Your Tax Dollars at Work "Bleeding the Beast"

Pat Shannahan / The Arizona Republic It has been reported that the citizens of Colorado City, Arizona receive $8 in government welfare subsidies (Medicaid, WIC, food stamps, etc.) for every $1 they pay in. Your tax dollars are going to support polygamous women who are considered "single mothers" and families that may have 40 or more children.   In 1998, Shawn Hampton, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C. - which oversees the Medicaid program - stated "If the wives qualify under federal poverty guidelines, then the department (HHS) is mandated to authorize the benefits." According to a 1998 article in the Salt Lake Tribune:  Dan Barlow, the ex-Mayor of Colorado City, "Conceded that government aid has made a better lifestyle possible for many polygamous families.  But he does not see anything unusual about that.  Those taking food stamps or WIC simply are doing "the thing that Americans do," he said." The Twin Cities are also quite adept at getting public grants to pay for building the towns' infrastructure.   According to this same 1998 Tribune article, the community "has received more than $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pave its streets, upgrade its fire equipment and build a water-storage tank.  (Hildale got $94,000 for its fire station.)  A $2.8 million airport on the southwestern edge of Colorado City was another government-financed development." According to a Public Notice posted in the Spectum newpaper in St. George, Utah on February 2, 2005 announcing a Public Hearing Regarding Use of CDBG Funds: "The Town of Colorado City is expected to receive approximately $354,122 in federal CDBG [Federal Community Development Block Grant] funds and potentially up to $300,000 in State Special Project funds beginning July 1." In August 2005, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded Colorado City the third highest fire department grant in Arizona - $339,112. Below are some news articles describing how your tax dollars are being used to support the polygamous communities on the Arizona Strip.

The Price of Polygamy

ABC 15 - Phoenix Originally broadcast November 3, 2003

From June 2002 through June 2003 the Arizona Attorney General's office reports 8 million tax dollars in welfare services have gone to support polygamy. During this year, 80% of Colorado City has received food stamps totaling 2.3 million dollars. 5 million dollars in free healthcare and an additional 660 thousand in tax dollars were funneled in to the community. In total the residents of Colorado City, the entire community, only paid 72 thousand dollars combined in taxes.

Officials decry Colorado City abuse

By Mark Hall Today's News-Herald - Havasu City Originally published January 8, 2004

Arizona Sen. Linda Binder and Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson briefed the London Bridge Rotary Club Wednesday about their efforts to combat polygamy and resulting abuse in Colorado City and Hilldale, Utah.   The elected officials talked about recent allegations regarding sexual and physical abuse surrounding the polygamist group — a fundamentalist splinter group of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   “As far as I’m concerned we have the Taliban sitting in our backyard,” Binder said of the community.  “It’s Arizona’s dirty little secret.”   Binder said she is not attacking alternative lifestyles, but specifically the Colorado City area — an isolated community in which middle-aged men allegedly are marrying and having sex with girls as young as 15 years old.   “I do object to young girls —14 and 15 year olds — being married off to 30- to 40-year-old men,” Binder said.  “This is truly a cult.”   Both Binder and Johnson said another key issue is the amount of money being given to the community by county, state and federal governments.   Johnson said Colorado City receives $8 for every tax dollar it injects into the county, while Lake Havasu City receives a little more than $1.   “The dollar amount should be equal,” he said.   Johnson said the community receives so much money because of the sizes of the families living there. Many of them include families with up to 40 children.     Read more

Polygamists also excel at ‘bleeding the beast’

By Al Herron Prescott Daily Courier Originally published Tuesday, September 2, 2003

It was a nice coincidence that Jon Krakauer’s new book, “Under the Banner of Heaven – A Story of Violent Faith”, went on sale last month.   It’s about fundamentalist Mormons, and he confirms much of what I’ve been writing.  A best seller – I recommend it.   ***  How would you like for the state to pay your food bill, especially if you had dozens of mouths to feed?  Would $2,000 a month be OK?  This is not uncommon in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).   Some families get more.     Read more

New museum commemorates Short Creek raid

1953 raid remembered in Colorado City

By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published July 26, 2003

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Following a blast of dynamite on the hill the townsfolk gathered in the wee hours at the Short Creek School, singing the songs of Zion and waiting for hundreds of Arizona police officers to arrive.   "Have you had the heart to take this screaming child from his mother?" their leader, Leroy S. Johnson, had challenged the policemen.  "We are bothering no one. Why don't you leave us alone?"   But Arizona Gov. Howard Pyle was determined to quell "the foulest conspiracy you could imagine," where teenage girls were involved in a community-wide "shameful mockery of marriage."   Thirty-one men would be jailed and tried while their wives and children were taken away for 2 1/2 years in foster care.     Read more

Town Scraps Its Polygamy Raid Memorial

The Associated Press Originally published September 4, 2003

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Less than a month after its dedication, a stone monument commemorating the 50th anniversary of a police raid on this polygamous community is gone, and a related museum was closed.   Mayor Dan Barlow, who was 21 at the time of the 1953 raid and was arrested along with dozens of other men, said little about why the city took down the monument and closed the museum in August.   "It's gone.  We just talked it over and came to the conclusion that we should back off, let things settle down," Barlow said Wednesday.  "There's just too much publicity right now."   The monument dedication and opening of the old Short Creek Schoolhouse Museum and Heritage Park -- renovated with volunteer help and restored with $20,000 in grant money.     Read more

Domestic violence hotline expanded to polygamous areas

By Alexandria Sage The Associated Press Originally published February 13, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Attorney General announced Thursday the expansion of the state's Domestic Violence Information Line to serve victims of abuse in polygamous communities.   Attorney General Mark Shurtleff also said his office was working to erect a billboard advertising the anonymous and confidential service in Hildale, the polygamous stronghold 300 miles south of Salt Lake City on the Arizona border.   The statewide hotline, which receives about 205 calls a month, should be available "to everybody in this state without regard to religion, where you live and your political and religious views," Shurtleff said at a news conference at the Community Services Council, which houses the call center.   Staff members answering phone lines received sensitivity training from former and current polygamist wives, said A.J. Hunt, the hotline's coordinator.   "We feel that our staff is definitely capable and ready to handle calls from any kind of background," she said.   Fliers advertising the service will be circulated in community centers and stores in the dual communities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., where an estimated 10,000 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints live.     Read more

Hildale clinic closes doors after 15 years

By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published February 28, 2004

HILDALE -- The baby in the blanket became quiet, and the young woman in her long dress started talking quietly on her cell phone.   But as the chatter became boisterous among four other children she brought to the clinic's classroom, she stood up and walked to the door.  Her voice became even more remote, while the children continued to jumped from one blue plastic chair to another.   It was another rainy day in Hildale, and the woman, who declined to talked to a reporter, was one of the last clients to leave the Southwest Utah Public Health Department WIC Clinic, which closed Friday at noon after 15 years.   Funded by the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, the clinic offered grocery vouchers, dietary supplements and nutrition education to low-income women who are pregnant or breast feeding, and children younger than 5.   Caught between a population boom and an economic downturn, however, the Southwest Public Health Department decided to cut the Hildale clinic to avoid laying off staff, said Gary Edwards, the department's director.   Counting utilities and rental costs of the 1,100-square-foot trailer office, the closure of the clinic will save the department at least $14,000 a year.     Read more

Budget crunch closes Hildale health clinic

The Associated Press Originally published March 1, 2004

HILDALE -- Because of budget troubles, a public clinic that assists pregnant women and young children has closed after 15 years of service.   Funded by the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, Southwest Utah Public Health Department's WIC Clinic offered grocery vouchers, dietary supplements and nutritional education to low-income women who are pregnant or breast feeding and children younger than 5.   Counting utilities and rental costs, the closure will save the department at least $14,000 a year.   Operations at the Hildale office accounted for $750,000 of the Southwest Public Health Department's $3.9 million budget, said Gary Edwards, the department's director.   In January, the Hildale clinic assisted 1,021 residents from Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., a 30 percent increase from the average client load in 1998, said Pat Thomas, the department's nursing director.     Read more

Newspaper: Bank Loses Money After Loans to FLDS Community

The Bank of Ephraim made high-risk business and consumer loans in the polygamist community on the Arizona border and lost more than three quarters of a million dollars last year.

KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally published May 5, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Bank of Ephraim made high-risk business and consumer loans in the polygamist community on the Arizona border and lost more than three quarters of a million dollars last year, a Salt Lake newspaper reported.   The Sanpete County-based bank lost $778,000 last year after writing off slightly more than $1.3 million in bad loans, The Salt Lake Tribune said in a copyright story Wednesday.   As required by regulators, it placed $2 million in a reserve account to cover losses.   "They have done everything we have asked in that way," said Jim Thomas, supervisor of banks for the Utah Department of Financial Institutions.  "They are closely watched."   Bank of Ephraim Chairman Carl Barton described its lending relationship with residents of the twin polygamist communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, as "very unique."   "One of the messages we have been delivering for the past three or four years in Hildale and Colorado City is we have to make loans and we have to manage loans and enforce our loans in step with prudent business practices," Barton said.     Read more

State takes over Bank of Ephraim

Far West Bank of Provo acquires the business's deposits

By Lynn Arave Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, June 26, 2004

Utah suffered its first bank failure in nearly 16 years Friday as Far West Bank of Provo acquired the deposits of the Bank of Ephraim after Utah's Department of Financial Institutions took control of the Ephraim business.   Commissioner G. Edward Leary said the department took possession of the Bank of Ephraim to protect depositors and the public, finding, among other things, that the bank was insolvent due to an embezzlement by a former bank employee and because of asset quality concerns.   This bank failure was Utah's first since Tracy Collins Bank in Salt Lake City failed in December 1988.   The Department of Financial Institutions, as well as the Federal Reserve Bank, had been closely monitoring the Bank of Ephraim for some time.  The bank had been ordered to increase its capital to a safe level, but efforts by the bank to raise shareholders' equity to an acceptable level in a very short time were unsuccessful.     Read more

End-Times Doom Belief Contributed to Demise of Ephraim Bank

By Sterling D. Allan Greater Things News Service Originally published June 27, 2004

EPHRAIM, UTAH - Believing that the end was nigh in 1999, several Hilldale polygamist customers took out loans with no ability or intent to repay, creating bad loans that contributed to the collapse of the Bank of Ephraim Friday June 25.   On May 5, the Salt Lake Tribune ran a story titled: 'FLDS church teachings lead members into financial mire' reporting that as the year 2000 approached, "many followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints felt encouraged to max out their credit cards and exhaust their personal loans.  The end was near, FLDS leaders said, and the bills would never come due."   On the same day, in a concurrent story, the Tribune reported: "The Bank of Ephraim has poured its trust and money into a polygamist enclave on the Utah-Arizona border since the 1950s, approving high-risk business and consumer loans often backed by questionable collateral.  The bank's faith in this Arizona Strip community added to the toll on its bottom line last year -- it lost more than three quarters of a million dollars -- and bank officials acknowledge they are working to rectify problems."     Read more

