vote of 6 to 1.
Mayor Evans then moved to have the wage increase from 0 to 2 percent based on employee
performance, paid for out of the corresponding reserve funds. Mrs. Black seconded the motion.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.42)
Mr. Chesnut indicated the performance evaluation process for the City is in October and November.
Mr. Seastrand expressed concern with giving a pay raise when the property tax is still on the table.
He said he recognizes the hard work the employees do, which is why he has mixed feelings about
this. He is more comfortable asking for cost reductions that would drive bonuses. That could also be
used to fund the payroll increases that are also long term. Once they make the raise, it is in there. He
would perhaps consider a 1 percent total amount that could then be adjusted based on merit, but also
have some incentive to find continued improvements and cost reductions on an aggressive basis.
Mr. Sumner said he is not sure how this merit system works. He suggested it, but he is still trying to
watch out for the little guy. He is not sure how this addresses that and questioned whether the
department heads do the evaluations.
Mr. Chesnut explained that the City Council does his, and the immediate supervisor of the other
employees is who conducts the evaluations. The department directors review the evaluations, but
they do not write them. They only do the evaluations for those employees that report directly to them.
Mr. Sumner said he would like to see it spelled out before he makes a commitment to that. He loves
the employees, but he would like to see those on the bottom end taken care of.
Mr. Seastrand asked whether the merit evaluations are fairly well distributed or if it is like some
college grading where most people get As, a few get Bs, and some get Cs. Mr. Chesnut indicated the
evaluation process is purely based on performance, and there is a variation in scores based on the
individual performance of the employee.
Mrs. McCandless asked if the Councilmember are shifting in a direction where instead of having
cost of living and market adjustments, everything will be based on merit, or if they are never going
take cost of living into account anymore. She said she is not comfortable with a philosophical shift in
saying that the City has ruled out any type of market adjustment because they are now saying that the
market adjustment is really a merit based compensation.
Mayor Evans stated his intention is for just this year. The City Council can change that in the future.
In his experience in the private sector, the merit based raises are what they are moving to.
Mr. Manning explained that merit based raises are typically what the City does as well. Until the
recession, they have had merit issues every year, and as departments, they are very accustomed to
doing it.
Mr. Seastrand asked for Mr. Chesnut’s feedback. There have been a couple of trains of thought as far
as what level of merit raise and a concept of some bonus incentive of some sort instead. He would
like to know Mr. Chesnut’s perspective of how those things fit in.
Mr. Chesnut replied that, as Mr. Manning stated, the system works with the merit process, so he
would support that.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.43)
Mr. Seastrand asked to what level. There is a range from 0 to 2 percent. He said he is trying to get a
better handle on where that would end up. He asked what level of funding would be appropriate from
that standpoint.
Mr. Chesnut said the level they have talked about is up to 2 percent, so out of the General Fund it
would be $477,000 coming out of the reserve account. The rest would come out of the Enterprise
Funds accounts. He said he is comfortable with moving forward with that. Staff’s initial
recommendation was for an up to 2 percent increase. This will be based on performance and will not
automatically be given. He stated he does not know exactly where this will fall out for all of the
employees.
Mr. Seastrand said that is part of his challenge. When they say up to 2 percent, it might go all the
way to 2 percent. He thinks what they are trying to say is the full $575,000 is not the target amount.
Unless he is misunderstanding, they are trying to draw that number back down to a budgetary level.
Mayor Evans reflected that, since this is coming out of the reserves, if they do not need to use the
2 percent for everybody, that will leave a little more in the reserves.
Mr. Sumner questioned if this is something that needs to be decided tonight.
Mrs. McCandless noted they have to have the budget by June 22, 2012.
Mayor Evans said they could approve it and have Mr. Chesnut come back to the Council later to
show how the performance plan will work. Mr. Chesnut said they can do that. The performance
evaluations are not for a couple of months.
Mr. Sumner stated said he would like to see different options.
Mr. Seastrand asked if Mr. Sumner is looking at terms of how it is allocated or how much would be
allocated.
Mr. Sumner said he is looking at how it will be allocated and whether there will be a tiered approach
like Washington City; although, he does not know their exact details. He has nothing against giving
performance or increased compensation, but he would like to see on paper what they are doing.
Mr. Seastrand said he would still prefer to see a total dollar maximum. Mrs. McCandless stated it
would be $575,000.
Mr. Seastrand said it is, but he is assuming there will be some that are in the 0 and some that are in
1 and some 2. The average of 1 percent gives the discretion to give the 2. Maybe the option would be
to do a 1 percent now with a follow up after the valuations are done. He still feels like there should
be some incentive that ties with cost reductions that could be used to supplement what is going on
with the 1 percent.
