[0:01] We're going to begin with an opening
[0:02] prayer, and that prayer is going to be
[0:04] offered by Reverend Buddy Harrington of
[0:07] the Shepherd of the Hills United
[0:10] Methodist Church. Reverend Harrington.
[0:19] » Thank you.
[0:20] » [clears throat]
[0:20] » Will you please bow in prayer with me?
[0:24] Heavenly Father, we come before you with
[0:26] gratitude for all the blessings you have
[0:28] given us.
[0:30] We're thankful for the place in which we
[0:32] live, work, and share with our families
[0:34] in this great nation, and especially in
[0:37] Southern Utah.
[0:39] Please strengthen the bonds between us
[0:41] as neighbors, friends, and family.
[0:44] Help us to be filled with faith as were
[0:47] so many of our ancestors.
[0:50] Help us to put our trust in your
[0:51] guidance, even among hardships and the
[0:54] uncertainty.
[0:56] Sometimes we cannot see the whole
[0:58] picture,
[0:59] but we know you can.
[1:01] We need you to put everything into
[1:04] perspective.
[1:06] Help us support one another, celebrate
[1:08] together,
[1:10] and face challenges with courage and
[1:12] mutual respect.
[1:14] Let your presence be every action.
[1:18] Let kindness, cooperation, and
[1:20] generosity flourish among us,
[1:23] reflecting your love in all that we do.
[1:27] We live in a time of war and distress.
[1:30] Protect our armed forces and keep them
[1:32] safe.
[1:34] Help us to find correct solutions to
[1:36] resolve conflicts so that the
[1:37] possibility of peace can reign.
[1:41] Lord, bless our homes, our schools,
[1:43] workplaces, and public spaces.
[1:47] Grant wisdom and discernment to our
[1:48] community leaders.
[1:50] May their decisions promote justice,
[1:52] peace,
[1:53] and the well-being of everyone in our
[1:55] community.
[1:57] Send your spirit here today
[2:00] during any discussion so that we may do
[2:02] thy will.
[2:04] May the aspirations of peace and
[2:06] goodwill be ever before us.
[2:09] And again, divine ruler, we give you our
[2:11] gratitude.
[2:13] Let us be peacemakers in your holy name.
[2:17] Amen.
[2:24] » Thank you, Reverend.
[2:26] We will now have the opportunity to see
[2:28] the color guard. The color guard will be
[2:30] performed by the Washington County
[2:31] Sheriff's Office Honor Guard. They will
[2:34] present our colors, after which
[2:36] Washington County Attorney Jerry Yeager
[2:38] will lead us in the pledge. After After
[2:42] Jerry leads us in the pledge, we will
[2:45] hear the national anthem will be sung by
[2:47] Kaylee Ruth, Miss Washington County. So,
[2:50] if you all please rise and remove your
[2:51] hats
[2:53] and stay stay standing.
[3:26] » Please repeat after me. I pledge
[3:28] allegiance to the flag of the United
[3:31] States of America and to the republic
[3:34] for which it stands, one nation under
[3:37] God, indivisible, with liberty and
[3:41] justice for all.
[3:53] » Oh, say can you see
[3:59] by the dawn's early light
[4:04] what so proudly
[4:07] we held
[4:09] at the twilight's
[4:11] last gleaming,
[4:14] whose broad stripes and bright stars
[4:19] through the perilous
[4:22] fight [singing]
[4:24] were the ramparts
[4:26] we watched [singing]
[4:29] were so gallantly
[4:32] streaming?
[4:34] And the rocket's red glare,
[4:38] the bombs bursting
[4:42] in air,
[4:43] gave proof through the night [singing]
[4:47] that our flag was still there. Oh, say
[4:54] does that star-spangled
[4:58] banner
[5:00] yet
[5:03] o'er the land
[5:06] of the free
[5:10] and the home
[5:12] of [singing] the
[5:14] brave?
[6:07] » Thank you everyone. You can be seated.
[6:10] If you guys don't mind, could we have a
[6:11] round of applause for Kaylee and her
[6:13] rendition?
[6:15] Almost feels un-American not to applaud
[6:17] at the
[6:18] at the end of uh
[6:21] at the end of a national anthem,
[6:23] especially when sung that well.
[6:29] So, today we have the opportunity to
[6:31] hear from our three commissioners.
[6:32] They're going to speak with us about the
[6:33] the challenges, the opportunities, and
[6:36] and the future of Washington County. And
[6:39] this is their opportunity to talk about
[6:41] the things that that we face, as well as
[6:43] the things we have faced, and what
[6:44] they've done to be able to improve our
[6:46] lives here in Washington County. I'm
[6:48] grateful to know these three men. We
[6:50] have good relationships. We work well
[6:52] together on many many projects. It's
[6:54] awesome to be able to serve here in a
[6:56] county where everybody is so
[6:58] collaborative and likes to work
[7:00] together, hears one another out, and we
[7:03] we find great ways to move our county
[7:05] forward. And so, without further ado,
[7:07] we'll begin today by hearing from
[7:10] Commissioner Almquist, and then he'll
[7:11] introduce who comes after him when he's
[7:13] done. Please, a round of applause for
[7:15] Commissioner Almquist.
[7:18] » [applause]
[7:23] » Well, it's certainly a beautiful day in
[7:24] Dixie. When it rained yesterday and we
[7:27] were at an at an event,
[7:29] everyone was soaked, but they found a
[7:31] place to huddle under the rain, and then
[7:33] all I could be was grateful for the good
[7:36] citizens that were there, but also the
[7:38] raindrops. And it it certainly has, if
[7:41] you've noticed,
[7:42] wet everything down, washed it all down.
[7:44] It's just an amazing day to be in Dixie.
[7:48] Um I've got the privilege of thanking,
[7:51] as Shawn did already, a few people, and
[7:53] then I would also, not by name, cuz then
[7:55] you leave somebody out, but I want to
[7:57] thank the Dixie Center for their staff
[7:59] and putting it all together and giving
[8:01] us such a wonderful venue to
[8:03] address you. But of course, the mayors
[8:07] and here's the infamous clicker
[8:10] that goes with this. Um we've got
[8:12] mayors, city council members,
[8:15] legislators, and of course, our
[8:17] congressional partners. There's a few
[8:18] that are here that are are some that are
[8:20] still in town. And we appreciate those
[8:23] who have served in those capacities and
[8:25] those who have served in those
[8:27] capacities prior to this because they
[8:29] stay involved, they continue to spread
[8:32] the message of what makes Utah great,
[8:34] St. George and Washington County great.
[8:36] Um
[8:37] in addition to the
[8:39] three of us, there is a total there are
[8:42] total of nine electeds. So three
[8:44] commissioners and then six others, and
[8:46] you might recognize some of them are
[8:48] here and we appreciate not only our
[8:51] prayer, but then there's those who have
[8:53] uh
[8:54] shown up.
[8:55] They won't necessarily be participating
[8:58] today, but I can tell you they all work
[9:00] hard and we definitely enjoy their
[9:03] association.
[9:05] In addition to that, we have
[9:08] department heads.
[9:10] And
[9:11] I'm going to just announce right today,
[9:13] I don't have a medal or something to
[9:15] give them, but they are best of state.
[9:18] As we work around with other cities and
[9:20] other counties, I can tell you the
[9:23] function that they put on and the things
[9:26] that they do above and beyond are
[9:28] commendable. And so therefore, I'm I'm
[9:30] giving them that award.
[9:33] As a little bit of an introduction and
[9:35] maybe a few announcements, you know, the
[9:37] fair is going on.
[9:39] We hope you'll attend the fair, but also
[9:41] the fact that it is entry free fee free.
[9:46] You can just walk in.
[9:48] And Mayor Stahli is laughing abnormally
[9:51] hard. I'm wondering if that's
[9:53] what I said or whatever.
[9:56] But it is free. And I want you to know
[9:58] there's a a fun many fun events. You can
[10:01] look it up online and find out what
[10:02] you'd like to attend.
[10:04] Um as far as what we would like to show.
[10:08] Oh, is somebody in the pictures? That's
[10:10] what Mayor Stahli is laughing about.
[10:12] Okay, I'll better switch off of that.
[10:15] You know, it's it's wonderful when a
[10:16] third-party
[10:18] group starts to make comments about you,
[10:21] especially if they're positive.
[10:23] But in this particular case, the Utah
[10:25] Taxpayers Association has given us a few
[10:29] um accolades, let's say. And I'll get
[10:31] into those here in a minute. But I want
[10:33] to tell you that
[10:36] we care about the purse of the people.
[10:39] Because that's what makes us function.
[10:42] We're not a corporation, a big business,
[10:46] but in reality, as Commissioner Snow
[10:48] often says, we really do function like a
[10:50] corporation.
[10:52] But we don't have businesses that turn
[10:54] profits and things like that. Rather, we
[10:57] rely on the taxes that are incoming from
[10:59] the the people or visitors that come to
[11:01] our area.
[11:03] And I want you to know that there are
[11:05] several things that we consider about
[11:07] them, and especially in creating a
[11:09] budget and spending your money.
[11:12] Which include being
[11:15] prudent about what is spent,
[11:18] about being very visible in what is
[11:21] spent, because you need to know where
[11:23] it's going and what it's paying for.
[11:25] And then of course, we also need to have
[11:27] it
[11:28] to be pretty seriously, broadly
[11:31] uh influential or broadly beneficial to
[11:35] the taxpayers. So, there isn't anybody
[11:37] singling out an area of the county that
[11:39] should get more. In fact, we strive very
[11:42] hard to make sure that there is equality
[11:44] amongst taxes being
[11:47] paid out or or being used internally or
[11:50] externally.
[11:51] Um
[11:53] there are many requests for tax dollars.
[11:56] You [snorts] can only imagine that there
[11:58] are many there's always more needs than
[12:00] perhaps what you have
[12:02] ability to to pay for. And some of them
[12:05] are difficult to accomplish across the
[12:08] board.