Bank failure grieves neighbors

Clients, employees of the Bank of Ephraim 'stunned'

By Suzanne Dean and Sean Hales Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, July 3, 2004

EPHRAIM — For many residents of Sanpete County, the failure of the Bank of Ephraim is like a death in the family.   Sad as they are, some residents are blaming bank officials for not being more candid about the condition of the bank.  And nearly everyone expresses concern about the 65 uninsured depositors who, cumulatively, could lose up to $4.3 million because of the failure.   "Tragic, tragic, terrible," Gwen McGarry, 76, of Ephraim, said of the bank's collapse.  Her first husband, Rawlin Jacobson, worked for the bank for 23 years and was president for three years.   He died in 1978.  The Jacobson family had been involved with the bank since 1920.   Rawlin Jacobson's father and grandfather had both been presidents of the bank.   For decades, the Bank of Ephraim "was a AAA bank, right at the top of the heap in Utah," says McGarry, who wrote a history of the bank several years ago.  During the Depression, banks in nearby Moroni and Fountain Green failed, but the Bank of Ephraim survived.   "It's very difficult for me," McGarry said.  "You see people going in (to the bank) and coming out in tears.   It's heartbreaking.  Maybe it was something that could have been avoided, maybe not."   The bank, founded in 1905, had been experiencing problems for some time because of loans it had made in Hildale, Washington County, and Colorado City, Arizona, to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   The FLDS Church advocates polygamy.     Read more

Fundamentalists get outside assistance

e-Press Tri-States News Network A Production of Murphy Broadcasting, Inc. Originally published August 11, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – In a community rocked by persistent and ongoing allegations of sexual abuse, welfare fraud and forced marriages, suddenly there is a new force in town.  This week, the state of Arizona and Mojave County opened a new justice center in the border straddling polygamist town of Colorado City.   The polygamist enclave has long been isolated by geography and hostile to outsiders, but Monday a new justice center opened its doors.  The building will be used by Child Protective Services, the Arizona Attorney Generals Office, the Mojave County Sheriff's Office, and the Mojave County Attorney's Office.   According to Andrea Esquer, spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney General, “The office will be a resource for victims who want to come forward and report abuse.  It is important in this area because if you are a victim and you have no where to turn, it gets very frustrating.”     Read more

Polygamist sect could be out thousands of dollars

The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally broadcast August 20, 2004

PHOENIX Polygamist schools, and the sect that runs them along the Arizona-Utah border could be out hundreds of thousands of dollars.   That's after failing to report to the state how it spends its money.   Hitting the polygamists in the wallet is the latest in a string of political, legal and administrative pressures placed on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its self-proclaimed prophet, Warren Jeffs.   State officials say the Colorado City Unified School District failed to meet deadlines to properly report spending for fiscal 2003.   That means the district could lose up to ten-percent of its annual state funding for failing to comply.

Bank not deep in hole

By Jenifer K. Nii Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Losses stemming from the failure of the Bank of Ephraim likely will be less than initial estimates, according to bank officials and regulators.   And the bank — now operating under the Far West Bank brand — is showing encouraging signs of customer confidence and growth.   Edward Leary, commissioner of the Utah Department of Financial Institutions, told the Legislature's Commerce and Revenue Appropriations Subcommittee Tuesday that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has set a target date of Sept. 8 to make payments to 50 depositors of the former Bank of Ephraim, which was declared insolvent in June.   Of the bank's 9,000 depositors, all but about 50 were covered (in whole or in part) by the FDIC.  Those remaining depositors, whose accounts exceeded the FDIC's deposit insurance limit, were issued "receiver certificates" representing $3.7 million, Leary said.   Total losses were initially feared to be about $11 million to $12 million.  So, though $3.7 million is a lot of money, it is less than the first estimates.     Read more

Colorado City schools asking for more state money

The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally broadcast August 25, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. It hasn't accounted for the state money it's already spent.  And yet the school board in the polygamist community of Colorado City is asking for more cash.   The Colorado City Unified School District governing passed a resolution three weeks ago authorizing the November second special bond election.   The school board is already being audited by the state for questionable financial policies, including the purchase of a $220,000 airplane.   Last week, the Arizona Auditor General's Office confirmed the Colorado City Unified School District failed to file required paperwork on its spending for fiscal 2003.   A spokeswoman for the Auditor General's Office says the State Board of Education was notified Friday of the failure and would take "appropriate action."

Utah gets grant for rural communities

Money will be used to help domestic violence victims in polygamy colonies

By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published Tuesday, August 31, 2004

HURRICANE -- A grant in the amount of almost $700,000, announced Monday, was set aside to help domestic violence victims from polygamous and rural communities in Utah and Arizona.   Utah Attorney General spokesman Paul Murphy said the goal of the grant is to reach those in underserved, rural areas and said the Attorney General's office couldn't think of a more underserved population than those living in the polygamist communities of Hildale and Colorado City.   But the Safe Passage Program, as it is called, will help domestic violence victims statewide, Murphy said.   "This grant will give the sheriff's office another deputy, provide another case worker and extend the domestic violence hotline hours," he said.   "This will help a lot of people but the focus is to break down barriers to reach people who have not been getting the services they need, don't have a voice and don't have access to help."     Read more

Fed grant targets domestic violence

Program to aid residents in rural Utah and Arizona

By Amy Joi Bryson Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, August 31, 2004

A nearly $700,000 federal grant will help the Utah Attorney General's Office partner with eight agencies to fight domestic violence in rural areas across the state and in Arizona.   Safe Passage, a two-year-long program, will target victims in "underserved" areas, including polygamist communities.   "The isolation in these areas makes it so it is so foreign to individuals when they leave, they have no idea who to turn to for help," said Ned Searle, state coordinator of the Utah Domestic Violence Council.   "We want to serve every population in Utah who is not getting information about domestic violence.  It happens in every culture."   Awarded by the justice department's Office of Violence Against Women, the grant will be spread among a variety of agencies to beef up coordination and training, legal services, law enforcement response, shelter services and public awareness.   Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith will get to add a new deputy and vehicle to increase services in eastern Washington County and in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.     Read more

Bleeding the Beast

The FLDS and its conflicting views about government

The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published October 14, 2004

This is the second article in a series in which the Success investigates the beliefs and teachings of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and how they compare and/or contrast with past and present doctrines of the mainline Mormon Church. Newcomers to the story about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and its Prophet Warren Jeffs often struggle to understand the complex twists and turns of the tale.  Most of them quickly home in on the polygamy aspect of the story, however, especially polygamy as it exists inside the closed society of the FLDS, where the Prophet makes all decisions concerning who will marry whom, and where anyone who questions his absolute authority to do so are promptly excommunicated.   Actually, excommunication may be too harsh a word.  Inside the FLDS, errant followers are asked to leave and repent from a distance, but few if any, are ever asked to return to the fold.   Eventually, almost everyone who manages to follow the story for more than a few paragraphs finds themselves asking how a man with multiple wives, and even more multiple children, can provide for such a large family.  The answer, according to many who have left the church, is a policy called "Bleeding the Beast."     Read more

Feds, FDIC Fight Over Restitution from Bank Fraud

The Associated Press KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast October 23, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- U.S. Attorney Paul Warner's office asked a judge Friday to order a federal agency to identify victims of a failed Utah bank whose deposits exceeded the insurance limit of $100,000.   The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is refusing to provide Warner a list of the account holders who lost money at the Bank of Ephraim.   In court papers, the agency contends it alone deserves any restitution and is the only victim of the bank's collapse, which was blamed on embezzlement and bad loans, including loans to polygamists along the Arizona border.   The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. didn't return a message left after business hours Friday by The Associated Press seeking a fuller explanation.  The agency covered the losses of depositors only up to $100,000 per account, leaving other victims, who lost $4.8 million from 125 accounts.     Read more

Bank collapse sparks anger in Ephraim

Bad loans, fraud send shock waves through community

By Paul Foy The Associated Press Originally published Saturday, November 27, 2004

EPHRAIM — The math was simple: Bad loans plus embezzlement brought down a small-town bank.   The loans were made for hasty business ventures in a 9,000-strong polygamist enclave that believed the world was about to end.   The insider's fraud was 24 years in the making and involved cash-filled suitcases and Las Vegas gambling sprees.   But in this farming community in one of Utah poorest counties, where many are struggling to hold their own, resentment runs deep against regulators who shut down the 99-year-old Bank of Ephraim.   They complain government examiners, fooled by phony bank statements, never detected the fraud.   They accuse state regulators of tolerating risky loans to the Mormon fundamentalist sect halfway down the state — until the buildup to the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics ushered a renewed war on the polygamists.   One of the loans was made for a watermelon farm that never planted a single watermelon.   The bank foreclosed on the farm.   Another was made to an outfit that salvaged military barracks for motel conversions.  That venture went bankrupt when the barracks turned out to have lead paint, asbestos and other hazards.   The loans reached $18 million, 90 percent of the Bank of Ephraim's portfolio, said former bank President Keith Church.     Read more

Spend like there's no tomorrow, sect told

By David Usborne The New Zealand Herald Originally published December 10, 2004

If the 9000 members of a polygamous Utah Mormon sect felt comfortable borrowing from their bank like there was no tomorrow, it was because for them that was precisely the case.   The world, they had been assured, would be coming to an end shortly.   They gladly used the high-interest funds to finance business ventures, which, if anyone had looked at closely enough, were frankly unreliable.   There was the watermelon farm on which not a single watermelon was ever planted.  Then there was the plan to convert military barracks into homes and motels that collapsed when lead paint and asbestos were found.   However, the cashflow has ceased.   After years of serving the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Bank of Ephraim has closed.  Or rather it was forced to shut after state regulators found it could not handle the loans it had extended.   It was several years ago that the sect took an oath to drain the bank of its money before doomsday.   It was only in June that bank president Keith Church discovered the truth.     Read more

Town of Colorado City

Public Hearing Regarding Use of CDBG Funds

Public Notice The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, February 2, 2005

The Town of Colorado City is expected to receive approximately $354,122 in federal CDBG funds and potentially up to $300,000 in State Special Project funds beginning July 1.  CDBG funds must be used to benefit low-income persons and areas, alleviate slum and blight or address urgent need.  A public hearing will be held at 7:15 p.m. on February 14, 2005 at the Colorado City Town Hall, 25 South Central Street, Colorado City Arizona, to gather citizen input on the use of the CDBG funds. Examples of possible uses include the following: Public Infrastructure such as street paving or improvements to the water or sewer system Community Facilities such as a park, health clinic, library, or a senior or youth center Public Services, for example, equipment or rent to provide job training or to purchase a van for transport of disabled persons Economic Development, such as creating a loan fund for business and job creation These are examples of activities for which the Town of Colorado City can use federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds if the project primarily benefits low and moderate income persons, reduces slums or blight, or meets an urgent need or health hazard.     Read more

