The county council will interview the eighth applicant for one of the five vacancies on the Snyderville Basin Cemetery District. Summit County Manger Shayne Scott expects the council will announce the cemetery board members at its next meeting and from there, they’ll get to work.
“What I'm hearing most, as the councilmembers ask questions of these of these interviewees, it's about where could this be? I think we'll expect a lot out of this group,” Scott said. “And we have a really great crop of individuals that really care about this issue. What's the future of cemeteries? Are we changing the way that we want to be buried? And we open to some of those discussions of making this maybe more of an interesting area with internments and some of the green burials and some of the options that we have here in 2023.”
The county has not done much background work on a future cemetery in the basin, wanting the board to determine the best location and type of cemetery to build.
“We wanted to wait for this district to be up and running,” Scott said. “But I've heard people speak about some different property that the county owns and some different locations. We have some real tricky soils and areas here, which isn't going to make where it is a very easy discussion. But like I said, we're expecting a lot out of this new committee.”
And with property values and home assessments going up it means higher taxes. Scott says the council will discuss property tax abatement relief with County Treasurer Corie Forsling.
“If you meet certain criteria, there's a section for veterans, there's some for the blind. There's some for that you have to meet certain income criteria, there's some for some age criteria as well," he said. "So, if you meet some of these criteria, I think you can receive some tax relief. And I think it's really exciting that we do that.”
It depends on the recipient, but tax relief can be a 100% exemption for a service person on active duty or a deferral of tax or a tax credit for those who are 66 and older on limited incomes.
The county Scott says sets the budget to receive less taxes for those who have applied for relief.
At this point, Scott said he doesn’t know whether his budget for next year will include a tax increase.
“That's probably still to be determined. I don't want to shy away from that answer being yes,” he said. “We have a lot of other moving parts, including childcare, including our EMS services that are going to cost more if, as the council chooses to appropriate money in those different areas. So, it is a real possibility.”
The council will also discuss and possibly approve transportation projects that will be paid for with sales tax. The tax he says generates several million dollars every year. In 2023 it’s estimated to be $6.5 million. The tax dollars will help support the state Route 32 trail extension from Kamas to Francis and a widening project to add new bike lanes along Old Ranch Road. Funds are also budgeted to install a roundabout at the southbound off ramp of U.S. 40 at the Silver Summit interchange.
Park City is asking to for money already awarded to be reassigned to a new park and ride project off state Route 248 and U.S. 40.
