It is remarkable when a town council votes to increase taxes -- especially by 237%. But when they do it without any discussion among the members of the council, that approaches the unbelievable.
And yet, that's exactly what happened Tuesday evening in the polygamist enclave of Hildale, Utah.
Town manager Jeremiah Barlow made a brief PowerPoint presentation on why the city needed the tax hike. Mayor David Ziting played "master of ceremonies" amiably bantering with the few in the audience who had concerns.
And the town councilmen? They were mute.
As I watched it all unfold, I wondered if this decision wasn't made at another time and in another place ... perhaps even by other people ...
Here are a couple reasons for my suspicion:
1) When Mayor Ziting invited discussion of the council on the tax hike, they just stared at each other. After a long, awkward pause, Councilman Winford Barlow mumbled a motion that was seconded. They voted unanimously in favor of the tax hike. No questions. No speeches about how they regretted the necessity of such a huge hike. Nothing.
2) When Val Oveson, a CPA representing the UEP Trust (which holds title to much of the land in the town), asked to see a detailed budget explaining how the increased tax revenue would be spent, Mayor Ziting said they didn't have it -- never seen it.
But just a few minutes later, they also voted -- again without discussion -- on a new budget that included the revenues from the just approved tax hike! If that was indeed the first time they'd seen the new, improved budget, I would think that they would have gone over at least a few of the major line items. But again, nothing.
Did the council comply with the laws on open meetings and proper notification? Oveson said yes, but even he wondered perhaps if the "fix was in". He observed that such a record breaking, potentially back breaking tax increase would have filled any other city hall in the state to overflowing. But only a dozen folks came to watch the Hildale tax show.
Had FLDS leaders already known of the decision and told their followers (the dominant majority) not to bother going to the meeting? (Do town folks there ever go to any council meeting?) Had those leaders somehow had a hand in the decision?
Such are the conspiratorial, perhaps even paranoid questions that come to my mind when I see such a performance as the one Tuesday evening at the Hildale town hall.
I should really try harder to keep my imagination in check.
