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>
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