County executive begins reorganization of fire board, outlines municipal-services tax plan

County Executive George Daines told the Cache County Council the county must restart the fire-board appointment process after legal review found previous selections did not follow the statute. "We have to kind of start over," Daines said, describing instances in which a mayoral change had been assumed to carry an automatic board seat and noting at least two members had been disqualified under the statute. Daines said the county began a 30-day public application period to solicit candidates and that he will return with a proposed list of appointments for council advice and consent once the period closes.

Daines said the bylaws cannot be finalized until legally appointed members exist; the council will be shown draft bylaws for comment but the fire board itself will adopt them. On financing and service boundaries, Daines outlined a proposed municipal-services levy to equalize how fire and EMS costs are borne by residents in unincorporated areas versus incorporated cities. "What we would do with the municipal services tax is we would take the unincorporated area and levy a tax roughly equivalent to what citizens inside the city pay," he said, adding that the county would use that revenue to reimburse or contract with cities that provide services. Council members pressed for timelines and for clarity about how vouchers or reallocated revenue would operate; Daines said steering committees and chiefs are actively preparing budgets and that proposals should be ready in late August to early September.