In the News!

Clive was featured in the Salt Lake Tribune on 18 July 2008.
The following is the article that ran in the Close-up section.

Despite Loss, He's Working for the City
Defeated council candidate heads group to fight tax increases in West Jordan
By Donald W. Meyers

http://www.sltrib.com/valleywest/ci_9911662

When Clive Killpack ran for West Jordan's City Council, he promised to create an advisory panel to examine the budget of Utah's fourth most-populous city.

Killpack narrowly lost that election last year, but that hasn't stopped him from fulfilling his campaign promise. He heads the West Jordan Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee, a grass-roots group of 40 that looks for ways this west Salt Lake County city can trim its budget and exercise fiscal fitness.

"We have people who deal with budgets all the time in the public and private sectors," said Killpack, an information-technology support supervisor with the Utah Office of Higher Education. "We have people who look at the revenue projections and ask what they support."

Mayor David Newton said he welcomes the additional scrutiny - even though there may be some areas with which city officials may disagree.

"If we had more people involved like this group, it would be a blessing," Newton said. "I want to see them involved next year."

Killpack organized the committee April 9, the day after the city introduced its $95 million budget. The spending package requires a $3 million property-tax bump - about $70 more a year on a $247,000 home - to bring it into balance. That's not counting a 3.5 percent telecommunications tax and a half-percentage point jump in the city's energy tax.

With the pending Jordan School District split, Killpack said something needs to be done to give taxpayers a break.

"When [the split] happens, we're going to see property taxes go higher," Killpack said. "We're asking too much for the citizens to foot the bill."

He warned it will be especially hard for senior citizens.

While there is little he can do about the school taxes, Killpack believes he and his committee can soften the blow by keeping city taxes in check.

Howard Stephenson, president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, said he hadn't heard of the committee before, but commended its willingness to be fiscal watchdogs. But Stephenson, who also is a Republican state senator from Draper, said anti-tax groups need to be careful when making their case.

"One thing we caution is to use facts, not emotion," Stephenson said. As long as the arguments are fact-based, he said government officials are more willing to listen than if the protesters gripe about taxes without doing their homework.

Killpack said his group already is digging for the facts. Committee members get budget documents from the city and pore over them, looking for places where spending can be trimmed or accounting procedures tightened.

The committee has recommended cutting $2 million from the city's fleet-fund reserves and delaying the purchase of new nonemergency vehicles. The panel also has suggested clearly linking revenue sources to the programs they fund, instead of lumping them all into the general fund. He said that makes it hard to see if a program is siphoning money from other departments.

The committee also is circulating a petition asking city leaders to shoot down the property-tax boost. The goal, he said, is to show that most residents, not just the committee, oppose the proposed increase.

While anti-tax groups often are viewed by officials as adversaries, Killpack said his committee has seen city staffers and council members attend its meetings to discuss finances.

Newton, the mayor, said the committee's work has been good for West Jordan in that officials can better explain what they do and why things have to be done a particular way.

"We won't always agree," Newton said. "None of us do, not even elected officials."

Councilwoman Kathy Hilton, who supports the tax increase, disagrees with some of the group's recommendations, but she said she would not state any of them while the budget discussions continue.

"I would like to go through the budget process," Hilton said. dmeyers@sltrib.com

West Jordan Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee: http://www.westjordancitizens.com/.