[12:09] But, I can tell you honestly that
[12:10] » [clears throat]
[12:11] » Our feeling is and
[12:14] enjoy this metaphor. My wife will roll
[12:16] her eyes. Oh, no, a metaphor.
[12:19] But, the fact is we have to analyze all
[12:23] of those requests on three basic simple
[12:26] principles.
[12:28] First of all is, does it keep the lights
[12:30] on?
[12:32] Those are our basic functions that we
[12:33] do.
[12:34] Does it keep the lights on?
[12:37] Then there's another level where people
[12:39] come to us and say,
[12:41] do we need a new light?
[12:43] Well, our question is always, can we
[12:46] make this light last a little longer?
[12:49] Is it doing what it needs to do without
[12:52] suddenly saying, let's get a new one?
[12:55] The final level of our consideration on
[12:57] how taxes are budgeted for is
[13:00] we get these and we kind of have to push
[13:02] them aside because some people say,
[13:05] let's have another light.
[13:07] Well, that grows government, doesn't it?
[13:10] If we are keeping the lights on and we
[13:12] are able to deal with a new light
[13:15] occasionally, once one is burned out,
[13:18] then we really don't need to just
[13:20] keeping keep adding to government. So,
[13:24] with that said, here is
[13:27] uh
[13:28] the next slide that I'd like you to
[13:30] observe.
[13:32] This is that friend that we have in the
[13:34] Utah Taxpayers Association.
[13:36] They have shown that county revenue from
[13:38] taxes and fees per capita are the lowest
[13:42] in the state.
[13:44] We look at Garfield County and our
[13:46] friends there and wonder
[13:50] I don't sometimes I say to Jerry Taylor,
[13:52] why is there not a revolt in your
[13:54] county? It's your taxes are pretty high.
[13:56] But I want you to observe this because
[13:59] it speaks well for the
[14:02] three things that I mentioned about the
[14:03] lights.
[14:04] And
[14:06] yet we don't feel like we're
[14:08] cheating anyone of our citizens. We
[14:10] simply are saying we've been able with
[14:13] frugality
[14:14] to become the county in the state with
[14:18] the lowest revenue from taxes and fees
[14:20] per capita.
[14:21] Another way to put that is simply this.
[14:24] Maybe a little far, but you can see the
[14:26] graph on the right that explains this.
[14:29] But Washington County is also the least
[14:32] taxed uh
[14:34] for
[14:35] every $1,000 of resident income.
[14:39] We're at $11.
[14:41] We have a few large counties up north
[14:43] that compete with us. But there again,
[14:47] when you look at $1,000 of income, $11
[14:50] is being charged or through taxes and
[14:53] fees to our residents.
[14:55] Back to the original point, the 426,
[14:59] I want you to know that there we are in
[15:01] that southwest corner, once again the
[15:03] lowest in that entire chart. And of
[15:05] course it makes sense that again,
[15:07] Garfield is the highest, but we want you
[15:09] to know that of the money that you pay
[15:12] for government,
[15:14] I I'd ask for a show of hands of saying,
[15:17] does your government not serve you? We
[15:20] are serving the county and the cities
[15:22] and other towns that we associate with.
[15:26] Here's a biggie.
[15:28] Washington County is debt free.
[15:30] Other than those debts that might
[15:32] produce an income, we have made the
[15:35] final payment on our general obligation
[15:37] bond, which by the way, when you look at
[15:40] your tax notices, that GO bond does not
[15:42] appear anymore. It's paid off.
[15:45] And that's a critical element of us in
[15:48] that we feel in long-term debt reduction
[15:51] as well.
[15:54] Now,
[15:56] this is some great news. I love it every
[15:58] time that I hear it. I can't take credit
[16:00] for the first 9 years, but the three of
[16:03] us feel very strong that on as you see
[16:06] on your left, that for 16 years we have
[16:10] not changed or raised the mill levy that
[16:13] is applied to your property taxes. 16
[16:17] years.
[16:18] Most
[16:19] other counties have adjusted that many
[16:23] times maybe within those 16 years. In
[16:25] fact, Salt Lake County has just
[16:28] announced that they're asking for an
[16:30] additional
[16:32] 14.65%
[16:35] in their
[16:37] tax collection on property tax.
[16:39] It was 20 and they had an human outcry
[16:43] that dropped it to 14.65.
[16:46] And then of course you look at Davis
[16:47] County, which is also the article up
[16:50] there, 20%. And we're just encouraging
[16:54] sorry, 30%. We're encouraging
[16:58] our citizens to recognize that we can do
[17:01] better in Dixie. In fact, we have since
[17:03] for 161 years.
[17:05] Um
[17:08] before I get to this self-portrait of
[17:10] Victor,
[17:12] that's coming. I've got your attention.
[17:14] » [snorts]
[17:14] » I want to mention a few other things,
[17:16] please.
[17:17] Um
[17:19] our budgets are online.
[17:22] Our audits that we have conducted by
[17:25] Hinton Burdick or anyone else
[17:28] are also online since 2007.
[17:32] So, you can look there on the washco
[17:35] .utah.gov
[17:38] and look under commission or under
[17:40] departments and you can find uh clerk
[17:43] auditor, all of our budgets. Under
[17:45] commission, you can find all of our
[17:46] minutes.
[17:48] There's been some uh talk lately that
[17:50] those things are hidden. They are not.
[17:53] They are there. In fact, [snorts] our uh
[17:56] clerk auditor, Ryan Sullivan, is putting
[17:58] together through a new series of uh
[18:01] software and packages that he purchased
[18:03] what he's going to call the budget book.
[18:06] And that is going to lay out extremely
[18:09] clearly to everyone
[18:10] exactly where your money is being spent
[18:13] and the prior prioritizations. You may
[18:16] come in and say, "Hey." to one of us or
[18:18] to Ryan and say, "We think this is
[18:20] misspent." and he can answer those
[18:22] questions.
[18:23] Finally, I'd like to mention this.
[18:27] We want you to stay informed. That's why
[18:29] we're here doing this. But, it's more
[18:32] than just us sitting up here once a
[18:34] year. I encourage you to join a club,
[18:37] join a group, a service group, a rotary,
[18:40] an exchange club. You know, participate
[18:42] in the nonprofits that are existing
[18:45] here. United We Pledge. If you're
[18:47] interested in staying politically
[18:49] informed, the best group that I know of
[18:51] is the Washington County uh Republican
[18:54] Women.
[18:56] Everyone should be there. There's like
[18:58] 40 people there sometimes and it should
[19:00] be 400 because they drew truly keep you
[19:03] informed.
[19:04] Um and finally, um
[19:07] I want you to celebrate America's 250.
[19:10] Uh Victor Adam may be mentioning this,
[19:12] but it is a landmark time for all of us.
[19:16] And I hope that you recognize that the
[19:17] principles we stand on are the same ones
[19:20] that occurred 250 years ago.
[19:23] Thank you for being here so much. I I
[19:25] appreciate your involvement, and that's
[19:27] a rundown of my portion until the
[19:29] question and answer period arrives. Um,
[19:33] here's that blessed picture.
[19:39] » [applause]
[19:43] » Yeah, this is me in fifth grade up by
[19:45] the by the Huron
[19:47] Canal. I want to go back to this this
[19:50] picture right here, and I want to
[19:51] complain about whoever put the slides on
[19:53] cuz we used to have a picture that we
[19:55] were all equal, and suddenly
[19:58] I have been shortened, and I'm now
[20:01] demonstrated as the shortest person on
[20:03] the County Commission. You know, I was
[20:04] talking to Mayor Stavely, and I was
[20:06] complimenting him on on the state of the
[20:08] city [clears throat]
[20:09] of Washington City. And And as I was
[20:11] thinking here today, um, you know, city
[20:14] government is a little bit like a
[20:16] football, and and the mayor is kind of
[20:19] like the quarterback. And I would say
[20:21] that county government, we talked about
[20:23] the nine elected officials, our county
[20:26] sheriff, our county attorney. Jerry
[20:28] Jaeger is here. Um, Gary Webster, our
[20:32] recorder is here. Tom Durant is here.
[20:35] Our world-famous uh,
[20:38] clerk-auditor, Ryan Sullivan is here.
[20:41] And I'm Actually,
[20:43] my point of it is is it's
[20:45] it's more like rugby.
[20:47] Uh, is David Whitehead here?
[20:49] Am I Am I going to miss somebody out?
[20:52] Yes. [clears throat]
[20:53] In fact, it's it's a team effort in in a
[20:56] lot of ways. I know we have a couple
[20:57] county employees here. Could Could I ask
[21:00] the county employees to stand up?
[21:04] Thank
[21:12] » I did say Gary Christensen, didn't I?
[21:16] I said Gary Webster and he works for
[21:18] Senator Mike Lee. Gary Christensen is
[21:20] much better looking than Gary Webster
[21:22] and I don't even know if Gary Webster's
[21:24] here. But Oh, Gary Webster's here. Well,
[21:26] stand up, Gary. Thank you for being
[21:28] here. If anybody has any problems
[21:30] with Senator Lee's office, go.
[21:33] My point in having everybody stand up is
[21:35] it's a little bit
[21:37] sometimes strange for me to do a state
[21:39] of the county.
[21:40] I'm the I'm the voice, but in reality,
[21:43] we have a tremendous team in Washington
[21:45] County. We have tremendous staff that
[21:47] work very hard. We have the best staff
[21:50] ever and I just want to personally thank
[21:52] them and celebrate them as we celebrate,
[21:54] you know, this last year and we go into
[21:56] another one. Um you know, this picture
[21:59] of me it kind of demonstrates my first
[22:01] point. My My father's family came to
[22:04] Washington in in 1859, 1860 and I know
[22:08] that because uh Mayor Stahli gave me a
[22:11] book and it was called the Red Cliffs of
[22:12] November and I read that book and I
[22:14] found my family's name as the second
[22:16] wagon group in. And a lot of times when
[22:19] I talk to people
[22:20] Oh, yeah.
