B Y LORETTA PARK
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau lpark@standard.net
FARMINGTON — Democrats urged Davis County residents to find out where their taxes are going and to run for office on the Democratic ticket.
More than two dozen people attended the Davis County Democrats tax issue forum at the Davis County Memorial Courthouse on Thursday. In attendance was Davis County Assessor James Ivie. No other elected officials were present.
“It’s time to elect Democrats,” said Rob Miller, vice chairman of the Utah State Democratic Party. He ran against Bret Millburn in 2006 for Davis County Commission.
Miller said there is no leadership in Davis County because taxes are increasing.
Miller said Davis County residents are snubbing good candidates for office because they are Democrats, not Republicans. Mitt Romney, a Republican, is facing similar snubs nationwide because he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Utah LDS members want the nation to accept Romney, but in Davis County, Democrats –– no matter what faith they are –– do not get elected to office, Miller said.
He was followed by former Davis County Commissioner J. Dell Holbrook, the last Democrat elected to a county office.
“Every damn one of you has to live within a budget,” Holbrook said. He took to task the current and past commissions for not living within their budgets.
Holbrook said projects such as the jail, flood control and the Davis Conference Center did not need to happen.
“There was never a double digit task increase while I was in the commission,” Holbrook said. “It was not all my fault. There was one other commissioner who said we’d live within our means.”
Holbrook said it’s time to get rid of the one-party system in Davis County.
Less than a dozen Democrats in Davis County have run for office in the past 10 years, he said.
Having a dominant Republican party “is not healthy,” Holbrook said.
“Show up and raise hell,” Holbrook said.
Holbrook said Davis County residents need to ask county officials where the money has gone that was earmarked for flood control following the floods in the 1980s, and for paramedic services.
He also said that since he left office, the salaries of the commissioners and other elected officials have tripled.
Chris Martinez also ran for commissioner as a Democrat. He doesn’t understand why residents blindly elect Republicans without checking their backgrounds.
“This county is not doing very good as it is right now,” Martinez said.
Martinez works with senior citizens and has heard a lot of complaints.
Martinez said the county is not attempting to get corporate businesses to set up shop here. Ron Mortensen, co-founder of Citizens for Tax Fairness, showed how county agencies have increased property taxes over the past four years.
“The county said they had to increase it by 138 percent because past commissions had not raised it by incremental amounts,” Mortensen said about the proposed tax increase in 2004 that was not passed.
He is opposed to the quarter-cent sales tax that will be on the Davis County ballot.
“If this project is so critical, why not shift funding from less critical government programs or impact fees,” Mortensen said.
Mortensen said he is also opposed to Bountiful’s recreation, arts and parks tax because it does not benefit every resident.
He suggested that he is working with others for solutions to the property tax issue. Some of those solutions include voting down the RAP and transportation taxes, controlling spending and taking the school district off of property tax. Funding for school districts would be through sales taxes.
More than two dozen people attended the Davis County Democrats tax issue forum at the Davis County Memorial Courthouse on Thursday. In attendance was Davis County Assessor James Ivie. No other elected officials were present.
“It’s time to elect Democrats,” said Rob Miller, vice chairman of the Utah State Democratic Party. He ran against Bret Millburn in 2006 for Davis County Commission.
Miller said there is no leadership in Davis County because taxes are increasing.
Miller said Davis County residents are snubbing good candidates for office because they are Democrats, not Republicans. Mitt Romney, a Republican, is facing similar snubs nationwide because he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Utah LDS members want the nation to accept Romney, but in Davis County, Democrats –– no matter what faith they are –– do not get elected to office, Miller said.
He was followed by former Davis County Commissioner J. Dell Holbrook, the last Democrat elected to a county office.
“Every damn one of you has to live within a budget,” Holbrook said. He took to task the current and past commissions for not living within their budgets.
Holbrook said projects such as the jail, flood control and the Davis Conference Center did not need to happen.
“There was never a double digit task increase while I was in the commission,” Holbrook said. “It was not all my fault. There was one other commissioner who said we’d live within our means.”
Holbrook said it’s time to get rid of the one-party system in Davis County.
Less than a dozen Democrats in Davis County have run for office in the past 10 years, he said.
Having a dominant Republican party “is not healthy,” Holbrook said.
“Show up and raise hell,” Holbrook said.
Holbrook said Davis County residents need to ask county officials where the money has gone that was earmarked for flood control following the floods in the 1980s, and for paramedic services.
He also said that since he left office, the salaries of the commissioners and other elected officials have tripled.
Chris Martinez also ran for commissioner as a Democrat. He doesn’t understand why residents blindly elect Republicans without checking their backgrounds.
“This county is not doing very good as it is right now,” Martinez said.
Martinez works with senior citizens and has heard a lot of complaints.
Martinez said the county is not attempting to get corporate businesses to set up shop here. Ron Mortensen, co-founder of Citizens for Tax Fairness, showed how county agencies have increased property taxes over the past four years.
“The county said they had to increase it by 138 percent because past commissions had not raised it by incremental amounts,” Mortensen said about the proposed tax increase in 2004 that was not passed.
He is opposed to the quarter-cent sales tax that will be on the Davis County ballot.
“If this project is so critical, why not shift funding from less critical government programs or impact fees,” Mortensen said.
Mortensen said he is also opposed to Bountiful’s recreation, arts and parks tax because it does not benefit every resident.
He suggested that he is working with others for solutions to the property tax issue. Some of those solutions include voting down the RAP and transportation taxes, controlling spending and taking the school district off of property tax. Funding for school districts would be through sales taxes.
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