Manti council outlines countywide 'rural health' tax proposal to fund e911 dispatch

Mayor Mary Wintch and city staff told the council that the state requires a new computer-aided dispatch system and two dispatchers on duty at all times but has not funded the mandate. Mayor Mary Wintch said the county's cost estimate could grow from about $400,000 to more than $1 million and that the increased expense will need to be distributed somehow.

"The rural health tax would be dedicated to e911 dispatch, and not to a hospital or clinic project," Mayor Mary Wintch said, stressing the revenue would be ring-fenced for dispatch services. Council members discussed allocation methods and objections raised by mayors and council members about dividing costs only by municipal population, which they said would leave unincorporated residents shouldering unequal shares.

Under the proposal described at the meeting, the tax would apply countywide and would exclude basic grocery food and gasoline but would add to prepared-food sales and many non-food purchases; backers say that structure could capture some revenue from visitors who use emergency services. No final ballot language or exact rate was presented at the council meeting; staff urged residents to attend a June 30 town hall at the county courthouse to ask questions and hear full details before a potential November ballot measure.

City Manager Jason Brown told the council that dispatch funding must be addressed one way or another and warned that if the rural health tax fails, municipalities could face larger direct assessments. The council did not take a formal vote on placing the measure on a ballot but asked staff and county partners to continue public outreach and to provide clearer cost and rate estimates before any decision.