[22:22] I know Adam is pretty handsome there,
[22:24] but um
[22:25] I want to go back to this handsome guy
[22:27] right here. So, um
[22:30] I I get to talk to a lot of new
[22:32] residents and people that have moved
[22:33] here recently and the first question
[22:35] that always comes is what's our
[22:37] situation on water?
[22:39] And um
[22:40] when I think about my family, my
[22:42] father's family coming here in 1859,
[22:45] 1860, I know what their first question
[22:48] was. What is our situation about water?
[22:50] And so, we've been asking the question,
[22:52] what is our situation about water? What
[22:54] are we going to do about water? We've
[22:56] been worrying about water and we've also
[22:58] been working to solve the problem in
[23:00] Washington County for a very long time.
[23:03] There's a pro and a con to every place
[23:05] you live, but I'll tell you our one
[23:07] disadvantage in Southern Utah is that
[23:10] water is a limited resource that we need
[23:12] to be thankful for and we need to use.
[23:14] Um just to cheer you all up uh this year
[23:17] we've had a beautiful winter um but a
[23:20] beautiful winter has a downside to it.
[23:23] And that is that right now we're sitting
[23:24] at 53% of our of our snowpack as of this
[23:29] last March. And so we've had a very warm
[23:32] April. I'm sure it's gone down quite a
[23:34] bit. What this means is that we're going
[23:36] to be dependent on our water
[23:39] storage. And we've been very good
[23:41] uh as far as building that. And I want
[23:43] to go back and I want to I want to tell
[23:45] a little bit about the county nexus
[23:46] here.
[23:47] Because
[23:48] um in the late 18 in late 19 uh 50s uh
[23:53] the city started to recognize that they
[23:55] were
[23:56] that they needed more water and there
[23:57] started to be this competition between
[23:59] cities and at that time
[24:01] the county created what is known as the
[24:03] Washington County Water Conservancy
[24:05] District. And they worked tirelessly to
[24:09] help us meet our water de demands going
[24:12] into the future. And so a few of the
[24:14] bragging points that we'd like to talk
[24:16] about is is the importance of
[24:18] conservation.
[24:20] Um over the last few years we've been
[24:22] able to reduce our per capita use by
[24:25] 50%. We've been able to adopt the
[24:27] highest conservation standards yeah for
[24:30] new construct new construction and
[24:33] implement um excessive water surcharges.
[24:36] I want to talk about that really quick
[24:38] because most of our water conservation
[24:40] in Washington County is focused on new
[24:42] growth. So if you're going to build a
[24:43] new home here, if you're going to come
[24:44] in and and and build a new home, then
[24:48] you're going to have to come at it a
[24:49] certain level of conservation. And some
[24:52] of our uh long-time citizens have said,
[24:55] "Why I want to necessarily conserve just
[24:57] so that more people can move here." I've
[24:59] heard that a couple times on on social
[25:02] media.
[25:03] Well, you can use all the water you
[25:04] want. We're just going to charge you a
[25:05] little extra and it's called a
[25:06] surcharge. So, anyway, the point of it
[25:09] is is we'd like to encourage
[25:10] conservation across the the board. We've
[25:13] also been able to replace um
[25:16] turf that's non-functional. We we love
[25:18] grass. We love trees. Uh
[25:21] Um Commissioner Almquist especially
[25:23] loves trees, if you know him very well.
[25:25] And if you need a tree planted, he's
[25:27] really good at it. If you want to know
[25:29] the variety of a tree that will will
[25:30] thrive here, you can also talk to him as
[25:32] well. What we don't want is to hurt is
[25:35] to turn into Tucson or a heat desert,
[25:37] but we do want to make sure that our
[25:39] outdoor watering goes to good to good
[25:42] use.
[25:44] As we look at water in the future, um
[25:46] the water conservancy district and the
[25:48] county and cities are working on some
[25:50] very important projects going forward,
[25:52] and this is how we're going to meet our
[25:54] needs. Through conservation, reuse,
[25:56] groundwater optimization, uh remain uh
[25:59] remaining uh local supply development.
[26:02] And I'd also like to say that storage is
[26:06] an important part of that. We have some
[26:07] incredible projects going on right now.
[26:10] A lot of you are probably already aware
[26:12] of the Chief Toquer Reservoir that is
[26:14] well under construction. And soon to be
[26:17] fully permitted and under construction
[26:19] as well as a small reservoir known as
[26:21] Graveyard Wash, which is a project
[26:23] between St. George City and the
[26:24] Washington County Water Conservancy
[26:26] District. In our 20-year plan, we this
[26:29] year, the water conservancy district uh
[26:31] working with the county as well, was
[26:33] able to secure the real estate for what
[26:35] will be the largest uh storage reservoir
[26:38] in our county, which is Warner Valley,
[26:40] and that's a few years out. So, um
[26:43] but but it's it's to come.
[26:46] Let's talk a little bit about the
[26:47] facilities of of the county. You're in
[26:49] one of our
[26:51] our our facilities right now which is
[26:52] the Dixie Convention Center.
[26:54] I don't know how much you all appreciate
[26:57] what a great facility this is.
[26:59] As you look across the the state,
[27:01] there's not as many facilities like this
[27:03] that brings people here. Over 30 million
[27:06] dollars of economic impact every year is
[27:08] brought in because of this this great
[27:10] facility we're here. A few years ago we
[27:12] upgraded the chairs here, thank you
[27:14] you're welcome as you sit there. And and
[27:16] I complained about the price tag to to
[27:20] some of our folks and then I went up and
[27:22] sat in some of the Salt Palace chairs
[27:24] and I realized that it was money well
[27:25] spent and I'm sure that's the reason
[27:28] that we're able to get as many
[27:29] convention dates as we as we
[27:32] as we have here at the Dixie Center.
[27:35] As we look at the Dixie Center, we're
[27:37] we're maxed out almost year round. We
[27:38] used to have slow times of the year, we
[27:40] no longer have slow times and we're also
[27:43] getting to the point that we're
[27:44] seriously looking at the expansion of
[27:46] the Dixie Center in order to meet our
[27:48] needs and also meet community needs as
[27:51] well.
[27:51] One of our other facilities that we want
[27:53] to brag about this year is our shooting
[27:55] sports park. A lot of people don't know
[27:57] about the shooting sports park. If you
[27:59] go past the fairgrounds in Hurricane and
[28:01] Purgatory, you'll find the shooting
[28:03] sports park. Let me explain how it
[28:05] belongs to the county, the county runs
[28:07] it but each one of the shooting
[28:10] ranges are ran by non-profit clubs that
[28:13] have a venue agreement with us. It's a
[28:16] good way for us to protect the Second
[28:18] Amendment, to have safe shooting. So you
[28:20] have Purgatory Clays, you have archery,
[28:24] you have
[28:25] cowboy action, you have um
[28:28] practical as well and we also have a
[28:30] black powder event as well. So anybody
[28:32] who's involved and enjoys shooting, we
[28:35] have a wonderful facility there and it's
[28:37] getting better each and every year. And
[28:39] let's talk about Legacy Park which you
[28:41] have to go by if you're going to go to
[28:43] um
[28:44] to the shooting sports park. I don't
[28:46] know if you know this but there's a fair
[28:48] in town.
[28:49] We're kicking it off and it's fantastic
[28:51] and
[28:52] Commissioner Almquist stole my my
[28:54] thunder but I've been pushing for a long
[28:57] time to to do away with parking fees and
[29:00] entrance entrance fees and I finally
[29:03] pulled it off because you know what?
[29:04] This is America's birthday and we need
[29:06] to celebrate America and so it's all
[29:09] free cuz that's what we're doing.
[29:16] But what I'd really like is to encourage
[29:18] you all to go out especially on
[29:20] Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We have a
[29:22] colonial village there that's going to
[29:25] be set up. There's obviously music and
[29:27] and all of the things that a fair has
[29:29] and really what the fair is is to
[29:31] celebrate our county and
[29:33] so but also Legacy Park continues to be
[29:37] a great venue in in uh
[29:40] in our in our county as well. We have
[29:42] another celebration obviously going
[29:45] right along with America's 250 is
[29:48] reopening of the historic courthouse up
[29:50] on Boulevard right across from
[29:52] Angelica's and
[29:54] the reason I say across from Angelica's
[29:55] because I I talked to people about our
[29:59] historic courthouse and then I would get
[30:00] the question like well where is it at?
[30:02] It's like you drive down the Boulevard
[30:04] all the time. How could you miss the
[30:05] historic courthouse but just in case you
[30:08] you need to know it's across from
[30:09] Angelica's. It has been under the care
[30:12] of our of our wonderful partners at St.
[30:15] George City for since 1970 and for a
[30:18] long time we've asked ourselves what are
[30:20] we going to do with this courthouse? How
[30:22] are we going to share it with the
[30:23] public? It was opened several times. The
[30:26] the historical society did a lot of
[30:28] great work but we have a great
[30:31] partnership with
[30:33] United We Pledge a local nonprofit which
[30:36] is able to keep it open celebrating our
[30:38] heritage and celebrating America's
[30:41] county and America's heritage And it's
[30:43] open, it's going to have programming and
[30:45] a lot of things going on. So, recognize
[30:47] that it's your courthouse and you can
[30:49] go. So, um I want to brag a little bit
[30:53] about one of our other elected offices,
[30:55] which is our attorney's office. Jerry
[30:57] Jager is our new county attorney this
[30:59] year. He is doing an outstanding job.
[31:02] Jerry represents a little bit of a shift
[31:04] in in our county attorney. He comes from
[31:06] the prosecutor side. For several
[31:09] decades, I think we've had great county
[31:11] attorneys, but they've come from the
[31:12] civil side a little bit. And when we
[31:15] think about this county, we think about
[31:17] the importance of where county
[31:18] government interfaces with the other
[31:21] local government, you know, we're very
[31:23] into the public safety. Obviously, you
[31:25] have you have your local police
[31:26] departments, but once somebody has
[31:28] committed a crime, how do we seek
[31:30] justice? And um
[31:32] this has been under the
[31:34] This has been the work of Jerry and
[31:36] Jerry's been busy, but our community
[31:38] continues to be safe. Justice continues
[31:41] to be served. And it's it's hard to
[31:43] believe that you know, they deal with
[31:45] over 2,500 victims every year and uh
[31:48] we're so busy down here
[31:50] that the the state legislature just
[31:52] barely approved another judgeship. So,
[31:55] we're expecting another judge judgeship.
