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s you are all aware, the county has run into financial difficulties. Whatever the reasons, let me tell you some differences you may notice.
Deseret Peak Complex is having a 30-day “timeout” period, which means the department has been dissolved, along with the maintenance department. A new department will be created called the “Facilities Management Department.”
The two managers of this department are working to come up with a plan to present to the county commissioners that will make it financially feasible to open Deseret Peak Complex again.
In order to keep the ball fields, soccer fields, horse arena, swimming pool, etc. up and running, we will be dependent upon volunteers from the community. The commissioners are considering setting up a “Volunteer Coordinator” to handle all of the people we’re hoping are interested in volunteering. Once this is set up, I will let you know.
With the maintenance department being dissolved, you will see county employees dumping their own trash, vacuuming their own offices, dusting, etc. The employees actually offered to provide these services for themselves to help with the situation.
When you call the county offices, rather than getting a real person, you will get a recording that lists the departments with their corresponding numbers for you to push. It’s not nearly as pleasant, but it’s cheaper.
Many departments have laid one or more people off, or reduced their employees to 3/4 time. You may notice longer lines at the assessor’s office, and during tax time a longer wait to pay your taxes in the treasurer’s office. It may also take longer to have something recorded, or to get a paycheck from the auditor’s office. These reductions in service are all a result of the reduction in staff.
As for the clerk’s office, you may have to wait longer to get a marriage license, or a passport. We are now processing all of the county’s incoming and outgoing mail. During elections there will definitely be a difference; besides doing our regular work, we will be testing all of the machines, packing election supplies, delivering/picking up machines and serving as election rovers. Prior to budget cuts, we had seasonal workers help with those tasks.
So please be patient with the county and its employees. If they seem a little stressed, they are. Hopefully in the coming months we can turn the ship around and start moving up stream again.
Marilyn K. Gillette, Tooele County Clerk
