Commissioner Jonathan Lee

 

January/February 2022
Hello Rich County Friends,

After one year, I can tell you I love serving this county, and I'm happy to continue to give it my all.  I apologize because I tend to write how I speak, and I sometimes speak funny.  So if you're having a hard time reading this, know it's me, not you. ;)

Let's recap some of the county commission's actions in 2021.  Some items were campaign promises by me, other things were already in the works, and some were a little of both.

- Increased real-time transparency by streaming meetings
- Started collecting data in the sanitation department with iPads and an application that tracks dumpsters.  This data will allow us to make a more informed and justified decision regarding fees and trash usage.
- Rich County declared Second Amendment supporting county.
- Increased average pay for full-time employees by more than $5000 annually from 01/01/21 to today.
- Continued to augment inter-governmental relationships through Bear River Association of 
Governments, Bear Lake Regional Commission, and attending town council meetings
- For the first time, starting this year in 2022, our volunteer EMTs will be compensated.  We are still figuring out a structure that works, but money has been set aside and budgeted for this purpose.
Increased Transient Room Tax from 3% to 4.25%.  When visitors book and stay in rentals in the county, TRT tax is paid on those transactions by visitors.  TRT is collected by the state and then passed back to the county.

Let's talk about Transient Room Tax and why raising it from 3% to 4.25% was needed.  Utah State Legislature established TRT tax for counties and the state to collect additional revenue for advertising and promoting the state.  Slowly through legislation, counties have carved out some portion of TRT funds to be used on "Projects," in smaller counties, there is some carveout for "Mitigation." County TRT projects in previous years include pickleball courts, rodeo ground improvements, concession stand at the fairground, park improvements, holiday decorations, etc.  As currently legislated, a county that collects at the 3% rate needs to split the money spending 66% on promotion and advertising and 33% on projects.  Some of that 33% can be used on mitigation in the smallest counties, like supplementing the Sheriff's Department or sanitation.  Helping those services through TRT funds makes sense since continued promotion means increased use of those services.  

The ratio for spending TRT money changes when the rate increases.  This ratio is why we needed to raise the TRT from 3% to 4.25%.  When raising TRT to the maximum of 4.25%, the ratio flips to 54% of the collected revenue can be allocated for mitigation and projects, and the remaining 47% goes towards promotion.

Rich County collected just over $800,000 in TRT tax this last year (up from $550,000ish in 2020.) About $40,000 of  2021 TRT revenue helped the Sheriff's Department and an equal amount to sanitation.  Both are the heaviest impacted by visitors.  The rest of the 2021 TRT  "project" portion went to the towns for various projects.  That leaves close to $500,000 for promotion which is quite a bit.  Using rough estimation, If we duplicate this next year at the increased 4.25% rate, the county will see a TRT revenue of $1,200,000.  At the increased rate, Rich County would use about $650,000 on mitigation and projects.  A substantial and helpful increase while also maintaining promotion at around $550,000.  It's a win/win.

I look forward to writing every other month with updates and appreciate the trust given to me by you all.  Don't hesitate to contact any one of us at the commission if you have questions, comments, concerns, or just want to talk.  Jonathan Lee <jon@dotbar.com>