[31:57] Part of that is it does hit our budget.
[32:00] It means that we're going to need more
[32:01] prosecutors, we're going to need more
[32:03] defense attorneys, and we're going to
[32:05] need more bailiffs in order to cover
[32:07] that. But he's done a great job at
[32:09] instituting training, hiring uh
[32:12] prosecutors.
[32:13] And he's been busy. You've probably seen
[32:16] the headlines as some very high-profile
[32:19] cases have been going through our
[32:21] attorney's office. You know, I have to
[32:23] to say this cuz I see um
[32:25] Brock Belknap uh here and uh when I
[32:27] first became a county commissioner, we
[32:29] went about 4 years without a capital or
[32:31] without a murder. And um of course, I
[32:33] said that was because of great
[32:34] leadership at the county. Really, it
[32:36] wasn't. It was a It was It was just a We
[32:39] had
[32:40] a string of good luck. Um
[32:42] but we are our crime is still lower than
[32:45] the normal, and it's because of the
[32:46] great men and women who serve in public
[32:49] safety. I think people need to recognize
[32:51] how how important that is. And with
[32:53] this, I'm going to hand off
[32:55] to my uh
[32:57] esteemed uh
[32:58] county commissioner Adam Snow to talk
[33:00] about public lands and finish it up.
[33:05] » [applause]
[33:09] » Yeah, I I can't stand behind a podium.
[33:11] That's just going to drive me nuts. So,
[33:13] um
[33:14] Commissioner Iverson, it's not that we
[33:16] we made you look shorter in the picture.
[33:19] It's that we finally told the truth. You
[33:21] had made me shorter before. I can't help
[33:23] that I'm good-looking.
[33:25] Um
[33:26] Okay, federally owned land.
[33:28] Unfortunately, this is Washington
[33:29] County. The uh everything in white is
[33:32] private. Everything in yellow is owned
[33:34] by the state of Utah, and everything in
[33:36] orange is owned by the federal
[33:37] government.
[33:38] Uh that mirrors the state of Utah pretty
[33:40] closely. About 2/3 of of the state is
[33:43] owned by the federal government. About
[33:44] 2/3 of Washington County, almost 70%
[33:46] actually, is owned by the federal
[33:47] government.
[33:49] And that's that's in from lots of
[33:50] different land managers. Obviously, Zion
[33:52] National Park is a huge portion. Uh
[33:54] Dixie National Forest from the US Forest
[33:56] Service. The rest of it's uh Bureau of
[33:59] uh Land Management from the Department
[34:01] of the Interior. And uh
[34:04] and what this really means is that
[34:07] anytime we try to do anything, we have
[34:09] to go and ask the federal government,
[34:11] "Mother, may I please let us do
[34:14] something
[34:15] as it crosses federal land?" If we want
[34:16] to put in a power line uh
[34:19] for for new power infrastructure, we
[34:21] have to cross federal federal land.
[34:23] Uh that takes We've got Representative
[34:25] Colon Jack here, who's the COO of Dixie
[34:27] Power. Takes years and years to get a
[34:29] single power line across federal land.
[34:32] You'd think that it doesn't disturb
[34:33] cause that much disturbance, but I
[34:35] remember when I first started working
[34:36] for Congress in
[34:38] a previous life that
[34:40] we were trying to time the the
[34:43] getting the land the power line over the
[34:45] river for when there was a possible
[34:48] mating season for a bird and we had
[34:50] about a 2 and 1/2 week window for Dixie
[34:52] power to come and build that to build
[34:53] that line.
[34:55] And that took years to plan for that 2
[34:57] and 1/2 week window. You want to put in
[34:59] water infrastructure, you have to cross
[35:01] federal land. You want to put in a road,
[35:02] you have to cross federal land. You want
[35:04] to to do anything and and it affects the
[35:06] cost of our land as well because we are
[35:08] landlocked not by oceans but by the
[35:10] federal government. And so
[35:14] so it also means that we need strong
[35:16] federal partners
[35:18] that whoops, there we go. Wrong one.
[35:20] Strong federal partners because we need
[35:22] somebody to help us push back against
[35:25] bad ideas out of Washington D.C. which
[35:26] honestly most ideas out of Washington
[35:28] D.C. are bad ideas. And so we think and
[35:31] I don't this isn't a political
[35:33] political event, but I can just tell you
[35:35] on on ashamed that this administration
[35:37] is way better to work with in the last
[35:38] administration. They they allow us to
[35:41] talk to them. They're accessible. We
[35:43] have relationships with them and we're
[35:45] actually able to get some things done.
[35:46] So we we thank the administration
[35:48] Senator Lee, Senator Curtis,
[35:49] Congresswoman Malloy who are all really
[35:51] good advocates for us and we're helping
[35:53] navigate the disaster of dealing with
[35:56] the federal government on so much of our
[35:57] land.
[35:59] Speaking of a disaster,
[36:01] um
[36:02] the Northern Corridor.
[36:03] Uh this is another one that's happened
[36:05] this year is is an update for you and
[36:07] that we're continuing to work on.
[36:09] For anybody who hasn't doesn't know what
[36:11] the Northern Corridor is,
[36:13] you have not been paying attention cuz
[36:14] we talk about it all the time. I think I
[36:15] talk about it in my sleep. But it's a
[36:17] road in in this fast as I can possibly
[36:20] tell you it's a road that we need
[36:22] because there's a pinch point. This is
[36:23] not a laser, is it?
[36:25] It is. Where do I push the laser?
[36:28] Is it the red button? Oh, yeah, it is.
[36:30] Ah, no, shoot.
[36:32] Okay.
[36:33] Carefully you push the red button.
[36:35] There's a pinch point right here,
[36:37] which is the cut in the hill for I-15.
[36:40] Uh right now it is wall-to-wall with
[36:43] 14 lanes of traffic. You got four on the
[36:45] north side of of the frontage road, six
[36:48] for I-15, four on the south side of
[36:50] frontage road. There is not another
[36:52] square inch of of available space that
[36:54] we could put asphalt. And so we are
[36:56] trying to move 208 to 210,000 residents
[36:59] in the county and uh roughly 10 million
[37:02] visitors, not to mention all the cars
[37:03] that are just traveling on I-15 through
[37:06] that pinch point right there. And some
[37:08] of them obviously come down around the
[37:10] the south end of the town, but but most
[37:12] people are traveling through that spot.
[37:14] And most and and as all of us do, nobody
[37:17] wants to drive miles out of your way to
[37:19] avoid a single traffic light
[37:21] or a few traffic lights. So you just sit
[37:23] and sit in it, right? And and what
[37:25] that's what that's doing is it's
[37:26] actually causing traffic failure in uh
[37:30] in several of our intersections already
[37:32] and will only get worse. So if we can't
[37:34] get people around to the south way out
[37:36] of their way by miles, and we can't put
[37:38] any more people through the middle, the
[37:40] only other way to go is to the north,
[37:42] hence a northern corridor.
[37:44] And what this is this is the proposed
[37:46] route here
[37:48] uh in blue Dang it, that is really
[37:49] sensitive.
[37:51] Um
[37:51] in blue and in
[37:54] uh
[37:54] that was a law that was passed in 2009
[37:56] called the Omnibus Public Lands
[37:57] Management Act or OPLMA
[37:59] that enhanced the Red Hills Desert
[38:02] Reserve from a desert reserve land to a
[38:06] national conservation area. But it's
[38:07] also a deal between the the city of St.
[38:09] George, Washington County, the state of
[38:11] Utah, and the federal government that if
[38:13] we enhance this from a desert reserve to
[38:15] a national conservation area, which
[38:17] comes with more land protections, that
[38:19] uh we will also get a road. So in the
[38:21] exact same legislation that Congress
[38:23] passed, President Obama signed, that
[38:25] gave the conservation area, we get a
[38:27] road. And in the exact line says that
[38:29] the Secretary of the Interior shall
[38:31] identify one or more alternative routes
[38:33] for a northern transportation corridor
[38:34] in
[38:35] cooperation with the city of St. George
[38:37] and Washington County.
[38:39] That's what it says, right there. And
[38:41] so,
[38:42] uh, we we applied several years ago, we
[38:46] got it approved in the last week of the
[38:48] Trump administration, it was sued on,
[38:50] the Biden administration voluntarily
[38:52] pulled it back
[38:54] uh, for dumb reasons, and then
[38:57] the just uh, end of last year, uh, just
[39:01] a few months ago, the Trump
[39:02] administration re-looked at it and said,
[39:04] "Nope, that's what the law says." And
[39:07] re-re-approved the northern corridor.
[39:10] We moved very quickly on it. You can
[39:12] drive up by Cottonwood Road right now.
[39:13] You can see there's flags out there.
[39:15] They've faded a little in the sun now,
[39:16] but they're bright pink flags and green.
[39:18] That's the that's the center of the
[39:20] right-of-way. And uh,
[39:22] and this is a big deal for
[39:23] transportation in Washington County.
[39:25] Unfortunately, there's a local group
[39:27] that hired some of their enlisted some
[39:28] of their friends called Conserve
[39:30] Southwest Utah. I'm not changing names
[39:31] to protect the innocent cuz I'm really
[39:33] upset about this. But uh, but they they
[39:37] sued the federal government on that
[39:40] transportation route and said that
[39:43] uh, they they don't want this.
[39:46] And they found a judge in Washington
[39:47] D.C. that gave them an injunction. And
[39:49] so, everything is held on on hold for
[39:51] right now while we continue through the
[39:52] legal process.
