When I became Commissioner one of my platforms was to look at the financial viability of projects within the county. A big part of that analysis involves looking at contracts and business practices.
My goal as a Commissioner is to try and reach a revenue-neutral position, rather than using taxpayer dollars to subsidize everything. For many, this increased scrutiny is painful.
For years’ practices have occurred without this level of attention, which allowed people to become accustomed to a very generous pricing structure. With all of the attention given to property taxes, this type of review and analysis is more critical than ever.
We must be better stewards of tax dollars.
My goal with these analyses is not to chase people away from using facilities or to turn a profit. Rather the goal is to find ways to minimize the impact on budgets and ultimately property taxes. All areas of the county are being put through this process and it is leading to uncomfortable, but long overdue conversations.
Today we had a great meeting about the Indoor arena and riding passes. It was great to see so many members of the community attend the meeting to show support for the issue. Guy Patterson and his team presented the Commissioners with data about the costs associated with maintain the arena and meeting the public’s desire for access. They presented us with several solutions to the issue, which we are taking under advisement.
We are scheduling another meeting in two weeks to allow the public to review the information presented today and provide comments. Interested parties can access the information presented today at https://www.bannockcounty.us/…/Arena-Grooming-Cost.pdf
We look forward to hearing from the community and developing a workable solution.