Moab Sun News
News, events and culture from Moab, Utah
Moab Sun News
News, events and culture from Moab, Utah
Fund 47 has been the subject of some discussion and scrutiny lately, but it shouldn’t really be about Fund 47. The conversation is actually about the Transportation Optional Sales Tax (OST) that was passed by Grand County voters in 2015 and has been used for various purposes since, including a portion of funding for maintaining paved paths and dirt trails.
This tax had been collected and allocated without controversy for about 10 years, until this past month. Commissioners Winfield and Martinez have decided to weaponize its use for political reasons and use it to fund their unpopular and expensive Arches Shuttle project. When I say allocated without controversy, I mean that it has passed yearly internal and external audits and been budgeted consistently since 2016. Indeed, Winfield and Martinez themselves supported using the funds in this manner when they voted to pass the 2026 budget last December.
The ballot language that voters approved (55.25-44.75%) reads:
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Shall Grand County, Utah, be authorized to impose a quarter of one percent (0.25% the equivalent of 1 cent for every 4 dollars spent) sales and use tax for the specific purpose of transportation improvements such as roads, trails, sidewalks, maintenance, and traffic and pedestrian safety features, with revenues divided among the county, cities and towns within Grand County.
Those funds have been used in a manner consistent with voter desires until recently, when $350,000 was allocated for the local portion of the Arches Shuttle. It’s worth noting that only a small portion of the tax does go to trail development and maintenance: the majority of funding for trailwork comes from State grants that would not be accessible without matches that these funds help to provide.
While Martinez had brought up the OST once or twice previously, he and Winfield began rejecting its use for trails after I pushed back against using Fund 47 for shuttle funding during the August 4th Commission meeting. It’s been implied to me that this was political tit for tat for my opposition. After this meeting Winfield went to the state auditor for an opinion, bypassing procedure and the County’s Audit Committee, which exists for this purpose. This action puts the County at risk of paying back large sums from the General Fund that the county cannot afford.
Lately Winfield and Martinez have spent a lot of time talking about ‘economic drivers’ being of the utmost importance, and that these should be prioritized. The trails that have benefited from the OST aren’t just ‘recreation amenities’, they are one of our very most important economic drivers. They attract a huge number of visitors who come to hike, bike, and drive the trails, and support a huge array of local businesses from guides and outfitters to hotels and restaurants. Many county residents’ livelihood literally takes place on the trails, as mine did for the first 10 years I lived in Moab. To unnecessarily jeopardize funding sources for these trail systems is beyond cutting off our nose to spite our face yet that’s exactly what they have done here while using this issue as a political cudgel.
The language in State Code that dictates how this money is spent is deliberately broad and it’s easy to interpret one way or another. My opinion is that our traditional allocation of this tax absolutely falls well within legality but I invite you to look at it and judge for yourself. The code can be found here: Utah Code Section 59-12-2212.2. This frivolous and politically-driven re-interpretation of code could cost the community money and valuable services for the sake of individual Commissioner’s personal grievances.
Jacques Hadler is a member of the Grand County Commission. He voted against the Arches shuttle proposal on May 19 and against using Fund 47 for shuttle funding at the Aug. 4 commission meeting described above. This op-ed was also submitted to the Times-Independent.
Opinion. Letters and op-eds are the views of their authors, not the Moab Sun News. They are not news reporting and are not fact-checked by our staff. Writers are responsible for the accuracy of their own statements. We edit only for length, clarity, and civility.
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