[39:54] What this means for you is it's wasting
[39:57] millions of your tax dollars
[39:59] in in multiple ways, not only in the
[40:01] lawsuits, which are frivolous and
[40:02] ridiculous, but also in the cost of
[40:05] inflation. Had this road been built in
[40:07] 2009 or 2010, it would have cost tens of
[40:11] millions of dollars less than it's going
[40:12] to cost us when we build it now. And
[40:15] it's all because and I'll show you on
[40:17] the next slide here
[40:19] that road disturbs of actual asphalt
[40:21] less than 100 acres of asphalt. Between
[40:24] the fences of the right of way, less
[40:25] than 200 acres.
[40:27] The exchange for that roadway
[40:30] is what we call zone six, which is
[40:32] almost 7,000 acres over here, which is a
[40:36] prime prime
[40:38] recreation and and open space. It's
[40:41] beautiful Moquah Valley, Bear Claw Poppy
[40:44] Trail, some of our our our best gems in
[40:46] Washington County happen to be in the
[40:48] blue section right over here, which is
[40:50] private. It's owned by the the school
[40:53] kids of Utah. And if the road doesn't go
[40:55] through, then this doesn't need to be
[40:58] used as mitigation for that. And it will
[41:00] be developed and all those things that
[41:02] we really like are going to be gone and
[41:04] they'll be under somebody's house and or
[41:05] under their basement.
[41:07] Any group that calls themselves Conserve
[41:09] Southwest Utah, but doesn't mind trading
[41:13] less than 200 acres at best for 7,000
[41:16] acres. I have a 9-year-old daughter. She
[41:18] can do that math on which one's better,
[41:20] 7,000 or 200.
[41:22] Conservation means this was a great deal
[41:24] for the tortoise. There's over 10 to 1
[41:27] ratio of tortoises in this land
[41:30] as what we would have disturbed with the
[41:31] tortoise.
[41:33] We're conserving way more acres than
[41:35] what we're going to disturb. It's what
[41:36] the law grants us.
[41:39] And yet they're suing on it because it's
[41:40] a great way to raise money.
[41:42] And I think this organization needs to
[41:43] be called out for what it is. It's a
[41:45] scam and they should be driven out of
[41:46] Washington County.
[41:49] » [applause]
[41:53] » Anybody unclear on how I feel about
[41:55] that? Do I need to keep going? All
[41:56] right. Speaking of roads, we'll go on to
[41:59] happier things. People often ask, you
[42:01] know, man, there's so much growth going
[42:03] on. There is. How do you plan? We
[42:05] actually try not to be reactionary, but
[42:07] very proactive and we work with the
[42:09] cities.
[42:10] We work with our Metropolitan Planning
[42:12] Organization or the Dixie MPO, and we
[42:15] actually plan out over 40 years in
[42:18] advance of where we think we're going to
[42:19] need major arterial roads, and not so
[42:21] much the surface streets. The cities
[42:23] really handle that really well on their
[42:24] own. But, uh, as you can see here, I'm
[42:26] not going to go through each and every
[42:27] one of them, but there are tons and tons
[42:29] of roads that we have planned, and we
[42:32] buy up corridors now when they're cheap,
[42:34] when it's maybe just dirt and sagebrush.
[42:36] Uh, we buy them up now, and we'll we'll
[42:38] hold them for a long time, but we we buy
[42:40] up easements and corridors where we know
[42:42] we're going to need roads in the future
[42:43] so that we can purchase them when
[42:44] they're cheap and not have to condemn
[42:46] things or use
[42:47] uh, or spend a lot more of your tax
[42:48] dollars sometime in the future.
[42:50] So, hopefully you can see that we we are
[42:52] really planning. Um, as far as road work
[42:54] goes, this year we rebuilt 5 mi of Kolob
[42:57] Terrace Road. Um,
[42:59] we did a lot of work after the Forsyth
[43:01] fire up on Pine Valley Mountain, a lot
[43:03] of work uh, in the Pine Valley area,
[43:06] tons of culverts and and things to try
[43:07] and affect the drainage for when the
[43:09] rain and the snow melt comes and takes
[43:11] all that debris and the ash down off of
[43:13] the burn scar uh, into Pine Valley, and
[43:15] then it it actually makes its all the
[43:16] way down into the Virgin River through
[43:18] the Santa Clara River.
[43:19] Um, and so that has worked uh, really,
[43:21] really well. We've improved rural roads
[43:24] countywide.
[43:25] Um,
[43:26] every time you go out to recreate
[43:27] somewhere that's not downtown, and you
[43:30] say, "Man, this is a nice road." Or you
[43:31] probably don't actually even think about
[43:33] it. Somebody actually had to maintain
[43:34] that road and get it there so that you
[43:36] could drive nicely with your bike or
[43:38] your kayak or wherever you're going out
[43:39] to recreate. Um, we maintained a hundred
[43:43] or 833 mi of roads across the county.
[43:47] Uh, 90% of those are rated as good or
[43:50] better condition. Um,
[43:52] and and we've got other major projects
[43:54] in 2026 including the Gunlock Road,
[43:56] Sheep Bridge Road paving, which cuts
[43:58] between uh,
[44:00] uh, Virgin and the highway over to
[44:02] Hildale, uh, and Ash Creek Bridge, the
[44:05] Kolob Terrace Road phase two project.
[44:09] Economic development is another area
[44:10] that I oversee.
[44:11] Um
[44:12] we coordinate countywide economic
[44:15] development. And what we really try to
[44:16] do with our partners and and there's two
[44:19] of them that I'm going to talk about
[44:20] here in a second, but we believe that
[44:22] that government's job is to set the
[44:23] table, but it's really the private
[44:24] sector that makes the meal. So, we just
[44:26] try to to to provide the resources and
[44:29] allow the
[44:30] the free market to to do what it does
[44:32] best. Um
[44:34] we have two partnerships that we've done
[44:36] in this last year. One of them really
[44:38] kicked off. It started a little bit in
[44:39] the year before, but but this last year
[44:41] is really when it's kind of hit the
[44:42] ground running. That's the Southern Utah
[44:44] Economic Alliance, which actually used
[44:46] to just be Washington County. We We kind
[44:47] of gave that name over to
[44:50] to another organization and have the has
[44:51] a regional aspect to it now because
[44:53] there's aspects
[44:55] outside of of Washington County like
[44:57] rail in Iron County that we just don't
[44:59] have a a single inch of of rail in
[45:01] Washington County and we probably never
[45:02] will. But having access to that to the
[45:05] inland port up in Iron County,
[45:07] that hub gives a great economic benefit
[45:10] to Washington County where we have
[45:11] things that they don't have such as a
[45:12] labor force
[45:13] that's much much larger, many more
[45:15] companies,
[45:17] and a better quality of life. So, um
[45:20] over Iron County. So,
[45:22] we we developed that. It has a regional
[45:24] aspect. And so, especially for
[45:26] recruitment or for large regional
[45:27] projects, that's the entity that that
[45:29] focuses on that. And then if you're
[45:31] really just within the four walls of
[45:32] Washington County, that's the Washington
[45:34] County Economic Development Office
[45:35] headed up by Darren Prince. Um
[45:38] we've supported more than over 1,500
[45:41] projected jobs this year
[45:43] in the growth both in entrepreneurship.
[45:46] We really focus on three areas:
[45:47] entrepreneurship,
[45:49] startup companies, right?
[45:51] Growing existing companies that are
[45:52] already here and helping them expand,
[45:54] build, hire more more people, increase
[45:57] their wages, and then obviously
[45:59] recruitment of other companies to the
[46:00] area.
[46:01] Um we've expanded support for local
[46:03] businesses through 120 plus company
[46:05] visits here in Washington County. Uh,
[46:07] um, the million 1 million cup program,
[46:09] which is an entrepreneurial hub and uh,
[46:12] support place where they can they can
[46:14] um, interact with each other and network
[46:16] and and try and solve and work through
[46:17] some of their problems. And then, um,
[46:20] all through the also through size up,
[46:21] which is really cool
[46:23] uh, software program through the
[46:25] Southern Utah Economic Alliance, which
[46:27] is a free resource to any company that
[46:29] provides really in-depth market research
[46:31] and market analytics uh, for anything
[46:33] that you might need for your business
[46:35] and see what your competitors are doing,
[46:36] maybe uh, synergies with other companies
[46:38] or suppliers that you might need. And
[46:41] uh, and that and that's up and running
[46:42] on their website now.
[46:44] And then the last piece is the St.
[46:46] George Airport, which uh, the county
[46:48] pays uh, some of the bills for now.
[46:50] That is a major economic driver. Uh,
[46:53] anybody tried to fly out recently? It's
[46:54] it was probably a really busy uh,
[46:56] airport. It's it's getting a ton of use
[46:59] and we need um, we need a bigger
[47:02] airport. We need to expand. And so, that
[47:04] uh, that airport is going through an
[47:05] expansion. We'll be helping with some of
[47:07] the uh, some of the funding on it. The
[47:09] city is bringing in some of the funding.
[47:10] The state has come in with with some of
[47:12] the funding. And that will provide more
[47:14] flights, more airlines. We fly to five
[47:16] destinations right now. We're expecting
[47:18] to to provide to many more. And that's a
[47:20] key piece that companies say they
[47:22] continue to look for when they're
[47:23] looking to come here or to expand here.
[47:25] I need to be able to get out or bring
[47:27] people in a lot easier.
[47:30] Speaking of the economy, the visitor
[47:31] economy is is big in Washington County.
[47:34] Uh, if you look around, obviously it's a
[47:35] beautiful place. People want to be here.
[47:37] They want to come visit. Uh, that drives
[47:40] an enormous portion of our economy.
[47:42] While we try and diversify, we're trying
[47:44] to do uh, so many other things in tech
[47:46] and bio research, uh, agro research,
[47:49] desertification tech,
[47:51] the the visitor economy is still a major
[47:53] piece of it. And so, uh, Zion National
[47:55] Park is the second busiest park in the
[47:56] country, second busiest National Park in
[47:58] the country. We have the busiest state
[48:00] park in Sand Hollow, which gets over 2
[48:02] million visitors a year.
