The towns of Taylor and Snowflake have each paid $15,000 annually to Navajo County for court collection and criminal justice services for several years. This is the same amount as other cities and towns in the county even though Taylor and Snowflake share a police department while the other cities and towns each have their own.
Taylor Town Attorney Sterling Solomon, who has been integral in discussions with the county, explained where the money went at the June 1 council meeting, noting, “The court processes a lot of issues that are born out of the Town of Taylor and the county fronts a lot of those costs.”
“We’ve had ongoing discussions with the county about concerns, because we don’t have money and the county needs more money,” said Solomon. He explained that the county has agreed that Taylor and Snowflake will each pay $6,739.50 a fiscal year and stated, “Taylor is getting off cheap. We’ve been paying $15,000.”
Councilman Mark Reed asked about statistics on the number of cases from each community, which Solomon explained that the computer program could not break down between Taylor and Snowflake.
In response to a question posed by Councilman Shawn Palmer, Town Manager Eric Duthie explained that Taylor and Snowflake share the police department with a 45-55 split, and Taylor covers expenses of the ambulance, while Snowflake pays for the pool, library and parks programs.
When further questions were asked, Solomon stated, “We can’t get into discussing that, because it’s not on the agenda. What is on the agenda is the court agreement for Navajo County.”
Assistant County Manager Dusty Parsons was on hand to answer any questions on an intergovernmental agreement between the county and the town. He explained that this is a five-year agreement with charges based on services in the Snowflake Justice Court, but each fiscal year they will look at the case numbers and if there’s a major change, it will come back to the town for approval.
Duthie said he was not sure if this split with Snowflake would be 45-55, but noted that the highest amount will be $6,739.50, explaining that the issue has not yet been discussed with Snowflake officials.
“I quizzed Judge (Fred) Peterson,” said Brad Click, who was in the audience. “He was highly in favor of this passing.”
Vice Mayor Jane Lee moved to approve the agreement between the county and the Town of Taylor for court collection and criminal justice services not to exceed $6,739.50 for fiscal year 2011-12. The motion passed unanimously.