Bi-state meeting on polygamy takes on conciliatory tone

By Mark Hall Today's News-Herald - Havasu City Originally published Saturday, March 5, 2005

ST. GEORGE, Utah - The two top law enforcement agents in Arizona and Utah said they can't and won't arrest all of the polygamists in the twin cities of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah because it would require too many resources and many bigamy laws are archaic.   However, one Mohave County supervisor is calling for much stiffer law enforcement intervention than has already been seen, including the enforcement of current bigamy laws.   "When they talk about the abuse of money, and say 'were giving out these food stamps to the people to try to help the children,' those people might be qualified to receive those food stamps, but the children and the families are not the ones getting the money," District 3 Supervisor Buster Johnson said after a town hall meeting Thursday.  "The money is going to the leaders.  So I think that states have allowed this practice and this lawbreaking, and they owe it to the children to stop the practice, no matter what the costs are."   Over the past two years, on an average annual basis, Johnson said Colorado City has received about $2 million in food stamp assistance.  He said the abuses will continue and both states will have little success in trying to build criminal cases on domestic violence or sexual abuse, two of the most alleged crimes in the area.   "We don't want to prosecute polygamy because it's a small crime compared to the abuses of children, but they got (Al) Capone on tax evasion.  They didn't get him on murder and racketeering," Johnson said.     Read more

The Vent

The Spectrum Originally published March 12, 2005

First we had the guest editorial "Show Me" stating how wonderful polygamy is, then the public meeting on polygamy.  What a joke.  If polygamy life is so wonderful, why do you need welfare and food stamps?   Why doesn't the man who fathered all those children support them?  Town meeting organizers, what is so difficult?   Polygamy is against the law.  Period.  End of debate.  You say it's hard to prove.  You have heard of DNA, right?  Problem solved.

Teen rejected by polygamous family finds new life

The Associated Press KVOA Channel 4 - Tucson Originally broadcast March 13, 2005

SALT LAKE CITY -- Gideon Barlow, a castoff from a polygamous community on the Utah-Arizona border is trying to reshape his life.   Barlow is the son of polygamist Dan Barlow, who was banished from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in January 2004.  He is also one of dozens of a group known as the Lost Boys, who have fled or been kicked out of the polygamous communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.   Barlow's story shot to prominence last week during a town meeting on polygamy in St. George, when the couple who now care for him publicly questioned how his 73-year-old father could draw money intended to help minor children.   Arizona county and state agencies this week began investigating the allegations.   Dan Barlow, who moved into a St. George home after being expelled from the community, is the father of 71 children, who at the time of his exile ranged in age from one-and-a-half to 53.

Canadian women 'spilling' into Idaho polygamous community

The Canadian Press canada.com Originally published April 1, 2005

LEWISTON, Idaho -- Fearful of a burgeoning polygamous community and rumours of child brides in Boundary County, Idaho, legislators have agreed to form a committee to study human trafficking in the state.   "I didn't think this was a problem in the state of Idaho until we went to Bonners Ferry," Speaker Bruce Newcomb of the state legislature told a meeting of Idaho's political leadership.   Newcomb and the other representatives visited Boundary County leaders, who said the wives of a religious group in Bountiful, B.C., are spilling out of Canada and into Idaho to apply for public assistance.   The group is believed to be polygamous and associated with a similar group in Hildale, Utah, legislators said.  The legislature is concerned the two groups may be trading child brides.   "We're continuing to try to keep our eye on some things," said Bonners Ferry Mayor Darrell Kerby.   He welcomed the legislative committee, which will study the issue over the summer and possibly hold hearings and recommend legislation next winter.     Read more

Who bankrolls polygamist way of life?

Social assistance rules encourage sect's men to keep multiple wives

By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, April 29, 2005

Most families struggle just to make ends meet, so it's hard to imagine how people like Winston Blackmore, Jim Oler and the other men in Bountiful with multiple wives and dozens of children manage.   But these polygamists do manage -- with a little help from taxpayers.   Blackmore, the former bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and leader of a new breakaway faction, has 26 wives and close to 100 children living in several different homes in Bountiful and around Creston.   Oler, who replaced Blackmore as bishop, has at least five wives and close to 20 children.   The fundamentalists believe a man must have three wives to be invited into God's celestial kingdom and as many children as possible.  Women are encouraged to have a child every 15 months and Bountiful women agree that most mothers have eight children or more.   These fundamentalists have no connection to the mainstream Mormon church, which banned polygamy in 1890.   Just how much help the polygamists get from taxpayers in the form of child tax benefits, GST credits and social assistance is impossible to find out because of government privacy laws.   But last week at the polygamy summit in Creston, Marlene Palmer -- Blackmore's sister and his accountant -- tried to dispel what she called the myth that the community soaks up buckets of taxpayers' money.   She even carped that the taxman isn't fair to polygamists because men are only allowed to claim a deduction for one wife each on their income tax forms.     Read more

Law Enforcement Raids Polygamist Community's School

John Hollenhorst reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast May 25, 2005

There are reverberations today, from a law enforcement raid in a polygamist stronghold on the Utah-Arizona border.   Critics of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs say it's a sharp blow to a dictatorial regime, but others aren't sure if Jeffs really cares.   The law enforcement raid is turning up the heat on prophet Warren Jeffs of the Fundamentalist L.D.S. Church.  But some say the heat has already chased Jeffs out of the kitchen.   He's believed to be living secretly at the group's new colony in Texas.   Arizona agents armed with criminal search warrants raided the public school headquarters in Colorado City.   They loaded a U-Haul truck and numerous police vehicles computers, files, documents, and even some cans of beer.   A former follower of FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs says the raid is a sign he's losing control.   Richard Holm, Former follower, FLDS Church: "I feel good about it.  I feel it's one more step towards having freedom in the community."   None of Jeffs' followers send their kids to the public school.  But most of the public school staff are Jeffs followers.   Arizona officials portray the school as a disaster of financial mismanagement.  But there are also allegations of corruption and misuse of the tax money that pours into the public school.     Read more

Colorado City district should account for public funds

Editorial The Spectrum Originally published May 26, 2005

If you accept public funds, the government is going to want to know how you are using them - no matter what your religious beliefs are.   That's why it was good to see the state of Arizona finally take action to investigate the Colorado City Unified School District by executing a search warrant on the district's offices on Wednesday.  The Arizona Attorney General's office said it has been investigating the district for the past two years, but long before Wednesday the state would have had reason to investigate the district's finances.   For example, teachers went unpaid for three pay periods during the last school year and the district has a staff of approximately 100 paid employees to serve a student body that numbers around 300.  One can only imagine the numbers on the budget reports that were being sent into the state.   Given the makeup of the Colorado City community, which is mostly members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which teaches polygamy as one of its central tenets, one has to wonder if Arizona authorities were a bit apprehensive about taking action for fear of being accused of religious persecution.  It is only natural to not to want to be the one who led a 21st century version of the Short Creek raids.  However, getting a school district to account for how it is spending public funds has nothing to do with religion.  When someone accepts public monies, whether he has one wife or three, the state has a responsibility to make sure taxpayers' funds are used in an appropriate manner.     Read more

Twin City power plant to shut down July 1

By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published June 15, 2005

HILDALE - With $20 million in outstanding debt, the Twin City power plant, which until January 2004 provided power for Colorado City and Hildale, will formally close down July 1, prompting the lay-off of at least four power department employees.   Power manager Lorin Fischer said the wholesale price of natural gas, which fuels the plant, has gone from $1.40 per decatherm when the plant first opened in January 1997 to $6.50 per decatherm.   "We lost functionality at $2.50," Fischer told the Hildale City Council at its meeting Tuesday morning.  "We are planning on mothballing the plant."   With the exception of three months last summer, the plant has been sitting idle since January 2004.  Because the plant will formally close down, Fischer said two employees would be laid off at the generation plant, along with another two working in accounting.   A lineman also may be laid off.   Fischer said one person would remain at the plant to keep things in running condition if the plant is needed for emergencies, and the power company is seeking to restructure the payments with bondholders.  Fischer expects a meeting with the bondholders to take place in the next 10 days.  Last year, only one principal payment was made on the debt to keep the company solvent.     Read more

Church trust worth $100 million

But many in sect live in poverty, get by on welfare

By Gwen Florio And Deborah Frazier Rocky Mountain News Originally published July 16, 2005

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. - The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is worth tens of millions of dollars, but its polygamist adherents are some of the poorest people in Arizona and Utah.   Authorities in those two states recently froze the sect's estimated $100 million trust fund to keep the group from selling off its assets, including the homes of the sect's members.   On June 22, the 3rd District Court in Utah issued a permanent injunction against sect leader Warren Jeffs as a trustee, and investigators in Arizona and Utah are eager to question him about the assets of the church trust.   Jeffs also has been indicted on child sexual abuse charges for arranging the "celestial" marriage of a 16-year-old girl to an older married man and faces a federal warrant for unlawful flight.   Both Arizona and Utah are pursuing the cases against the sect because most of its adherents live in this town, and its twin community of Hildale, Utah, in a sparsely populated stretch along the Arizona-Utah border.   The 1,895 people who live in Hildale rank next to last in Utah in per-capita income, according to the U.S. Census.   Colorado City residents rank ninth from last in Arizona.   Only people in towns on Indian reservations, the poorest communities in the country, fare worse.     Read more

Hildale police investigate fire, shooting report

Three juveniles may have fired shots at air tankers, police say

By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published July 16, 2005

HILDALE - Hildale police and the Bureau of Land Management are investigating an incident concerning three juveniles who may have fired shots at air tankers fighting a fire in the area on Thursday night.   Hildale Mayor David Zitting said police told him three juveniles were seen in a yard in Hildale with a rifle and that they followed up on a report that the juveniles may have been shooting at the planes.   Zitting said the juveniles denied it, but their rifle was confiscated anyway.   "The police are very concerned about these juveniles having a rifle and the incident is still under investigation," Zitting said Friday evening.  "Any information our department gathers will be shared with the Bureau of Land Management."   David Boyd, spokesman for the BLM Arizona Strip office, said he was concerned that the juveniles were trying to hit the airplanes called in to fight the brush fire burning in the Maxwell Canyon area.     Read more

County budget adopted

By Jim Seckler Mohave Daily News Originally published August 1, 2005

KINGMAN - The Mohave County supervisors voted Monday 2-1 to formally adopt the county's proposed 2005/2006 budget.   District 3 Supervisor Buster Johnson of Lake Havasu City voted against the budget saying he objected to adding two employees at the county attorney's office.   At the last Board meeting, District 1 Supervisor Pete Byers sought the additional employees in part to cover the recent crackdown on illegal under-age marriages in Colorado City.   This year's budget already included funding for a deputy county attorney and a secretary.     Read more

Colo. City reaps homeland security bounty

By Sharon Dunham Today's News-Herald - Havasu City Originally published Sunday, August 28, 2005