[48:04] Uh Sand Hollow Snow Canyon gets uh my
[48:07] favorite park, gets um over a million
[48:10] visitors a year. Gunlock is over half a
[48:12] million a year. Uh Quail Creek gets just
[48:14] under a million a year. I mean, it's We
[48:16] all of our state parks are very, very
[48:17] busy. And uh and so people come here,
[48:19] about 10 million a year, come here to
[48:21] recreate and to experience what we have.
[48:23] We ask them to come and drop off their
[48:25] water and their money and then go back
[48:27] home with their memories.
[48:28] Um
[48:29] but that also means that they shop here,
[48:32] they spend money here, and that impact
[48:34] of the visitor economy, while sometimes
[48:36] we like to complain about it, lowers on
[48:38] average every Washington County home
[48:40] your property tax bill by $1,500 a year.
[48:43] That's a lot of money. Um so maybe it's
[48:46] not quite as much of an imposition
[48:47] sometimes when the road's shut down.
[48:49] Um
[48:50] with that money, we also are able to uh
[48:54] to reinvest in projects that our own
[48:56] citizens like to enjoy.
[48:58] Um
[48:59] just over $5 million
[49:01] last year in in things like the the
[49:03] brand new Washington Wheels Park, which
[49:04] is an incredible facility.
[49:10] Mayor Stanley started that one off. Good
[49:11] job, Mayor. Um
[49:13] most of the trails, the parks, the
[49:15] trailheads that are in Washington County
[49:17] have been funded in part by uh or
[49:19] subsidized in part by the funding from
[49:21] visitors that have helped pay for those
[49:23] things. So when you go out and enjoy
[49:24] them, thank the visitors for helping
[49:26] helping pay for those facilities.
[49:28] Um
[49:30] Yeah, I've covered that pretty well.
[49:32] The legislative session, um thank you uh
[49:35] Representative Cole and Jack for letting
[49:36] me uh
[49:38] snap a picture of your picture of you
[49:39] there. Uh we work really, really well
[49:41] with our legislators, uh who I think
[49:43] we've got two of them here today.
[49:45] Um
[49:46] the but but it the county kind of is the
[49:49] last line of defense against bad ideas.
[49:52] We complain about bad ideas out of uh
[49:54] Washington D.C. but occasionally there's
[49:55] bad ideas out of Salt Lake City, too.
[49:58] Or something that might be a good idea
[49:59] somewhere else that does not work here.
[50:01] And so
[50:02] we spend a lot of time at the
[50:04] legislature.
[50:07] The last couple of years I have kind of
[50:08] lived there almost as much as they do
[50:10] during the 6 weeks that that they're
[50:12] there to to make sure the Washington
[50:14] County's interests, your interests, are
[50:15] defended and and pushed in in Salt Lake
[50:18] City during the legislative session.
[50:20] Um
[50:21] is way too too much. They get what
[50:23] almost a thousand bills a year, right
[50:25] representative?
[50:26] They they luckily don't pass a thousand
[50:28] bills a year. But but they work really
[50:30] hard. But that means things are coming
[50:32] really fast. You don't get to years and
[50:33] years to to try and play defense against
[50:36] things. You have to work in real time
[50:38] with them, which is what takes so much
[50:39] time up there.
[50:42] I am the
[50:43] the current vice first vice president of
[50:45] the Utah Association of Counties and
[50:47] next week I'll become the president
[50:49] through next year,
[50:50] which gives Washington County a great
[50:52] seat at the table. I have a standing
[50:54] meeting every week with the speaker of
[50:55] the house, the Senate president, and the
[50:57] governor's office to make sure that
[51:01] while it it's supposed to be for all of
[51:03] the Utah Association of Counties, really
[51:05] I make sure that I am there for on
[51:06] behalf of Washington County and that
[51:08] that your interests are being
[51:09] represented. And it's been it's been a
[51:12] great blessing for Washington County
[51:13] because it means I can stop bad ideas or
[51:15] I can try and tweak things. Say, "Well,
[51:16] look, could we change it this way?" And
[51:18] we've we've been very very effective at
[51:21] doing that.
[51:23] So with that, thank you very much. I
[51:25] know I think we're going to have some
[51:26] Q&A now. So that's the end of my
[51:29] beautiful portion.
[51:32] » [applause]
[51:40] » Well, I think that that's a lot of
[51:42] information to digest and we're not
[51:44] going to let them off easy and and have
[51:46] them walk away after giving great
[51:47] presentations. We're going to do a
[51:49] little Q&A here and so I have some
[51:52] questions prepared. And
[51:54] as I ask the question if
[51:57] in the interest of time if just one of
[51:58] you would raise your hand to answer and
[52:00] we'll hand the time to you. So I'll
[52:02] begin the first question is what do you
[52:05] foresee being the biggest obstacle to
[52:08] the county population over the next
[52:10] year?
[52:14] » I'll take that.
[52:16] The biggest obstacle
[52:19] probably housing.
[52:21] You know when we think about water,
[52:24] that's something we can really apply and
[52:25] we can really fight that on our own a
[52:28] lot of the time. When you think about
[52:30] transportation, we already talked about
[52:31] roads.
[52:32] But it's so limited what counties can do
[52:35] and even cities can do when private land
[52:38] owners want to build something on their
[52:40] land. If it's zoned for it
[52:43] already, we pretty much have to make
[52:45] sure they build it right and that they
[52:47] comply with the zoning.
[52:49] But if somebody wants to come in and
[52:51] change the zone to build a different
[52:53] style or density
[52:56] we can help with that, but the real fact
[52:58] is that in the county portion, let alone
[53:01] cities
[53:03] we have limiting factors out in the
[53:05] county.
[53:06] Distance from population centers where
[53:09] they need groceries or they need
[53:10] services. We also have limitations on
[53:13] the amount of
[53:14] sewage they can put in the ground with
[53:16] septic permits.
[53:18] There's limits of how much water that
[53:19] they can drill a new well. There's those
[53:22] kind of things. But I'm not being a
[53:24] downer. I'm just saying the reality is
[53:26] is that housing probably for our kids to
[53:29] stay here, for people to come here that
[53:31] have expectations of higher income,
[53:34] whether they're coming from somewhere
[53:35] else that are they're an engineer or
[53:38] they're an attorney, that's It's thing
[53:40] that our attorney will always say, we
[53:42] can get attorneys, but we can't find
[53:45] houses for them. So, the point being is
[53:49] uh I believe that will be one of the
[53:50] biggest obstacles, but I also want to
[53:53] tell you there are opportunities that
[53:55] abound in Dixie because we have solved
[53:58] things many times over, and some of them
[54:00] are allowing multiple units on a the
[54:03] same parcel, uh perhaps smaller size of
[54:07] uh housing unit, but
[54:10] also I'm hoping that we can see some
[54:12] relief in the interest rates. The The
[54:14] legislature has helped with down payment
[54:15] assistance for first-time uh buyers, and
[54:19] I'm hoping that we can extend that to
[54:20] even further uh with some of the reserve
[54:24] funds that State Trust Lands holds. I've
[54:26] always thought that should be a re-
[54:28] revolving loan fund. Anyway, lots to be
[54:30] done there, but I think one of our
[54:32] greatest obstacles will be how we can
[54:34] have our
[54:35] people stay here with reasonable in
[54:38] reasonable well-built homes. That's my
[54:40] thought.
[54:41] » Thank you, Commissioner.
[54:43] The next question, the public deserves
[54:46] to know where and when we you spend our
[54:48] tax dollars, including our RAP tax.
[54:51] It's difficult, some would say, for a
[54:53] citizen to see exactly where you spend
[54:55] taxpayer funds.
[54:57] What are you willing to do to make it
[54:58] easier for your constituents to ex- see
[55:01] exactly where you spend our money?
[55:05] » Well, I guess I'll take that since I'm
[55:07] sitting right here. Um so, one of the
[55:09] most important things that we do as
[55:10] county commissioners is pass the county
[55:12] budget. And I can remember, I don't know
[55:14] if it was this year or last year, we had
[55:16] some sort of item in the on our agenda
[55:18] prior, and the room was full of people,
[55:20] and they were there, and this item
[55:22] passed, and then everybody got up and
[55:24] left, and then there was supposed to be
[55:26] a public hearing on a $200 million
[55:28] budget for the county, and not one
[55:30] citizen was there to stand up and ask
[55:33] questions or speak to it. So, finding
[55:36] transparency on on the budget and making
[55:38] sure that the public is engaged there is
[55:41] one of the most important things that
[55:42] we've been trying to do. When I first
[55:44] became a county commissioner, one of the
[55:46] first things that that I did was we
[55:49] implemented um
[55:51] this this step where every commission
[55:53] meeting we vote on all items, budgeted
[55:56] items, that are $10,000 or more. And so,
[55:59] if you ever come to a commission
[56:00] meeting, any item and it doesn't matter
[56:03] if it's it's food for the jail or
[56:06] ammunition for the sheriff's office or
[56:08] or paper clips for for the
[56:11] clerk-auditor's office. Just kidding. I
[56:13] know Ryan doesn't use that many paper
[56:14] clips because he hates paper. But, um
[56:17] but actually the budget process starts
[56:20] with our clerk-auditor and that starts
[56:23] in late August and then it moves through
[56:25] and we are on an annual budget. When we
[56:28] talk about the RAP board and and I think
[56:30] that the question, whoever asked that
[56:32] question, they're probably also talking
[56:33] about some of our tourism fund. So, let
[56:36] me talk about both of those. So, the RAP
[56:38] board actually has an advisory board.
[56:40] And when I say the RAP board, we're
[56:42] really talking about the 15% of the RAP
[56:45] that was set aside for cultural and art.
