SALT LAKE CITY — Amid controversy over a county transportation fund's past distribution, some Salt Lake County Council members on Tuesday attempted to rescind a decision to distribute another $47 million from the fund using a list prioritized by state leaders.

But because the motion required a supermajority, the attempt failed with a tie vote that crossed party lines.

Worries over the fund — called the "quarter of a quarter" fund because its revenue is captured from one-quarter of the 0.25 cent sales tax for transit approved by the Legislature in 2001 — surfaced when South Jordan Mayor Alvord and Holladay Mayor Robert Dahle learned that their cities, along with Herriman and South Salt Lake, have received no money from the fund over the last 14 years.

During the same time period, other cities including Sandy, Taylorsville and Draper have been granted tens of millions — $42.9 million, $23.5 million and $18.5 million, respectively.

Since the fund's distribution list has been drafted by state leaders over the years, Alvord and Dahle worried that state leadership has had too much power over how Salt Lake County tax dollars have been distributed.

The two mayors also questioned whether lobbyist and former House Speaker Greg Curtis has had too much influence over how the funds are prioritized because many of his client cities have been collecting big year after year.

Dahle called it a "political piggy bank."

However, Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville — who was directed by Sen. President Wayne Neiderhauser, R-Sandy, to help write this year's list with feedback from cities — has said Curtis was only involved as much as a lobbyist can be and he didn't help write the distribution list.

Still, County Council members — including Chairman Steve DeBry, Aimee Winder Newton, Richard Snelgrove and Sam Granato — worried that the funds' priorities have been set behind closed doors, among just a handful of legislative leaders.

"I've heard a lot from mayors and concerned citizens this week. I was not entirely comfortable with this process. Based on the information developed by our fiscal staff and input from many interested parties, I cannot support this," Granato said, proposing that the council reconsider this year's list.

Granato also proposed the county hold the funds until "we develop an appropriation process the council finds fair, equitable and transparent."

Snelgrove supported the proposal.

"I can't support a flawed process where funding seems to be determined who your lobbyist is rather than by a data-driven decision," he said.

While it's the first year South Jordan and Herriman have been selected to receive funding — $1.5 million and $1 million, respectively — another $5.8 million will go to Draper and $5 million to Sandy, according to the list. Other cities were slated to receive the following:

Salt Lake City - $2.6 million

South Salt Lake - $1.2 million

Millcreek - $1.2 million

West Valley City - $3.5 million

Taylorsville - $3.8 million

West Jordan - $3.2 million

Riverton $2.3 million

Herriman $2.2 million

Bluffdale - $1.5 million

Cottonwood Heights - $2 million

Midvale - $1.5 million

Murray $1.5 million

Salt Lake County/townships - $7.2 million

Though council members and Mayor Ben McAdams agreed that a better distribution process is needed, McAdams and half of the council decided this year wasn't the year to do it. "Right or wrong, there is a process, and for us to step in here at the last minute and think we can change things ... I think all we're going to do is mess it up and cause all kinds of problems," said Councilman Max Burdick.

McAdams said he "didn't like" the fund's past use and in future years, "we should certainly resist that process."

"At the end of the day, these are county taxes that the state has hijacked and then dictated to us how those taxes should be spent," McAdams said, calling on the county to "demand" during next year's legislative session for "ultimate discretion" over the fund.

However, McAdams said county officials did make commitments to state leaders when last year's $1.47 billion transportation bond bill was being drafted, with the understanding that the county would prioritize projects within the cities once the cities were selected at the state level.

"We should be grateful to Sen. Harper for doing whatever it took to get that bond passed," he said, noting that many west-side communities, including South Jordan and Herriman, benefit from the entire bond, not just the $47 million portion.

"I worry that if we go back on the commitment we've made in negotiations in the legislative process, that will do harm to Salt Lake County's reputation and harm our abilities in the future to negotiate at the Legislature," he said.

Councilman Michael Jensen, who voted for the approval of the distribution list last week, agreed.

"We did make a commitment — right, wrong, or indifferent — we made a commitment to the Legislature," he said. "And once that gavel stops at the end of the session, there are 104 people up there that expect us to live up to the commitment we made."

Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com

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