Colorado City may not be a major terrorist target, but its residents are cashing in on federal homeland security funds anyway.   The fire department at Colorado City, a tiny city tucked into northern Mohave County, received the third highest fire department grant in the state - $339,112.   Only the Phoenix Fire Department at $1,248,000 and the Huachuca City Fire Department at $666,541 received more.   Most of the Colorado City money is earmarked for training to address operations and safety improvements, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.   This is the second round of fiscal year 2005 grants for firefighters.  The department awarded 654 grants totaling more than $7 million to help fire departments and emergency medical service groups buy or receive training, first responder health and safety programs, equipment and response vehicles.   In Arizona, a half-dozen grants were awarded totaling more than $1 million.     Read more

Jeffs reportedly says no to taxes

e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Friday, September 9, 2005

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. - According to published reports, including the Salt Lake Tribune, Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS Church, has allegedly instructed his followers to stop paying their property taxes.  That includes his followers in Colorado City, Ariz. and Hildale, Utah., who pay into the United Effort Plan.   According to Ron Nicholson, the Mohave County Assessor, the United Effort Plan is one of the largest taxpayers in Mohave County, and he has never before experienced a problem with the citizens of Colorado City.   "If that thing went to lien, you can be sure there would be all kinds of investors up there, who basically are in the business of buying these tax things from clear across the country," said Nicholson.     Read more

Taxes shouldn't support polygamy

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Spectrum Originally published December 20, 2005

To the editor: My wife and I moved to St. George a little over one year ago. We relocated here for a number of reasons, including a respect for the culture of its people. The LDS church has certainly instilled a strong sense of family and of community values. Today, I was behind two women in FLDS dress purchasing over $400 of food with U.S. food stamps. How can this be? These are individuals belonging to a group of people that has some members who marry 13- and 14-year-old girls, and hide behind the pretext of a "religion" to perform acts that would land the rest of us in prison. How can a group of people this large and well organized manage to evade criminal prosecution for so long? I have written to Sen. Hatch and requested his office to tell me what he is doing - not simply saying to actively pursue these people, bring them to justice, and stop these continuing acts of abuse against children. I will forward to you his response. My tax dollars should not be going to support people such as these. Thomas and Kathleen Jennings St. George

Forbidden Fruit

Inbreeding among polygamists along the Arizona-Utah border is producing a caste of severely retarded and deformed children

By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published Thursday, December 29, 2005

Fifteen years ago, a strange-looking child suffering from severe physical maladies and acute retardation was brought into the office of Dr. Theodore Tarby.   The pediatric neurologist regularly deals with a wide range of serious childhood diseases as a doctor with the state-funded Children's Rehabilitative Services in Phoenix. Tarby says he quickly realized he was dealing with a very unusual condition that he could not diagnose.   He prepared urine samples and sent them to the University of Colorado Science Center's Dr. Steve Goodman, a professor of pediatrics who runs a laboratory that detects rare genetic diseases.   Goodman soon made a startling discovery: Tarby's young patient was afflicted with an extremely rare disease called fumarase deficiency.   "I had never seen a patient with it," Tarby says.   "Right away I asked the parents if there were any other children with the same problem."   The parents said their daughter had cerebral palsy.  Tarby asked them to bring the girl to him for an examination.   "As soon as I saw her, I knew she had the same thing as her brother," Tarby says.   The fact that fumarase deficiency had shown up in one child was startling enough -- there had only been a handful of cases reported worldwide.  But now that it was appearing in two children in the same family was an indication it was being spread by a gene that was getting passed to the children by their parents.     Read more

They should pay their own way

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, January 12, 2006 Phoenix New Times Originally published January 12, 2006

Isn't it perfect that state officials refuse to tell New Times how much money is being spent to care for the caste of fumarase babies in Colorado City?  Hiding behind privacy laws is always a good tack.   It was already mind-boggling that the state is sending all that tax money up to polygamyland to fund the activities of the fundamentalist Mormon church.  Where are the indictments that [Arizona AG Terry Goddard] has all but promised of public school officials up there for diverting public money to Prophet Warren Jeffs?   And now, New Times' latest story on the polygamists!  That these people would be willing to ruin a bunch of children's lives because of their crazy religion aside, the state is being forced to fund an incredibly expensive medical problem.   When will this all end?  It may sound harsh when it comes to these poor kids, but if the polygamists want to do their own thing in the name of religion, they should have to pay their own way. Tina Gunther, via the Internet

Appointee labors on Colorado City school finances

State receiver trims airplane, cell phones, cars from budget

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, January 25, 2006

ST. GEORGE — An Arizona state receiver charged with taking financial and administrative control of the beleaguered Colorado City Unified School District has confiscated credit cards, cell phones and vehicles, and hired new staff.   Peter Davis, a certified public accountant and owner of Simons Consulting in Phoenix, was hired in early December to investigate and reform the rural school district.  The district serves about 355 students living in the polygamous communities that surround Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona border.   In a Jan. 15 report submitted Monday to the Arizona State Board of Education, Davis outlined the progress made to date and his plans for the future.   "We're still putting out financial fires," Davis said Tuesday.     Read more

Jessop: Colorado City squandering federal funds

By Mike Watkiss / 3TV Investigative reporter KTVK NewsChannel 3 - Phoenix Originally broadcast Friday, February 10, 2006

In the polygamous community of Colorado City, a practice known as "bleeding the beast" is allegedly taking place.   Activist for victims of Polygamy, Flora Jessop, who alerted authorities to the polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs' move to Texas, says city officials are taking in large sums of federal money and then using that money to fund things that the government never intended to fund.   Jessop says this practice has lead to rampant welfare fraud among polygamist families.  It's also, says Jessop, created a crisis in the city's school district.   And now there are serious questions about grant money supplied by Homeland Security is being misused by city officials.   "What is it going to take for [the government] to stop paying these criminals," asked Jessop.  "It's bleeding the beast.  They're using our government to fund their crimes."     Read more

Lawmakers back bailout for Colorado City's district

The Associated Press KPHO News 5 - Phoenix Originally broadcast February 15, 2006

PHOENIX Arizona legislators are moving to provide a one-point-three million bailout to a school district serving a remote community long dominated by a polygamist sect.   The House K-12 Education Committee today voted unanimously for a bill to provide the money as a way to help the Colorado City Unified School District to pay its debts while it reorganizes its administration and finances under the supervision of a state-appointed receiver.   Receiver Peter Davis says the district needs the money largely because members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are not paying property taxes on property owned by a trust under which church members collectively hold their property.   The legislation would require the district to repay the state within five years.  The bill next must clear a House Appropriations Committee before reaching the full House.

The Vent

The Spectrum Originally published March 4, 2006

Utah seems to be in a confused state.  An openly polygamous judge was allowed to serve in Hildale for 25 years.  He has three wives and 32 children.   Isn't that a bit excessive?  Whatever happened to the idea of two or three children per family, or in his case, wife?   Why so many children?   I hope his wages supported them without the need for welfare.

Council wants grants to stay in Mohave County

Arizona news briefs The Arizona Republic Originally published May 9, 2006

KINGMAN - Members of the Western Arizona Council of Governments sent letters to a state agency telling it that more than $600,000 in Community Development Block Grants should remain in Mohave County.   The Arizona Department of Housing has proposed recapturing the federal funds, which were designated for Colorado City in far northern Arizona, to redistribute them to any community in the state on a competitive basis.   Housing Department spokesman Jeff Gray said the agency informed Colorado City on March 23 that the 2005 funds would be forfeited.  He said part of a road didn't meet federal standards and the city would lose the funds unless changes were made to comply.   Members of the governments association contend the money should remain in the county it was designated to help.

Outside inquiry sought for Homeland spending

By Susan Carroll The Arizona Republic Originally published May 12, 2006

Republican state lawmakers are calling for an outside audit of the Arizona Department of Emergency Management's handling of federal Homeland Security funds.   Gov. Janet Napolitano ordered a review of the spending in April in response to an Arizona Republic investigation that found hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of questionable purchases made with Homeland Security money.  Napolitano, a Democrat, has been in a long-standing struggle with Republican legislators over illegal immigration and homeland security, politically sensitive issues heading into the next election.   Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, and House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, said they want an outside auditor, not someone appointed by the governor, to do an investigation.   "I don't really think that having one branch of government investigate itself is adequate when the entire safety of the state is at stake," Paton said.   Jeanine L'Ecuyer, the governor's spokeswoman, said she had no comment except to say that the review is already under way and should be completed by August.     Read more

Stop federal aid polygamists receive

Opinion The Spectrum Originally published May 15, 2006

Wouldn't it be interesting if any woman living in Hildale or Colorado City were automatically disqualified from receiving state welfare? I'm sure things there would change in a hurry. Maybe the residents there would start to realize they need to "obey" the laws of the government to receive benefits "from" the government. Why should residents there receive welfare to support scores of children when they blatantly break the law when men take on more than one wife and father numerous children? And why are so many older boys suddenly not welcomed and forced out of the community? This is astutely suspicious. If they value children so much, why do they rely on welfare to feed, clothe and provide medical care for them? And why are Arizona state building inspectors allowing families to move into unfinished homes, i.e., no exterior siding, no entry steps, no garage doors, no driveways, etc.? Could Phoenix residents get away with this? I think not! Come on Utah and Arizona! It's time to play "tit for tat." Obey the law or give up the benefits it affords. It's insulting for all of us law-abiding citizens to watch this happen year after year. Nadine Mangus Santa Clara

County budget in flux over tax cuts

By Jim Seckler Mohave Daily News Originally published Saturday, June 17, 2006

KINGMAN - The rapid increase in Mohave County's population and a proposed property tax cut has created a nightmare in shaping the county's budget.   Mohave County officials held a workshop Friday to forge the 2006-07 fiscal year budget for one of the fastest growing counties in the country.   "We're losing ground to growth," Mohave County Manager Ron Walker said.   "Our growth is overrunning us."   County department heads en masse asked the county Board of Supervisors for more staff to handle the increasing services required by the growing population.   County Finance Director John Timko said this year's budget is projected to be about $89.9 million for general fund expenses and about $79.9 million for projected revenues.  This year's contingency fund is projected to be about $9.9 million.   The general fund also calls for 12 new full-time employees.  Ninety-two employees were requested.  Other funding would pay to add 20.7 full-time employees.   Timko also said the county should move forward with a new county jail, medical examiner's office and county morgue as well as a record's warehouse.     Read more

FLDS families relying on your tax dollars

By Darcy Spears KVBC News 3 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast September 1, 2006

Since July, our News 3 Investigators have been reporting on how millions of your local tax dollars are being given to FLDS construction companies here in the valley through government contracts.  But as Darcy Spears tell us, that's not the only way you're paying for the polygamist way of life.  Food stamps and welfare are government programs that are supposed to be reserved for the poor.  Yet these programs are almost exclusively supporting the FLDS families in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona.  But as we uncovered through inside sources, it's not because they don't make their own money, it's because they're not allowed to keep it.  Poverty is evident in the multitude of unfinished homes in the FLDS communities of Colorado City and Hildale.  Former FLDS member Isaac Wyler says people can't afford to finish their houses, let alone eat.  "Probably 90 percent of this town relies on the government in one form or another."     Read more

Kingman to get transit money

Kingman Daily Miner Originally published November 28, 2006

KINGMAN - Kingman, Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, Colorado City and Mohave County will share $555,111 in Local Transportation Assistance Funds.  A news release from the Western Arizona Council of Governments states the funds are generated from a formula that distributes a portion of Powerball revenues and they must be used exclusively for transit services.  Based on population, the total award amounts are $196,171 to Mohave County, $157,749 for Lake Havasu, $112,802 to Bullhead, $76,343 for Kingman, and $12,044 to Colorado City.     Read more

THE VENT

Opinion The Spectrum Originally published December 9, 2006

I work at a medical office in St. George that accepts Medicaid.  I think people should be aware that there are some polygamists severely abusing the system.  The state only recognizes one wife.  The other wives are considered "single moms."  These women have as many children as they can.  Imagine one man has five wives.  He is only legally responsible for one wife and her children.  If the other wives each have 10 children, that leaves four "single moms" and 40 children eligible for Medicaid.  The lifestyle of polygamist families is excessive and illegal and we are paying for it.  Why are they getting away with this?