[56:49] The rest of it the other 85% is
[56:51] immediately sent to cities based on
[56:55] point of sale and population and then
[56:57] they they they spend it on through their
[56:59] budget process. But, at the county
[57:02] portion, the 15% actually has an
[57:04] advisory committee. That those are
[57:06] public meetings, those are meetings that
[57:08] are noticed, the minutes are are
[57:09] published, and they vote on it and then
[57:12] they recommend it to us and then we take
[57:14] it into a public meeting. We have a a
[57:17] public meeting upon which we vote on it
[57:19] again. Similarly, um when we talk about
[57:22] all of the tourism tax, TRT, and
[57:25] restaurant tax,
[57:27] it under state code has what's called
[57:29] the tourism tax advisory board. That
[57:32] board is made up of taxpayers. So, you
[57:35] have hoteliers, restaurant owners, etc.
[57:38] People who are paying that tax sit on
[57:40] that board. All of that money goes
[57:42] through that board before it's
[57:44] recommended back to the county
[57:45] commissioner on how county commission on
[57:48] how best to spend it. And so, in the
[57:51] it's basically a double step as far as
[57:54] spending goes. And then any additional
[57:56] money, once again, comes onto our
[57:58] commission agenda after it's spent. So,
[58:00] how do we I think the questioner also
[58:02] wants to know how we can improve. And
[58:04] so, there's there's several things that
[58:06] we're working on. The the county budget,
[58:09] and I keep pointing this way because
[58:10] this is where the world's famous
[58:13] Ryan Sullivan, our clerk auditor, sits.
[58:16] He is actually in county government, it
[58:18] is his budget. We pass it, but it goes
[58:21] through the clerk auditor's office. And
[58:23] so, he's working on ways for it to be
[58:25] even more transparent on our website.
[58:28] You know, websites have to be rebuilt.
[58:30] We're actually rebuilding our website.
[58:32] We've actually just barely last year
[58:34] implemented an entire new accounting
[58:36] software, which
[58:38] probably aged most of our county staff
[58:40] by a couple years as they had to learn
[58:43] this new system. But that new system
[58:45] will allow us to to have more reports
[58:49] and and it'll be easier to access. All
[58:52] of the data is there, but it's not any
[58:55] good if you can't find it. So, we
[58:57] continue to work on transparency. I
[58:58] think we've made leaps and bounds over
[59:01] the last few years. It's been a high
[59:02] priority of all of us commissioners and
[59:04] a high priority of of our clerk auditor
[59:06] as well.
[59:08] » Thank you, commissioner.
[59:10] We're going to stay on the money
[59:11] subject, and since we only have time for
[59:13] one more question, commissioner
[59:16] Snow, this is going to you.
[59:18] Um
[59:19] new home buyers across Washington County
[59:21] pay upwards of $20,000 in combined
[59:24] impact fees. This is passed directly
[59:26] through to the families that are already
[59:28] stretched thin by inflation, rising fuel
[59:31] costs, and the cost of raising a family.
[59:34] At the ribbon-cutting of the Washington
[59:37] Wheels Park, Councilman Ivy credited
[59:40] generous donations, making no mention of
[59:43] impact fees.
[59:44] Do you believe home buyers deserve to
[59:47] know exactly how their compensatory fees
[59:49] are being spent? And if so, why wasn't
[59:52] it disclosed at the ribbon-cutting?
[59:55] » Yeah, they should
[1:00:02] » [laughter]
[1:00:03] » Is only mine working? Here you go, Alan.
[1:00:04] » A joke? Is that There we go. Okay. Uh
[1:00:06] yeah, they should. But they already are.
[1:00:09] And my understanding is that
[1:00:11] the impact fees they I mean these aren't
[1:00:13] like hidden
[1:00:14] things. Uh maybe it could have been
[1:00:16] I was at the ribbon-cutting for the
[1:00:18] Wheels Park, so I don't I don't think
[1:00:19] that's what uh Councilman Ivy's point
[1:00:21] was not to try and say nobody else
[1:00:22] contributed. Actually, I remember him
[1:00:24] specifically cuz I didn't realize that
[1:00:25] uh impact fees had been used on that
[1:00:27] park. But uh
[1:00:29] it it was mentioned in addition to the
[1:00:32] to the uh
[1:00:34] donations and the the money that the
[1:00:35] county and the and other, you know,
[1:00:37] there's very generous donations from the
[1:00:39] the landowners that I think they got
[1:00:40] their arms twisted into giving the land.
[1:00:42] Um
[1:00:43] but but it's just as an example.
[1:00:45] But the answer I guess the short answer
[1:00:46] is yes. Every every citizen should know
[1:00:48] exactly what's happening with their
[1:00:49] dollars. These aren't government
[1:00:50] dollars. These aren't mine. Uh they're
[1:00:52] not Commissioner uh Iverson's. They're
[1:00:54] or the mayor's. They're your dollars.
[1:00:56] And of course transparency is absolutely
[1:00:58] paramount. Uh and my understanding is
[1:01:00] that those dollars are all they all go
[1:01:02] through the budget process and that
[1:01:04] means that they're all very transparent
[1:01:05] in how and how they're spent. Uh there
[1:01:07] is no secondary second book that we
[1:01:10] actually spend money out of and and we
[1:01:12] hide things in the back of it. That that
[1:01:13] doesn't happen, right? It's all very
[1:01:15] public uh knowledge. Um
[1:01:18] on the tr- but there's kind of two parts
[1:01:20] to that question though. Maybe they
[1:01:21] didn't mean to be or and I know probably
[1:01:23] combined a couple of like questions into
[1:01:25] one, so maybe that was some of the
[1:01:26] combination process there, but but
[1:01:29] impact fees
[1:01:30] because they they mentioned about
[1:01:31] families being stretched thin and
[1:01:32] everything. Well, and and that's true,
[1:01:34] right? But the it's also true of the
[1:01:36] families that already live here.
[1:01:38] And they're they're paying the same
[1:01:40] price at the pump and this
[1:01:41] the the cash There we go, the cash
[1:01:43] register.
[1:01:44] Um and so it's
[1:01:46] it's what we try to do is make sure the
[1:01:48] development pays for development, right?
[1:01:50] That we don't subsidize new development
[1:01:52] by taxing existing residents and say,
[1:01:54] "Okay, hey, uh you want to build a new
[1:01:57] development, so you need to pay for his
[1:01:59] roads so he can go make a bunch of money
[1:02:00] on the new development." No,
[1:02:03] the the new development pays
[1:02:05] for the new development's roads. And and
[1:02:07] the way they do that and the way the
[1:02:08] city provides resources and the way the
[1:02:10] county provides resources for those
[1:02:12] services that we need to provide is
[1:02:13] through impact fees. And so it's it's
[1:02:16] you can't just do away with them. And
[1:02:18] yes, $20,000 is a lot, but uh anybody
[1:02:20] tried to go buy a water meter recently
[1:02:22] or pipe or dig to put something in or
[1:02:25] put in a road? Uh roads are insane. I
[1:02:28] mentioned earlier, they are really,
[1:02:29] really expensive. I remember growing up,
[1:02:31] I think my dad was off by half, but he
[1:02:33] used to always say that the the gorge
[1:02:35] was the most ex When it was built in the
[1:02:37] 1970s was the most expensive road in
[1:02:39] America when it was built. And he always
[1:02:41] said he he he'd pause at a million
[1:02:44] dollars a mile. I would kill for a
[1:02:46] million dollars a mile right now, right?
[1:02:49] That they're they're really expensive.
[1:02:51] And so impact fees help off help pay for
[1:02:54] all of those things.
[1:02:56] Um
[1:02:56] and and that's
[1:02:58] you so we can't just do away with them.
[1:03:00] Um and we don't want to put it on
[1:03:01] existing residents. And we try to
[1:03:03] minimize it for new residents who want
[1:03:05] to live here and we try and make that
[1:03:07] it's a delicate balance that we're
[1:03:08] always in search of.
[1:03:10] » Thank you, Commissioner.
[1:03:11] Let's just finish up with a a question
[1:03:13] for all of you and we can start again
[1:03:15] here with with Commissioner Almquist,
[1:03:18] but looking forward for Washington
[1:03:20] County, um
[1:03:22] what are you most optimistic or most
[1:03:23] concerned about and share that with with
[1:03:26] the with the crowd and after
[1:03:27] Commissioner Almquist, we'll go to
[1:03:29] Commissioner Iverson and then finish up
[1:03:32] with Commissioner Snow.
[1:03:34] » I'm most optimistic of the people who
[1:03:36] live here
[1:03:38] because quite frankly, we can't do it
[1:03:41] ourselves and we do receive a lot of
[1:03:43] feedback from other community leaders,
[1:03:46] from citizens because really what they
[1:03:49] want to do is they want to wake up in
[1:03:50] the morning, have some breakfast, go to
[1:03:52] work or go play or do something and not
[1:03:54] worry that the government is going to
[1:03:56] change their lifestyle.
[1:03:58] And because of that, the onus is on us
[1:04:01] to then respond to as a representative
[1:04:04] government, the people and what they
[1:04:06] really desire. Um
[1:04:09] I remember
[1:04:11] I'm the board chair at Dixie Tech. I
[1:04:13] work side by side with Steven and
[1:04:16] together we are on a board
[1:04:19] that is made up of professionals in the
[1:04:22] area, all with one desire.
[1:04:24] Train those in the fields of electrical
[1:04:28] work, welding, nursing, you name it, uh
[1:04:32] diesel repair, huge. Um
[1:04:35] when I look at those who bring in their
[1:04:38] students who are graduating that have
[1:04:40] shown exceptional uh
[1:04:42] skills
[1:04:44] and they brag to us of their not only
[1:04:46] training ability, but also that they are
[1:04:49] at Dixie Tech.
[1:04:50] Um I know that Steven and I have talked
[1:04:53] about this. We get kind of fair klemped.