Mrs. McCandless asked the Mayor to restate his motion so she understands exactly what she is
voting on.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.44)
Mayor Evans said his motion is to provide an opportunity for employees to earn from 0 to 2 percent
merit increase based on their performance reviews, the funds to come out of the appropriate reserves.
The maximum amount would be $575,000 but that number could be less.
Mayor Evans called for a vote. Those voting aye: Mrs. Black, Mayor Evans, Mrs. McCandless, and
Mrs. Street. Those voting nay: Mr. Andersen, Mr. Seastrand, and Mr. Sumner. The motion carried
with a majority vote of 4 to 3.
Budget Issue #8 – Truth in Taxation
Mr. Seastrand asked whether the changes they have made to the budget have affected the total
property tax amount that is needed. Mr. Manning said they are still looking at the full property
amount request.
Mr. Chesnut said staff needs to make one clarification about the language the City Council is looking
at tonight.
Mr. Stephens advised that they are not voting on a property tax increase tonight. They will just be
voting on whether to go through a Truth in Taxation hearing.
Mrs. Street moved to approve the City to go through the Truth in Taxation. Mrs. Black seconded the
motion.
Mr. Seastrand said here is where the Council could have some discussion about Mr. Andersen’s
recommendations because the idea on those would reduce this year’s property tax increase.
Mrs. McCandless asked Mr. Manning to explain the credit card fees. She said she is curious to know
if they have fewer delinquent accounts because they have a credit card system.
Mr. Manning said the advantage of the credit card is that the City is guaranteed the money. The
disadvantage is that it comes with a fee. The agreement the City entered into when it first began
accepting credit cards was that they would not charge an extra amount of money to people who use
it. The City has been doing this for a number of years, and if they cease taking credit cards, the
Internet transactions would have to stop, and they would have many more bounced checks. The City
would then have to go to collections. For getting money in the door, the credit cards are a very
effective way to do it. In addition, the way the world works monetarily, people almost demand it of
the City. He is not sure if the City could redo the contracts with Visa to allow the City to tack on a
charge.
Mr. Seastrand stated that his experience in business is that even though there is a fee, there is a huge
savings in the convenience. One of the things as he talks about improvements in productivity and
operational costs, this is an area where the residents can help by signing up for automatic bill pay. It
reduces the postage and a number of other costs the City incurs in the process of collecting the fees.
It also reduces bad debt. There could be a logical argument that the way to have some long-term cost
improvements would be to make it easier to do credit and debit card payments in those types of
elements. He said he does think there needs to be a stringent look at the fees the City is paying to
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.45)
make sure it is paying the most competitive fee rates that it can. He said it would be
counterproductive to tack on a fee or to not take credit or debit card payments.
Mayor Evans asked whether there were any other items for discussion. Mr. Andersen said they could
look at cutting travel.
Mayor Evans then asked how much the travel budget has already been cut. Mr. Chesnut said he does
not have an exact number, but the $230,000 is for all of the certification and training for all
employees. Staff has cut and reduced travel quite a bit over the last 4 years.
Mrs. McCandless said she can support a reduction in travel out of state at this point, unless it is
needed for certification. The City Council has not gone out of state to conferences for years.
Mr. Chesnut stated that the only individuals who have been participating in any out-of-state travel
this past year has been the department directors. There have been some who have traveled out of
state because it is the only way they can get their certification.
Mrs. McCandless said she recognizes the value of conferences. As she has attended conferences in
other parts of the country, she can see the value of them. However, she is comfortable limiting the
nonessential training.
Mayor Evans noted that they could have some sort of approval process. The Alpine School District
requires an application for out-of-state travel be brought to them for approval.
Mr. Chesnut advised that the conferences are very beneficial in the knowledge the employees gain.
Mrs. Black stated the value outweighs the savings the City would receive. She wants the employees
to be up-to-date.
Mayor Evans called for a vote. Those voting aye: Mrs. Black, Mayor Evans, Mrs. McCandless, Mr.
Seastrand, Mrs. Street, and Mr. Sumner. Those voting nay: Mr. Andersen. The motion carried with a
majority vote of 6 to 1.
Mr. Seastrand moved, by resolution, to approve and adopt the Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013
Budget with the recommended changes, adopt the compensation programs, adopt the fees and
charges schedule, franchise tax, municipal energy sales and use tax, telecommunications license tax,
transient room tax and E-911 fee rates, amend the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Budget, and set a public
hearing on August 14, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. to hold a Truth in Taxation hearing for the purpose of
adopting a property tax rate in excess of the certified tax rate. Mrs. Street seconded the motion.
