SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Crown Jewelers and Pawn Shop owner Mike Katsanevas and his cousin Ted Sargetakis, owner of Silver State Inc, have both owned businesses in the South Salt Lake area for over 30 years.
There was never an issue until a couple of months ago.
“We received our monthly utility bill, water bill from South Salt Lake, and basically there was a new line item that was literally eight times the size of our normal monthly bill,” Sargetakis said.
The Transportation Utility Fee is meant to go toward road projects in the area. Initially, residents weren’t supposed to get charged, which made businesses get the brunt of it.
“We're close to $2,500 extra a year. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you look at all the increases in fees and in tariffs and everything else that we have to absorb, it’s a lot,” Katsanevas said.
Some would pay even more since the monthly rate is based on the size of the business.
After business owners took their concerns to the council back in May, a tweaked ordinance was re-visited on May 27, which added residents to the list of who will get charged.
“I also think it’s important that we alert everyone to what's happening and not just having them find out one day that they have a new bill to pay. Times are tough right now and it’s not looking like it’s going to be getting any easier,” council member Nick Mitchell said during the meeting. "I understand that we need to have road maintenance, I just don’t know if this is the right path forward.”
However, others felt differently.
“We were all elected by our homeowners, people who live in our city. I don’t remember knocking on businesses’ doors,” council member Clarissa Williams also said in the meeting. "We’re taking direction from people who can’t vote for us.”
However, business owners feel that just because they live outside the city doesn’t mean their concerns shouldn’t be taken seriously.
“What happens to a business also impacts the residents, so if a burger shop is going to see an increase from the city on how much they need to pay in fees, it likely means that that burger shop is going to have to increase how much they charge their patrons that come there,” said Billy Hesterman with the Utah Taxpayers Association.
The ordinance was ultimately passed, with residents having the lowest fees and businesses having the highest. Katsanevas is afraid this decision will draw businesses away from South Salt Lake.
“It breaks my heart, because we want businesses here... But when the city is not sensitive to the business's needs, they're going to go somewhere else,” he said. "When you throw one big lump sum, I don't care who you are, it's tough.”
Since most of the business owners don’t live there, they can’t file a referendum, which may make it hard to rebuttal council’s decision.
“There is the legal channel that some people are discussing, and I think that's a viable channel, which would be disappointing if that has to be the only way to go,” Sargetakis said.
FOX 13 News reached out to the City of South Salt Lake. They said they have "no further comment on the topic" and referred to the Transportation Utility Fee webpage.