[1:04:55] A good old Yiddish word. When it comes
[1:04:57] to the fact that these are people just
[1:05:01] starting out or some who have never had
[1:05:04] any education before and I look at that
[1:05:06] and I say there's so much promise. And
[1:05:09] there's no favorites
[1:05:11] when a principal says, "Well, well,
[1:05:13] who's that is asked, "Who's your
[1:05:14] favorite student?" Or "Who's your
[1:05:16] favorite teacher?" Usually, that's a
[1:05:19] long list. And I've got to tell you, I I
[1:05:21] enjoy working with Victor and with Adam,
[1:05:24] all of our county employees and
[1:05:26] department heads and other elected
[1:05:28] because if any of us ever said, "Well,
[1:05:31] what's your favorite thing to work on?"
[1:05:33] It might be a multiplicity of things
[1:05:36] that show opportunity and
[1:05:38] what I'm optimistic about, but it really
[1:05:40] comes down to those who live here and
[1:05:42] how we can serve them. And
[1:05:44] it's Dixie. We've we've always done
[1:05:46] that. We've we've risen a city and
[1:05:49] cities out of nothing. And uh sure
[1:05:52] appreciate the the question. Thank you.
[1:05:56] » Thank you, Commissioner Iverson.
[1:06:00] » That's actually a really great question.
[1:06:02] I just want to echo a little bit. I I
[1:06:04] think a lot about our history and about
[1:06:06] about this Dixie spirit that we talk
[1:06:08] about, these rugged individuals that
[1:06:10] came into this area. This is a really
[1:06:11] special area, Washington County. We have
[1:06:14] these three great western formations
[1:06:16] that meet here, the Mojave Desert to the
[1:06:18] south, the Colorado Plateau, and the
[1:06:21] Basin and Range. Now, the Basin and
[1:06:22] Range, that's Nevada. That's not as
[1:06:24] pretty as the Anyway, we'll move on, but
[1:06:26] it's a it's the Dixie spirit, this idea
[1:06:29] of working together. You know, I I
[1:06:31] talked a little bit about water and how
[1:06:33] difficult it is.
[1:06:35] You know, these great big projects that
[1:06:37] we have going on. But the fact of it is
[1:06:39] it was difficult on the same type of
[1:06:41] scale when our pioneers came. But it
[1:06:45] doesn't I people that move here are so
[1:06:47] impressive. Like the the people that are
[1:06:49] drawn to Washington County, I continue
[1:06:52] to be amazed at the quality of people
[1:06:55] who just want to move here. And and I
[1:06:57] kind of feel like,
[1:06:59] you know, they're all being drawn,
[1:07:01] they're all pioneers. And they all add
[1:07:04] to our community. So, when I think about
[1:07:07] optimism, we've always had to be a
[1:07:09] little bit optimistic here in Washington
[1:07:11] County. We've always had to to believe
[1:07:13] that we're going to get it done. Nothing
[1:07:14] is necessarily easy here, but working
[1:07:17] together, the Dixie spirit, the great
[1:07:20] cooperation that the county has with our
[1:07:22] city partners, with our mayors,
[1:07:24] working to solve problems, that's that's
[1:07:26] what gives me a lot of optimism going
[1:07:28] forward.
[1:07:30] » Thank you.
[1:07:32] Commissioner Snow.
[1:07:34] » Uh
[1:07:35] yeah, same thing on the optimism. I'll
[1:07:37] say things that that worry me. I'll I'll
[1:07:39] answer that part of the question cuz you
[1:07:41] know, that that I'm concerned about. Uh
[1:07:43] cost of living, cost of housing is is
[1:07:45] definitely tough. Um there's a
[1:07:48] I saw Neil Walter here earlier. I don't
[1:07:50] know if he's still here.
[1:07:51] Uh but but he's got a great answer on on
[1:07:54] housing being a real estate expert. Um
[1:07:56] but uh
[1:07:57] but there is not any one item that we
[1:07:59] can just solve, right? I can I can tell
[1:08:01] you if any of our cities or if the
[1:08:02] county or if the state could just come
[1:08:03] in and say And actually, it was funny.
[1:08:05] Last year the the governor
[1:08:07] uh his office kind of threatened, you
[1:08:08] know, if if the cities and the county
[1:08:10] won't around the state, not just here,
[1:08:12] if you won't solve the housing problem,
[1:08:14] we'll come in and solve it for you. And
[1:08:15] everyone was like, "Great.
[1:08:18] Go ahead. If you think you can, go right
[1:08:20] ahead." Turns out they can't, so they
[1:08:21] didn't. Um
[1:08:23] but the the point being that the uh
[1:08:27] some of that is that really low interest
[1:08:29] rates have kept people in their homes
[1:08:30] and they normally would have would have
[1:08:32] moved on, right? They would have
[1:08:34] especially some of the older population
[1:08:36] would have downsized into your, you
[1:08:37] know, condo. They'd have all moved to
[1:08:39] SunRiver by now and they haven't because
[1:08:41] they don't want to leave their really
[1:08:42] low interest rate. Um
[1:08:44] nature will solve some of that issue
[1:08:46] eventually and
[1:08:48] and the rest of them will will move on
[1:08:51] and and and they'll they'll downsize cuz
[1:08:54] even even interest rates right now
[1:08:55] historically are not that high, right? I
[1:08:58] wasn't alive yet. My parents told me
[1:08:59] that there There a one point there's
[1:09:01] like 14% interest rate.
[1:09:03] That we're not anywhere near that,
[1:09:05] right? And they were really happy when I
[1:09:07] got them cuz I owned a mortgage company
[1:09:08] in college. When I got them 6% and they
[1:09:11] thought, "Well, that was a great rate."
[1:09:12] Well, 6% right now you're crying cuz
[1:09:14] it's so high, right? Um
[1:09:16] but but eventually that will normalize
[1:09:18] and people will have to move on cuz life
[1:09:20] just demands that. Um
[1:09:22] but we we there are things that we can
[1:09:24] do. We're working with cities. I know
[1:09:25] the cities are working on it. Of all the
[1:09:27] levers on housing, uh we can't affect
[1:09:29] the cost of land. Everybody sells land
[1:09:31] at the highest price they can. We all
[1:09:33] would do the same when we own land,
[1:09:34] right? Nobody sells it a discount just
[1:09:36] to be a good guy. Um
[1:09:38] we can't affect the cost of the
[1:09:39] materials. We can't affect the cost of
[1:09:40] labor. We can't affect the
[1:09:42] macroeconomic, you know, the interest
[1:09:43] rate side.
[1:09:45] So, we can affect density and we can
[1:09:48] affect a little bit
[1:09:50] uh impact fees, but like I already
[1:09:52] talked about, you can't really just wipe
[1:09:53] them away because that's only $20,000
[1:09:55] off of it and the city has impact. So,
[1:09:58] all you're doing is moving that to
[1:09:59] somebody else to pay for. And so, we can
[1:10:01] affect density and there's things that
[1:10:02] we can we can do and I know cities are
[1:10:04] doing it. The county actually just
[1:10:05] passed uh a new zone where we can
[1:10:08] affect some higher density housing in
[1:10:10] certain areas where it makes sense. And
[1:10:13] uh and so, there's there's things that
[1:10:15] we're working on.
[1:10:16] Um some of that will just take some time
[1:10:18] to work through. I would say cost of
[1:10:20] cost of living used to be water was my
[1:10:21] number one concern. That's moved to
[1:10:23] number two. If Zach's still here, sorry
[1:10:25] Zach. It's now number two, cost of
[1:10:27] living and housing specifically is
[1:10:29] number one. But the reason I am why I
[1:10:32] said amen is that we have continued to
[1:10:34] figure things out here at the lowest
[1:10:36] possible cost in the state. And that is
[1:10:39] the Dixie spirit, right? We work
[1:10:41] together. We we just figure it out. And
[1:10:42] I can tell you since I am at the
[1:10:44] legislature all the time and in and as
[1:10:45] the president of all of all the Utah
[1:10:47] counties,
[1:10:48] so many other counties
[1:10:50] will will turn to us and they'll they'll
[1:10:52] be some big issue that we all care about
[1:10:53] and they'll go, "Well,
[1:10:55] we're behind you, Washington County."
[1:10:57] And I'm like, "No, don't be behind me,
[1:10:58] be next to me. You know, like fight with
[1:11:00] us, but like you you get them and we'll
[1:11:02] support you.
[1:11:04] And well, that's kind of a crap answer,
[1:11:06] but they but they they do that and that
[1:11:08] means that Washington County has strong
[1:11:10] leadership. We work with our our
[1:11:11] delegation at the federal and at the
[1:11:13] state level. We've we've worked
[1:11:15] together. We work with our cities. We
[1:11:17] work with all of our community partners.
[1:11:18] We get things done at a low cost and and
[1:11:21] it's not just a claim. We've proven it
[1:11:23] already here. And and it's the best
[1:11:26] managed state and I would say the best
[1:11:27] managed county in the best managed state
[1:11:29] in the nation
[1:11:30] for a reason. And it's it is that Dixie
[1:11:33] spirit. So even any of these tough
[1:11:34] problems that we have facing us, we can
[1:11:36] overcome. We're working on it. Nobody is
[1:11:39] treating this like we do like they do in
[1:11:40] California where it's like, I don't
[1:11:41] know. Let's just go more into debt.
[1:11:43] Nobody's in debt doing this. As you saw,
[1:11:45] we're debt-free, right?
[1:11:47] We don't just throw money at a problem
[1:11:48] and say, maybe that'll fix it or let's
[1:11:51] get some more DEI in there and maybe
[1:11:52] that'll fix it, right? We we solve the
[1:11:54] problem with real solutions and and
[1:11:57] that's what will will get us over
[1:11:58] anything. And that's what I'm most
[1:11:59] optimistic about.
[1:12:06] » Well, let's have one final round of
[1:12:08] applause for our county commissioners,
[1:12:09] their presentations today.
[1:12:12] » [applause]
[1:12:14] » I think they did a fantastic job sharing
[1:12:16] with us what's going on in Washington
[1:12:17] County and we're appreciative to all of
[1:12:19] you for coming out and participating
[1:12:21] today in our state of the county and
[1:12:23] we'll look forward to seeing you again
[1:12:25] in another year. Thanks you so much and
[1:12:26] travel safe.