Polygamists were left out of state budget

Opinion The Spectrum Originally published December 22, 2006

I read The Spectrum article about Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., unveiling a massive and unprecedented budget of more than $10 billion. While I applaud his support for teachers and education, why can't the tiny segment of adult polygamists get a little support and protection under his budget? I'm not talking about the child bride predators. They should be prosecuted. However, the state has older polygamists who live quiet lives and who are open and honest with each other; they should have some sort of protection instead of living life underground. News accounts tell of abandoned FLDS houses in Southern Utah while affordable housing in Salt Lake City and Provo is scarce. Matching people up with available resources shouldn't be stigmatized by the "polygamist label." I'd like to see the governor come out of the shadows and openly include adult polygamists as part of his constituency and as part of budgetary dialogue. Ignoring that subculture hasn't snuffed it out. It has merely deprived that group of voicing its needs, which are just as viable to the state budget as is any other group. James A. Marples Longview, Texas

THE VENT

Opinion The Spectrum Originally published June 9, 2007

Why isn't Warren Jeffs being charged with welfare fraud and tax evasion?  He has ordered thousands of his followers to do just that and they have complied (aka: "Bleeding the Beast.")  I understand the rape as an accomplice charge but am puzzled as to why that is the only charge.  Answers anyone?

Polygamist numbers broken down by group

Deseret Morning News Originally published August 11, 2007

8,000 belong to the Fundamentalist LDS Church 2,000 are ex-FLDS members but may still be considered fundamentalists 7,500 belong to the Apostolic United Brethren ("the Allred group") 1,500 belong to Centennial Park 1,500 belong to the Davis Cooperative Society ("the Kingstons") 1,500 belong to smaller groups such as the TLC, the Blackmores, the Neilson/Naylor group 15,000 are "independents," who are fundamentalists not affiliated with any group Source: Anne Wilde

Rising property values create sticker shock

By Katie Oliveri The Spectrum Originally published August 17, 2007

ST. GEORGE — Eugene Martin, a resident of Leeds, said the taxable value of his home went from $158,000 last year to $279,000 this year, according to the disclosure notice he recently received.  Martin expects to pay about a 72 percent increase in property taxes this year, saying he paid about $835 last year and is expected to pay about $1,436 this year.  He said he's planning to appeal the value of his home.  Disclosure notices were recently sent out to all property owners in Washington County.  Though not the tax bill, the notice gives property owners an idea of what to expect as far as how much they should estimate to pay in taxes for this year.  Tax bills are sent out around the end of October and are due by Nov. 30.  And through an appeal process, held from now until Sept. 17, a property owner can disagree with the value of their properties and supply information to show it should be different than what the county has it assessed for, officials said.  The process allows people to discuss the value of their properties, not how much the tax is.     Read more

THE VENT

Opinion The Spectrum Originally published October 13, 2007

Let's do some voucher math.  The elementary school in Hildale can accommodate 650 students making it one of the largest private schools in Utah.  Each of these students would probably qualify for the maximum voucher subsidy of $3,000.  If we times $3,000 by 650 we get $1,950,000.  This would give them a great incentive to reopen their school.  Do the taxpayers of Utah really want to send almost $2 million a year to subsidize this or any school with almost no accountability?

Resident hopes to change tax rules

By Joy Cooney For The Spectrum & Daily News Originally published October 17, 2007

LEEDS - A Leeds resident who says he's fed up with what he describes as unfair property tax increases is trying to rally like-minded Utahns to work toward changes in legislation.  Jim Bray, a 12-year Washington County resident, said he had an increase in his property taxes five years ago and four years before that.  He said he accepted the increases primarily because of civic obligation and the understanding that any appeal would be without legal merit.  However, this year's tax bill provoked him to take action.  "I'm tired of choking it down and letting the taxes go up one more time without doing something about it," he said, "because I truly feel like it is unfair taxation."  Bray and other Washington County residents are circulating a petition to bring attention to the issue and provoke discussion among legislators.  He said while some properties incurred little tax increase, and some even saw a decrease, other properties "were hit with up to a 100 percent increase."  Calvin Robison, Washington County Clerk, said the average increase in the county was 10 percent, but some areas like Leeds and Pine Valley, because of market value, saw much larger increases ranging from 30 to 100 percent.  Areas that dropped in market value, like Hildale, saw decreases.     Read more

Why widen cultural divide?

Opinion Deseret Morning News Originally published October 18, 2007

Because of the minimal requirements for starting new private schools, if vouchers pass we will have many new ethnically based schools — from LDS to Hispanic and Muslim to polygamist.  A large part of the efforts of these schools will be indoctrination in the beliefs and traditions and — yes — the superiority of their ethnicities.  The result, even if unintended, will be to accentuate the cultural divide in Utah.  Is this what we want? Jerre Winder Salt Lake City

Vouchers will help polygamy schools

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Spectrum Originally published October 23, 2007

The educational neglect, which has occurred in the polygamous town of Hildale, could be alleviated with a $3,000 voucher per child for education. A large percent of these children go to private polygamy schools, like the Alta Academy, where Warren Jeffs was the principle. Jeffs' many taped speeches could be their basic curriculum. Teacher accreditation or academic guidelines for private schools are negligible. Vouchers could be an incentive to educate these children, by keeping them in school, instead of marrying their daughters at age 14, or exiling teenage boys from the community. Polygamous families are known for their extra large families. Fathers often have a dozen or more children. Single mothers' incomes are consistently below the poverty level, according to our state from the number of members who qualify for food stamps or Medicaid. Many students would qualify for the $3,000 maximum voucher. The brethren could then have an additional source of revenue from the parent's vouchers. If this is how you want your tax dollars spent, then vote accordingly. If you prefer state guidelines, accreditation, accountability and curriculum by the state of your property tax dollars, which are used for education, then vote "NO." Darlyne Olson St. George

Questions for voucher crowd

Opinion The Herald Journal - Logan, Utah Originally published Sunday, October 28, 2007

To the editor: Perhaps someone who supports a voucher program can tell me what would prevent public tax money, at $3,000 a pop, from going to families in a polygamist community to support their "private school." What would keep a group of militant Muslims from starting a school where, with my money subsidizing them, young men rocking back and forth would memorize the Quran and prepare for Jihad? Surely some provision I’ve been unable to find would prevent such abuse of taxpayer funds. And perhaps the proponents of vouchers should be told that when their computers dial my phone (twice so far) and a recorded voice asks for my opinion on questions loaded to sway my opinion ("Should parents have the right to choose their children’s school?"), I recognize it not as a survey but as blatant propaganda, and I get angry enough to write a letter. Will Pitkin

Polygamist Community Rakes in Taxpayer-Funded Benefits

John Hollenhorst reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast November 12, 2007

Residents of the polygamist community headed by Warren Jeffs receive food stamps and taxpayer-funded medical care at rates many times higher than the rest of us.  An Eyewitness News investigation raises questions about whether they get more than they're entitled to.  In Warren Jeffs' territory, it's not uncommon for one family to consist of several wives and dozens of children.  People often wonder, "How can they afford such large families?"  The short answer is, they get lots of help from you, the taxpayer.  It's no secret that it takes a lot of groceries to feed the typical family in this community.  But even a long-time resident was surprised when we told him how reliant the polygamist community is on food stamps.  Former FLDS Church member Richard Holm said, "To have those kind of ratios, it's just wrong. It's sick and wrong in my view."  Holm was kicked out of the FLDS Church when Warren Jeffs came to power.  But as a long-time resident he's familiar with one key fact: Most residents are kids.  "People are encouraged to have large families. I think the median age in this community is probably unique in America," he said.  On the Utah side of town, the median age is 13.  Across the street in Arizona, it's 14.  The national median age is 35!  To feed that local surplus of kids, it helps if you can pay the bills with a taxpayer-funded Horizon "food stamp" card.  State officials administer the program using federal dollars.  Curt Stewart, of the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said, "It's something they decided years ago, that people need to eat. And the best way to do that is to somehow subsidize their income."     Read more

Jeffs' departure quick, quiet

By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published November 29, 2007

HURRICANE - With none of the fanfare that surrounded polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' arrival in Washington County, the convicted felon's departure was handled quickly and quietly following his sentencing Nov. 20.  Since then, Jeffs, 51, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has been housed at the Point of the Mountain prison in Draper and is undergoing a five-week assessment.  Department of Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said the receiving and orientation assessment, which includes a complete psychological and psychiatric evaluation, is the first step for a prisoner.  Because Jeffs was found guilty of two counts of rape as an accomplice for arranging the marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin, both first-degree felonies, and sentenced to five years to life on each count, it will be about three years before Jeffs will be eligible to go before the Board of Pardons.  Jeffs had made the FBI's 10 most wanted list before he was apprehended during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 15 outside of Las Vegas and was extradited to Utah.  Once Jeffs arrived in Utah, the costs for the Washington County Sheriff's Office quickly began to mount for extra security at Purgatory Correctional Facility as well as courtroom security during Jeffs' numerous court appearances.  Between the sheriff's office and St. George Police, about $110,000 was spent to provide security at the courthouse.     Read more

The Vent

Opinion The Spectrum Originally published December 8, 2007

My 3-year-old grandson was recently diagnosed with a disease that renders him permanently disabled.  Monthly treatments alone cost $3,000 a month, so his mother went to the Social Security office to ask for help.  She and her husband were told they make too much money.  My daughter works part-time and her husband makes barely enough to survive, and yet, the child of an illegal immigrant or polygamous family clearly gets help from that same office.  Something is clearly wrong in our country!

