Tax‑Boost Spurs Bond Race

In a Thursday dusk, the Summit County Council—led by County Manager Shayne Scott—poured a 1.1% Impacted Communities sales tax into unincorporated Summit County, raising the rate from 7.65 % to 8.75 % on the asphalt-black slurry of Kimball Junction’s transit district. The ordinance, approved 4‑1, lets the county tie its fate to a $99 million bond contingent on a two‑times debt‑service coverage ratio that the Utah Department of Transportation keeps eye‑poking from the sidelines. UDOT’s oversight, masked by high‑viz yellow vests and safety‑orange barrels, is the last sheen on a construction cone‑stack that turns the route into a choreographed theater of inconvenience. Heterogeneous politicians—Chris Robinson, Tonja Hanson, Megan McKenna, and the lone dissenting Canice Hart—shouted their mirth over the fuel–burned air, yet none tended to the traffic sculptures that line the iron‑clad lanes. Likewise, the city of Park City, with a 9.55 % tax meter, shows no difference, only flatter roads and faded municipal beige signposts. The result is a travel symphony where motorists wear the same white raincoat of frustration amidst a parade of red conveyors. In short, the ordinance pretends to solve the street‑parallel chaos while the public pays a price in lost park‑permit funds and bossy traffic corps. Thus, the tactical workaround is clear: take the 128 Keystone bus, evade the red brake‑light chorus, and arrive after the last cone has collapsed.