Our County Commissioners have taken a lot of heat lately. I am personally thankful for all that they do for us.
They have been put in an impossible position of trying to maintain a budget that was inherited from prior administrations. The buildings and roads that must be maintained, the employees that must be paid, the law enforcement that we all need and want, the jail that we must have to house those among us who have made some mistakes in their life all must be paid for.
These men have stepped up to have the “privilege” of determining what budgets should be cut (my understanding is that all budgets were cut), who loses their job (don’t forget that people have been laid off from the county,) and what programs and jobs get to be combined to make them more efficient or eliminate duplication. All of these things have taken place.
No sane person should be happy about a tax increase, but these men also voted to raise their own taxes. They share in the responsibility just like the rest of us. I know each one of them did not take this lightly. These men are good men, thank them for their efforts, know that they really are looking out for our county and doing all they can to bring businesses into our area.
I personally know that they were instrumental in securing the expansion to Intermountain Electronics, convincing their owner to grow his business here. They are working on projects like this everyday. They are a huge promoter of Utah State University Eastern, which brings money in the form of taxes, retail purchases, travelers and, of course, students into our community.
I serve with these men on various committees that are doing all they can to promote our county as a place for business and recreation. We have been blessed with abundant natural resources in our county, but coal seams do get used up or “move” out of our county as they are mined. We have also seen the “War on Coal” affect our county and those counties around us. Gas prices also fluctuate, I am sure the majority of Carbon County residents were happy to see the price of a gallon of gas drop to around $2 a gallon a few years ago, but how many of you saw what it would do to those that worked in that industry here locally?
All these things have combined and put us in the position that we are in. We owe these men a thank you for doing the very difficult job that we have entrusted to them. I hope you will join me in doing that the next time you see them.
Darin Birch
Carbon County
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