Bill offers tax break to rural residents

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Originally published February 12, 2008

In an already tight year, things may get even tighter for cities in Mohave County.  A new senate bill introduced by Sen. Bob Burns of Peoria would give county residents living outside incorporated areas a 15 percent credit on their income taxes.  The credit would come out of the Urban Revenue Sharing Fund.  The state collects income tax from residents, deposits it into the Urban Revenue Sharing Fund and then distributes the money to cities.  The amount of money each city gets depends on its population.  This fiscal year, according to officials from the three major cities in Mohave County, Kingman will receive around $3.6 million, Bullhead City around $5.38 million and Lake Havasu City around $6 million.  The numbers are slightly skewed because they are based on income taxes collected two years ago, Bullhead City Public Information Officer Rob LaFontaine said.  The county does not get any money from the fund, County Finance Director John Timko said.  Sen. Ron Gould, who is a co-sponsor of the bill, said the tax is unfair to residents who live in unincorporated areas because they do not see any benefit from the tax.  Lake Havasu City Finance Director Gayle Whittle disagrees.  Residents who live in unincorporated areas use streets and infrastructure when they come to the cities, she said.  A tax credit to residents in unincorporated areas means that those residents could essentially use city roads and services for free.     Read more

FLDS use of welfare raises serious issues

Letters San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Sunday, April 13, 2008

Editor: It must take large amounts of money to support the members of the FLDS - food, housing, clothing, etc. Even though they have a ready supply of free labor, they still need cash. According to CBS News, one source of income is from welfare checks to "single mothers." The so-called "spiritual wives" have numerous babies and, technically, are not married to the father of the children - only a "spiritual" relationship exists. Therefore, they are classed as single mothers and are eligible for welfare assistance - the more babies, the greater the assistance. This condition must satisfy the legal requirement for such assistance but surely it violates the intent of the assistance. Seems to me this is a blatant misuse of the intention of the welfare assistance and a planned and calculated abuse of public funds. Gordon H. Emerson San Angelo

Low bids win jobs for polygamists

By Thomas Hargrove and Gavin Off Scripps Howard News Service Deseret News Originally published Thursday, April 17, 2008

WASHINGTON — Members of a polygamist sect have built a network of construction companies in Western states that recently have won millions of dollars in public works contracts by making extremely low bids.  Critics of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints say the successes of these companies stem from cheap labor that include young men performing church mission work at little or no pay as part of their religious obligation to the sect.  The sect drew national attention this month after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services removed 416 children from the sprawling 1,700-acre Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado, Texas, amid allegations of child sexual abuse.  The children were removed and their mothers left voluntarily from the vast 79-building complex that carries an appraised value of $21 million.  Among the most successful enterprises run by members of the sect are at least three construction and contracting companies based in Hildale, Utah.  The largest of these is JNJ Engineering Construction Inc. owned by sect member Jacob Nathan Jessop for whom the company is named.  "If you don't have to pay for labor, you can really underbid for contracts. It has become a huge problem for other contractors," said Flora Jessop of Phoenix, the contractor's cousin.  Government procurement officers say they have been surprised at the dramatically low bids JNJ has submitted in recent years.  "We were nervous because their bid was so much lower than anyone else's," said Pamela Lynn, senior procurement officer of the Mohave County, Ariz., procurement department.     Read more

Pentagon paid $1.7 million to firms of polygamy bosses

By Randi Kaye CNN Originally published Friday, April 18, 2008

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The U.S. government paid more than $1.7 million in defense contracts over the last decade to companies owned by leaders of Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect, with tens of thousands allegedly winding its way back to Jeffs and his church.  In fact, some of the deals were made after Jeffs was named to the FBI's "Most-Wanted List" and remained in place while he was on the run.  CNN has learned that between 1998 and 2007, the United States Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency purchased more than $1.7 million worth of airplane parts from three companies owned by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which practices polygamy.  Those companies are Utah Tool and Die, Western Precision and NewEra Manufacturing.  Today, the companies all operate under the name NewEra Manufacturing, a company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that says it supplies precision components "for the aerospace, military, medical, recreational and other commercial entities."  "It was my understanding that Western Precision was paying roughly $50,000 a week into the coffers of the church," former sect member Richard Holm said.  "It would have been close to $200,000 a month."  Holm said he helped build Western Precision.  A court affidavit signed by a man whose father was the president of Western Precision makes similar allegations.  "During 2003, the amount being sent to the storehouse and the FLDS was around $100,000 per month," John Nielsen said in the October 26, 2005, affidavit.  "I have personal knowledge that checks sent to the FLDS Church/Warren Jeffs by [Western Precision] are payable to the FLDS Church and/or Warren Jeffs."     Read more

Question sect's finances

Letters San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Sunday, April 20, 2008

Editor: This is in regards to a letter to the editor about a CBS story on who is paying the bills for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was unaware that it was my taxes at work. Men in the FLDS register being married only once but are spiritually married to several women who then file for aid to dependent children? Surely this cannot be true. It would explain why they live the way they do, especially their control over the women and children. Abuse of any kind early in a child's development establishes complete control over them for life. I understand therapy is sometimes effective but not always. To do this in the name of God is incomprehensible. In the Bible, it is called adultery. In Texas, it is called the same thing. It's having your cake and eating it, too. If I understand this right, a man get's married and has some kids, cheats on his wife with several women, has many kids by each woman and the government pays him for it. Judy Scott San Angelo

Utah AG should learn from Texas

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Spectrum Originally published April 30, 2008

It is with much dismay that once again, our state attorney general has become an apologist for the FLDS. On the news this evening, he stated that the state of Texas had gone too far. Well Mr. Attorney General, it is a far better response than your "do nothing, but talk about it" approach. I am still angry when I am behind these people at Wal-Mart or Costco with huge baskets of supplies paying with a Federal food stamp card at my expense. Watching them place it in their new large SUV simply compounds that anger. Why not take a few lessons from the Texas response, and maybe we can begin to identify the non-paying fathers of all these children and start putting them in jail where they belong for welfare fraud among other less savory offenses. Mr. Attorney General, you have yet again been upstaged. The fact that you are paid from our taxes makes your non-action sickening. Thomas A. Jennings St. George

Hearings sought on FLDS contracts

Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, April 30, 2008

WASHINGTON — A Texas congresswoman is calling for hearings into government contracts given to a business with ties to the Fundamentalist LDS Church.  Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, sent a letter to the House Armed Services Committee requesting a hearing about $1.2 million in Department of Defense contracts that went to New Era Manufacturing.  Granger acknowledged in her letter that religious affiliation should not be a determining factor for contracts, but she sought more scrutiny on companies.  As a member of Congress, I am concerned that federal tax dollars may have been misused to fund this sect's illegal activities, she wrote in a letter to the committee.  New Era Manufacturing was formerly Western Precision, which left the FLDS enclave of Hildale and relocated to Nevada.

Texas rep calls for probe of FLDS firm receiving defense contracts

BY TRISH CHOATE, Standard-Times Washington Bureau San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Saturday, May 3, 2008

WASHINGTON - San Angelo's congressman said he favors a congressional probe into a company with ties to the Schleicher County polygamist sect raided last month, but he's not rushing to judgment about the defense contractor based in Nevada.  U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, a member of the committee that might investigate, said the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ran legitimate businesses.  NewEra Manufacturing of Las Vegas reportedly was awarded more than $1 million in defense contracts.  "We still live in a country where you're innocent until proven guilty," Conaway said.  A NewEra representative said allegations about wages at the company are "just absolutely nonsense."  Conaway's 11th Congressional District includes Schleicher County, site of the sect's YFZ Ranch, raided last month on suspicions of widespread child abuse and forced "marriages."  The FLDS practices a form of plural marriage with unions not intended to be recognized by the law, and split decades ago from the mainstream Mormon Church.  A weeklong raid began April 3 at the ranch near Eldorado and resulted in 463 sect children being taken into state custody.  The recent birth of a baby boy brings the total to 464.  Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at the compound surfaced after telephone calls to a San Angelo women's shelter from someone saying she was 16, the mother of an 8-month-old and an abuse victim at the hands of her 50-year-old spiritual "husband" at the compound.  Authorities now suspect the phone calls were a hoax but don't expect that would weaken their case.  A Texas congresswoman requested the House Armed Services Committee conduct an investigative hearing into Department of Defense contracts awarded to NewEra Manufacturing of Las Vegas.  The company was awarded $1.2 million in no-bid defense contracts, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger said in a recent letter to committee leaders.  The Fort Worth Republican is concerned that tax dollars might have funded illegal activities and about reports that the company made sect members labor for little or no pay.     Read more

Stop public support of FLDS lifestyle

Opinion The Spectrum Originally published May 7, 2008

"FLDS men should wait until girls are 18 years old. Then they can marry as many girls as they want." What is being recommended in this statement from a recent letter is called polygamy and is illegal in this country. The FLDS population has multiplied many times over since they left the mainstream LDS Church many years ago. I think we'll find that most all of these folks are blood related when DNA testing is complete. Not only is all this activity illegal, but in my opinion is immoral as well. FLDS members criminally abuse our government assistance programs. Only wife No. 1 is legally married to their husband. All other sister wives and their children qualify for welfare because spiritual marriages are not legal, and therefore, these women are considered unwed single mothers and receive the maximum payment for them and their many children. We are all supporting the FLDS lifestyle through our tax dollars. This needs to stop! Les Anderson Cedar City

Children eligible for welfare

By James Thalman Deseret News Originally published Sunday, May 18, 2008

Texas is a big state that has big social problems on its hands, but finding funds for 464 children now in foster care that came from formerly financially self-sufficient families won't be one of them, state child welfare and experts said last week.  Although the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has reported that none of the families who are members of the west Texas FLDS sect targeted by child protective services were on welfare, by becoming wards of the state they will be eligible for various taxpayer-funded social services they weren't using before the April 3 raid.  Actual numbers of recipients and total amounts spent to underwrite the families not now being taken care of are still being tabulated, said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for Texas human services.  Whatever the figure, the amount will be minimal, and the governor has promised that appropriations to cover the costs will be made in any case.  The Houston Chronicle has reported that not one of the nearly 3,000 residents of Schleicher County, where the Yearning for Zion Ranch is located, is receiving state assistance.  There are just more than 200 receiving federal food stamps, and there are 63 children enrolled in the joint state and federal Children's Health Insurance Program.  The newspaper also reports that 283 residents are covered by Medicaid, the government medical insurance plan for the poor.  The splinter group, which actively seeks the least possible involvement with government — local zoning ordinances the most notable exception — has had a history in other states of using whatever financial supplements provided by the government.  Six years ago, the Utah Attorney General's Office reported that between 65 and 80 percent of the residents of polygamous families in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, were on food stamps.  In 1998, statistics from the federal government showed that Colorado City and Hildale were on a list of the top 10 towns with a population of more than 2,000 "most reliant" on Medicaid.     Read more

Senate panel suggests taking FLDS sect's assets to cover costs

By JOHN MORITZ Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Wednesday, May 21, 2008