Those voting aye: Mrs. Black, Mr. Evans, Mrs. McCandless, Mr. Seastrand, Mrs. Street, and Mr.
Sumner. Those voting nay: Mr. Andersen. The motion carried with a majority vote of 6 to 1.
RECESS TO A REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF OREM MEETING
Mrs. McCandless moved to recess to a Redevelopment Agency of Orem meeting. Mr. Seastrand
seconded the motion. Those voting aye: Mr. Andersen, Mrs. Black, Mr. Evans, Mrs. McCandless,
Mr. Seastrand, Mrs. Street, and Mr. Sumner. The motion passed unanimously.
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.46)
**The meeting recessed at 12:53 a.m.
**The meeting resumed at 1:11 a.m.
MOTION - Authorizing the Mayor to sign an Agreement Between the City of Orem, Utah
Valley University, and the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Orem Related to the Utah
Valley University Business Resource Center
In 2008, the City, through the Commission for Economic Development in Orem (CEDO), received a
$1.5 million grant from the United States Economic Development Administration (EDA) to
construct the Business Resource Center (BRC) in cooperation with Utah Valley University (UVU).
The intent of the project was to create a comprehensive business incubation and infrastructure
development resource for Utah’s new and emerging business interests.
Jamie Davidson, Assistant City Manager, presented a staff recommendation that the City Council, by
motion, authorize the Mayor to sign an agreement between the City of Orem, Utah Valley
University, and the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Orem related to the Utah Valley University
Business Resource Center.
As part of the original $1.5 million EDA grant application, CEDO agreed to contribute $500,000
towards construction of the new facility. In turn, UVU also agreed to financially assist in the
construction of the center with a $2 million commitment to the project. In an effort to work through
the parameters and limitations of UVU’s financial commitment to the project, it was agreed that the
university would fund construction of the facility and seek reimbursement for CEDO’s share of the
project upon occupancy of the building.
The BRC was completed and occupied in January 2012. It occupies space that was formerly a
General Motors Saturn automobile dealership, which sat vacant for a number of years. As a result,
payment of CEDO’s $500,000 is now due and payable. The attached agreement serves to clarify the
relationship between UVU, CEDO, the City of Orem, and the Redevelopment Agency of the City of
Orem. Given the consolidation of CEDO into the City of Orem’s operations, the City has a signature
line on the agreement. In return for participation in the BRC, UVU agrees to do the following for the
City of Orem and the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Orem:
1. Give special consideration to individuals and/or businesses desiring to operate or open a
business within the city or whose business will directly benefit the City’s business
community. Special consideration includes granting Orem start-ups preferential status in
allocating space within the BRC’s incubator program, and granting Orem start-ups
preference in all other services offered through the BRC.
2. The City will be given one permanent seat on each of the following BRC boards: BRC
Executive Committee; Incubator Board; BRC Coordinating Council; and any future board
constituted by the BRC.
3. The City/RDA will be given permanent office space in the BRC facility, dedicated to the
City‘s use at no charge for a period of fifteen years.
Given the general purpose and mission of the BRC, namely the promotion and support of business
and economic development in the City of Orem, it is recommended that payment of the noted
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 (p.47)
$500,000 commitment come from the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Orem, and specifically
RDA 85-03-B to which the BRC is a part. As outlined in the ordinance creating RDA 85-03-B in
1985, the redevelopment project area provides for the redevelopment and rehabilitation of lands
contained in the area and other actions consistent with state and local law as may be approved by the
RDA, including the support and promotion of economic development for private enterprise and
public agencies which uses include commercial, research and development.
Mrs. Street moved to authorize the Mayor to sign an agreement between the City of Orem, Utah
Valley University, and the Redevelopment Agency of the City Of Orem related to the Utah Valley
University Business Resource Center. Mr. Seastrand seconded the motion. Those voting aye: Mr.
Andersen, Mrs. Black, Mr. Evans, Mrs. McCandless, Mr. Seastrand, Mrs. Street, and Mr. Sumner.
The motion passed unanimously.
COMMUNICATION ITEMS
There were no communication items.
CITY MANAGER INFORMATION ITEMS
There were no information items.
Mrs. McCandless suggested they postpone the closed-door meeting to the next City Council
meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Andersen moved to adjourn the meeting. Mrs. McCandless seconded the motion. Those voting
aye: Councilmembers Hans Andersen, Margaret Black, Jim Evans, Karen A. McCandless, Mark E.
Seastrand, Mary Street, and Brent Sumner. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 1:12 a.m.
Donna R. Weaver, City Recorder
Approved: July 10, 2012
Special City Council Minutes – June 19, 2012 – (p.48)