AUSTIN -- With the price tag of providing care for more than 400 children seized last month from a polygamist ranch in West Texas expected to reach the tens of millions of dollars, a legislative panel suggested Tuesday that the state explore garnishing the religious organization's assets to recoup the costs.  "That compound didn't grow out of fairy dust," Sen. Robert Deuell, R-Greenville, said after a Senate Finance Committee hearing in which he urged state health officials to determine whether members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or even the sect as a whole, should be held responsible for the cost of care.  "Why should we be footing the bill when they've got assets?"  The remarks came after the panel heard testimony that providing foster care, Medicaid coverage and casework for the children from the YFZ (Yearning For Zion) Ranch will likely cost taxpayers more than $1.7 million a month for as long as they are in state custody.  The figure does not include the $5.3 million for the first six weeks of the operation or the cost of providing the required legal representation for each of the children, which is likely to cost at least $2.2 million.     Read more

FLDS custody case has cost more than $5.2 million

By Amy Joi O'Donoghue Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, May 21, 2008

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A month after the raid on the FLDS ranch in Eldorado, Texas, state agencies had racked up $1.7 million in overtime costs and are now footing a monthly bill of $1.3 million to keep some 460 children in state custody, a new report shows.  Presented to lawmakers Tuesday in Austin, the report details the overwhelming nature of the public dollars expended as a result of the April 3 raid at the YFZ Ranch.  Members of the Texas Legislature's Senate Finance Committee got what must have been the grim, albeit anticipated news during an interim meeting featuring top officials with the Commission on Health and Human Services.  All told the price tag — which is continuing to be tallied because all invoices have not been received — comes to a little more than $5.2 million.  That includes local costs endured by county and city entities.  The city of San Angelo took the brunt of the local fiscal beating, chewing up a little more than $400,000 in expenses in part as a result of temporarily housing hundreds of children at a pair of makeshift shelters, as well as many of the mothers.  The report also warned that it is not over yet, detailing additional resources the state Department of Family and Protective Services will require as it continues to supervise children in custody, monitor family service plans being adopted in the Tom Green County Courthouse in San Angelo and work toward what officials say is the ultimate goal of reunification.     Read more

FLDS sect case hits CPS staff in wallet

By JOHN MORITZ Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Sunday, May 25, 2008

AUSTIN -- The strain of handling the huge child custody case involving a polygamous sect in West Texas is trickling down through the ranks of Child Protective Services caseworkers who are pinching pennies while waiting for the state to repay them for overdue travel expenses.  Officials from the Texas Department of Family Protective Services say the agency is struggling to reduce a growing backlog in reimbursement requests for out-of-pocket expenses from caseworkers in the field who say the skyrocketing price of gasoline is hampering their ability to do their jobs.  Darrell Azar, a spokesman for the agency that oversees Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services, blamed the backlog in part on the ongoing operations at the West Texas polygamist ranch where more than 460 children have been taken into state custody.  But he also said the agency will soon hire an additional auditor and as many as eight temporary employees to process the avalanche of expense reports being filed not only from the West Texas operations but also from caseworkers statewide.  We are behind, there's no doubt," Azar said last week.  "But plans are in place to speed up reimbursements."  Azar said the agency has heard "anecdotal complaints" from CPS workers that they are having to dig deeper into their own pockets as they drive hundreds of miles a week checking up on youngsters in foster care or on parents at risk of losing custody of their children.  The agency normally processes reimbursement within two to three weeks after they are submitted, but the backlog has extended the time by a couple of weeks, he said.     Read more

Council to mull extension of impact fee waiver

By Ken Hedler The Daily Courier - Prescott, Arizona Originally published Tuesday, June 17, 2008

PRESCOTT VALLEY - The Prescott Valley Town Council voted in May 2003 to exempt nonresidential construction from impact fees with the goal of stimulating commercial and industrial development.  Three years later, the council voted to extend the exemption for five years pending the completion of a study on impact fees.  But in September 2006, the council adopted a resolution that extends the suspension of fees until Aug. 6 of this year.  The council will discuss whether to extend the exemption for two additional years at a work/study meeting Thursday, believing doing so will encourage the construction of sales-tax-generating retailers.  They include the Wal-Mart supercenter and the Sportsman's Warehouse.  However, a continuing exemption flies in the face of a lawsuit that the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona filed against Prescott Valley and the City of Prescott in November 2006 in Yavapai County Superior Court. The association alleged in the lawsuit that the exemption discriminates against residential construction.  "We are still in the early stages of the lawsuit," Assistant Town Attorney Colleen Auer said.  "Right now we are engaging some discovery," which involves obtaining documentation and depositions.  "Actually, the homebuilders (association) is requesting some discovery from us."  Auer said, "We made it clear that residential is not subsidizing commercial infrastructure needs."  She described impact fees as "kind of a one-time assessment."  The home-builders are paying for their public improvements, and "not for anybody else," she said.     Read more

Sect-affiliated company bids on Tom Green County project

By Paul A. Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Wednesday, July 2, 2008

A company affiliated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has placed a bid to work on a Tom Green County construction project - the first time the embattled polygamist sect's construction arm is believed to have entered the local market.  The company placed a bid to build and install cabinets for the $5 million expansion of a pair of correctional facilities owned by the county and run by the state, the project's contractor confirmed.  He declined to name which of the several sect-affiliated companies placed the bid.  "It's the first time I ever received a bid from them," said Duane Rodgers, owner of Cypress-based Multi-D Construction, the contractor for the project.  "Their references checked out good."  The sect's company is allowed under state law to participate in the bidding process.  Although unlikely to be accepted, the bid has raised eyebrows among local contractors.  They fear the sect could replicate here what it has successfully done in other states - dramatically underbid for public-works projects in which the city or county would have no choice but to accept the lowest offer.  That's a different scenario from the cabinet bid, which is managed by the private contractor.  Multi-D can choose the bid it likes best, and Rodgers said he tends to choose companies with whom he has a good history.  Likewise, the official overseeing the project said the contractor has been told to steer business to San Angelo firms whenever possible.  "We've tried to use as many local contracts as possible," said John Wilmoth, director of the Concho Valley Community Supervision and Corrections Department.  "He's done that, for the most part."  Sect spokesman Rod Parker stressed that the sect-affiliated company is allowed by law to be a bidder.     Read more

Twin City Power's fate left to voters

BY PATRICE ST. GERMAIN The Spectrum Originally published October 6, 2008

Voters in Hildale will have something extra on the November election ballot concerning bond indebtedness, which stems from the Twin City Power Company.  The company, which distributes electricity to the Hildale and Colorado City areas and was once a producer of power, is in default on bonds, in excess of $19 million, issued to build the system, which became operational in 1997.  The ballot question is asking voters if the city should be authorized to sell or transfer electrical distribution and power assets issued in 1995 and 1997 in exchange for relief of bond indebtedness from the trustee, bondholders and/or Wells Fargo Bank.  Hildale business manager Jerry Barlow is hoping to have a large turnout at the election.  "It is important we get as high a turnout as possible so we have a good view of what the community is deciding," Barlow said.  Selling off the power company that hasn't generated its own electricity since 2005 and now purchases power through UAMPS (Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems) would ultimately lead to some relief for residents who pay 12.5 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity.  According to the Rocky Mountain Power Web site, customers in Utah pay less than 8 cents per kilowatt hour and the national average is listed at 10.08 cents per kilowatt hour.  About 35 percent of the Twin City Power users are in arrears on payments, Barlow said, which is about 15 percent lower than the two years when about 50 percent of the customers were behind on payments.     Read more

The Vent

The Spectrum Originally published November 8, 2008

Attention middle class families that are struggling: Don't attempt to get food stamps because they go by "federal" guidelines.  Unless you are illegal or a polygamist, you had better be unemployed, divorced or homeless.  I make $12 per hour before they take out my medical and taxes.  I am married with three kids.  My husband has commission, only income and we all know how that is working out for people around here, and I was told I make too much money to receive food stamps.  They told me to go to the shelter.

Texas spent $12.4 million to remove women and children from polygamous ranch

The Associated Press Dallas Morning News Originally published Friday, November 21, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY — The temporary care and shelter of women and children removed from a polygamous sect's Texas ranch cost the state more than $12.4 million, child welfare authorities said.  The amount represents the final cost of the "San Angelo Mass Care Event," said Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins.  An accounting of expenses following the raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch — the Eldorado, Texas, home of the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — was reported in a copyrighted story Friday by the Deseret News.  Some 439 children were removed from the ranch in April after an allegation of abuse.  Dozens of women left with the children, living in temporary shelters in San Angelo before the state placed the children in group homes or foster care.  Only one child remains in state custody and most families are no longer being supervised by the child welfare agency.  Of the $12.4 million, $4 million was for goods and services at two temporary shelters.  Nearly $1 million was spent on a "unified command center" and another $1 million went for buses to transport the children to housing across Texas.  The combined costs of foster-care placement, security and Medicaid topped $3.3 million.  Crimmins said the total does not include any ongoing costs associated with family supervision or court or attorney fees.  Last week a district judge signed an order authorizing payments to hundreds of attorneys recruited to represent to children.  The judge set a cap of $4,000 for hourly billing and $750 for travel and expenses.  Texas' Health and Human Services Commission will pay those bills with funding from the state Legislature.

Utah cities stay afloat financially

Most well-managed, carefully balancing debt and cash flow

By Rebecca Palmer, Joseph M. Dougherty and Jared Page Deseret News Originally published Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008

The tight global credit market is forcing some Utah towns to hold off on planned financing and requiring others to pay unexpectedly high interest rates for existing debt.  Other cities are nervous about how their financing will be received in the marketplace.  But compared with cities such as Vallejo, Calif., which has declared bankruptcy, and Kansas City, Kan., which can't finance a sewer system, most Utah cities are well-managed and have been careful to balance debt and cash flow, according to the results of a multi-jurisdictional survey by the Deseret News.  Regardless, Park City is having to phase in financing for a needed water system.  And Holladay, which last year instituted new taxes to pay for road repairs, could obtain financing for only part of its needs.  West Bountiful is trying to fund $5 million in water bonds to upgrade its 50-year-old infrastructure.  The city has been warned that finding investors is difficult, said city finance director Craig Howe.  It's a similar story for Centerville, which is planning to build a multimillion-dollar performing arts center.  Less imminent projects are being delayed for several months until record-high interest rates relax and corporations once again become interested in buying bonds.  "There was a very quick freezing up of the (bond) market," said Kelly Murdock, senior vice president of Zions Bank and Salt Lake City's financial adviser.  "Since that time, thankfully, the market is thawing out — albeit slowly. There's an abundance of cash on the sidelines out of concern of the direction of the economy."  The Deseret News analyzed financial data from all Utah cities and towns with a population of 1,000 or more, as well as Utah's counties, to determine their levels of debt.     Read more

Bidder, taxes on city plate

By NEIL YOUNG Mohave Daily News Originally published Monday, January 5, 2009

BULLHEAD CITY - The old saying that "Every cloud has a silver lining" applies to the city of Bullhead City when it puts projects out for bid.  The bad economy has contractors scrounging for work, which is good for the city's bottom line.  A total of 21 companies bid on the Old Bullhead sewer project, with estimates ranging from $886,000 to more than $2 million.  Tonto Supply Inc. of Colorado City was the low bidder to complete the project on the east side of Highway 95.  Tonto performed work on the Sunridge area sewer project and city staff is recommending the Council approve a contract with the firm when it meets at 5:30 p.m. today in the Council chamber, 1255 Marina Blvd.     Read more

City farms out sales-tax collection

Private firm will take over for state agency

By NEIL YOUNG Mohave Daily News Originally published Wednesday, January 7, 2009

BULLHEAD CITY - During its Tuesday meeting, the Bullhead City Council voted 5-1 to approve a five-year agreement with Revenue Discovery Systems (RDS), a national private firm, to collect the city's sales taxes.  The city has been using the Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR), but there is a 60-day delay in the city receiving figures on sales-tax collections, making it difficult to make timely budget reductions during the economic downturn.  City Manager Tim Ernster cited "inconsistencies in reporting from month to month" by ADOR and "a continuing deterioration in the quality of information received" from ADOR.  He said it's very likely the city is losing revenue by having ADOR collect its sales tax.  The city has ruled out collecting sales tax in-house due to "significant costs," Ernster said.  The issue has been under discussion for several years and it was more of a question of when - not if - the city would eventually drop ADOR in favor of self-collection.  Council Member Leslie Blaydes wanted to delay the vote, saying she didn't believe local businesses had ample opportunities to weigh in. Her colleagues didn't agree.  "Let's do it now," said Council Member Jan Ward.  The measure had in effect been tabled for the past three years, said Vice Mayor Sam Medrano.  "Circumstances have only gotten worse," and there was no point "in putting off the inevitable," he said.     Read more

Funding shortage worries officials

BY JENNIFER WEAVER The Spectrum Originally published January 8, 2009

ENOCH - The shortage of funding for the Southwest Utah Public Health Department is primarily the result of getting too little of the federal funding pie received by the Utah State Health Department for programs, in addition to treating illegal immigrants.  That was the message to the The Iron County Coordinating Council in a presentation by Dr. David Blodgett on Wednesday.  For example, the SWUPHD Director and Health Officer said the state receives $5 million per year to administer the immunization programs, but only $60,000 is allocated to the local health department that serves Garfield, Beaver, Iron, Washington and Kane Counties.  "It's very worrisome. We're not doing a good job at keeping up with the immunization rates," Blodgett said.  Illustrating his point was the recent pertussis outbreak, also know as 'whooping cough,' which emerged in Hurricane Valley in a multi-million dollar home enclave involving children and adults in an extended family, he said.  A total of 15 pertussis cases were reported with no new cases since Dec. 15, he added.  Though it is enough time to consider the outbreak over, Blodgett said treating the cases cost the public health department money it really did not have to spare.  "We gave care full-time for three people, and part-time for 10, so my estimation is somewhere in the neighborhood of $75,000 to $100,000," Blodgett said.  "It's just my guess without having had the opportunity to really crunch the numbers."     Read more

City to review sewer project bids

By Tony Waggoner Today's News-Herald - Lake Havasu City, Arizona Originally published Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Lake Havasu City Council is expected to hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss awarding a bid for the Neptune Area Sewer Project as part of the Wastewater System Expansion Program.  The Neptune area is comprised of approximately 750 properties, bordered by Arizona State Lands and Simitan Drive.  As part of the project, the bidder awarded the contract is expected to install manholes, sanitary sewer mainline, sanitary sewer laterals for connecting properties to the sewer and to work towards property restoration.  The city submitted plans and specifications to 39 interested bidders.  Five bids were received from Tonto Supply out of Colorado City, AZ, S.J. Louis Construction from Phoenix, S-2 Contractors out of Aurora, OR, Wagner Place from South International Falls, MN and Hammerlund Construction from Grand Rapids, MI.  Tonto Supply responded with the lowest bid for the project at around $3.7 million.  That number is well under the engineer estimate of around $5.2 million for the project.  AMEC has conducted a review and evaluation of all five bids for the project.  AMEC acknowledged the two lowest bidders, Tonto Supply and S.J. Louis Construction, had done similar work before within a reasonable timeframe and contract amount.  Both companies were given a satisfaction grade by their former clients.     Read more

City to ponder gas prices

By NEIL YOUNG Mohave Daily News Originally published Tuesday, January 20, 2009

BULLHEAD CITY - The Bullhead City Council decided to schedule a work session with area gasoline retailers to try to determine why pump prices are higher in Mohave County than elsewhere in the state.  Noting that Bullhead City is a "tourism-based community," Vice Mayor Sam Medrano said Tuesday the extra costs "can greatly impact our community's economy."  He said the City Council would be "doing our entire city a disservice" if it didn't get involved.  If there's a reason for the area's higher prices, "I want to hear what it is," said Council Member Larry Sinagoga.  The Council approved a construction contract between the city and Tonto Supply, Inc. of Colorado City for $644,000 for the Community Park renovation and ramada project.  During a public hearing, Larry Adams of Pueblo Construction said his company's bid came in $117,000 cheaper than the winning bid.  Sinagoga pointed out that Pueblo's bid was based on a design-build proposal and the city would be in violation of state law by not giving the other bidders a chance to bid on a similar process.  Council members discussed an agenda item to spend $1,000 to include a survey for the Municipal Arts Commission in 19,000 sewer bills.  In light of city budget cuts and the recent controversy over the $1,000 gas bill for the eternal flame at Veterans Memorial Park, Medrano said spending money on the survey "just doesn't make sense to me now."  Council Member Leslie Blaydes agreed.  Sinagoga made a motion to postpone the vote until someone from the Municipal Arts Commission can appear before the Council to shed some light on the issue.

Apple Valley Area Considers Incorporation

Hurricane Valley Journal Originally published January 25, 2009

Incorporation of Apple Valley, Canaan Gap, Gooseberry, Paradise Ranch, and South Zion is of utmost concern to the residents in their effort to block annexation by Hildale.  Residents met in the Smithsonian Fire Station in Apple Valley on October 24 for a community meeting.  They discussed and received information regarding incorporation or annexation.  The big concern for these communities is that if they do not pull together and decide what they want for their future, others will make the decisions for them.  Both Hildale and Hurricane have filed plans to annex Apple Valley.  Residents were informed of what each proposal contains and what that means to them as individuals in their respective communities.  If a town or city filed for annexation before Apple Valley had a chance to file for incorporation, the annexation would trump the incorporation.  Apple Valley would have to wait until all the annexation issues were resolved before they could go forward with incorporation.  A map shows Hildale's plan to purchase land in order to gain the majority of property ownership.  Hurricane filed an annexation plan just to give the citizens another option explained the Hurricane City Council.  However, Hurricane is not really interested in annexing Apple Valley but will support them in their plan to incorporate.     Read more

Board to award contract for culvert repair on Oatman Road

By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Sunday, February 15, 2009

KINGMAN - Mohave County supervisors will look to award a contract Tuesday to a Utah firm to repair parts of the Oatman highway.  The board will look to award an $188,864 contract to JNJ Engineering Construction Inc. of Hildale to repair six culverts along Historic Route 66 just northeast of Oatman.  If approved by the county supervisors, the construction project is expected to begin in later this month and take about two months to complete.  The Utah firm was the lowest bidder among nine firms, including three firms from Bullhead City, one from Fort Mojave and one from Laughlin.  The culverts allowing rain from washed to flow under the road were built in the 1920s or 1930s.  The culverts were constructed without bottoms, allowing erosion over time. The new reinforced culverts, many about six-feet long, will be box shape.  The project will start just outside of Oatman and proceed about a mile and a half northeast toward Gold Road.  Oatman Road is a narrow winding road with limited sight at places.  Guided traffic control with pilot cars also is included in the project.  Flooding in 2005 caused parts of Oatman Road to wash away with one sinkhole large enough for a car to fit in.     Read more

Culvert work near MCC planned

Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Monday, March 2, 2009

KINGMAN - The Mohave County Public Works Department has the following construction projects and roadwork scheduled in the Kingman and Golden Valley areas for this week: North of Kingman, workers will be sealing roadway cracks on Lass Avenue and nearby east-west streets between Van Nuys Road and Bond Street, on Butler Avenue and Devlin Avenue between Castle Rock Road and Patsy Road, and on Packard Avenue and Nicole Avenue in Chaparral Mesa. North of Kingman, crews will also be cleaning culverts along the Jagerson, College and Devlin Washes, and performing shoulder maintenance in the area of Edie Drive and Christianson Avenue before moving south of Jagerson Avenue. The Flood Control Division has contracted with the County Road Department to grade and clear brush from county property along both sides of the Mohave Channel from Bank Street to Gordon Drive. This project is scheduled for completion this week. In Golden Valley, crews will be maintaining shoulders and sweeping in Verde Estates, repairing potholes on Verde Road from Abrigo Drive to Bolsa Drive, and the blades will be on their regular routes. Read more

Census officials aim to boost count

By Lee Davidson Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Exactly one year from now — April 1, 2010 — the 2010 Census will attempt to count everyone living in America.  The Census Bureau says it is working hard to prepare in Utah, and to convince everyone from polygamists to undocumented immigrants that it is in their best interest to participate.  "We have special arrangements with polygamists (in Hildale).  We just met with them last week," for example, said Daniel L. Pacheco, a Census official working with hard-to-count groups.  "There were some concerns, but they know things that happened in Texas (in the FLDS raid there) did not come from release of Census data," Pacheco said.  "They stand to benefit just like any other group, because the count determines the flow of $300 billion of federal money a year" to state and local governments based on population.  He added "The town of Hildale draws services. If they are not counted, they cannot draw the federal dollars necessary (for) community needs."  To help all groups feel more at ease with being counted, W. Todd Hansen, the Utah Census office manager, stresses that Census workers must take an oath of confidentiality not to reveal — for the rest of their lives — anything they find in their work, or they face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  "So if we see people growing pot in their house, or cooking drugs, or if there's a lot of illegal immigrants there, or they just robbed a bank or whatever, we can't reveal any of that information," Hansen said.     Read more

New ramada coming to BHC park

Old structure to be demolished May 11; replacement expected be up by July 31

Mohave Daily News Originally published Sunday, May 3, 2009

BULLHEAD CITY - The ramada at Bullhead Community Park has been the scene of plenty of events over its 30 years.  One more event will bring it down, making room for a new structure that should be complete in time for Bullhead City's 25th birthday and the River Regatta.  The shelter at Community Park was built in 1979 by the Bullhead City Rotary Club and local volunteers, providing a large covered area for picnics, birthday parties, family reunions, outdoor meetings and city-sponsored celebrations.  Demolition of the ramada is scheduled to begin May 11 as part of a project to build a new structure.  The $347,000 project was awarded in January to Tonto Construction of Colorado City and is expected to be finished by July 31.  Bullhead City's 25th anniversary will be observed a month later with the third annual River Regatta, set for Aug. 29.  The last major event under the ramada, appropriately, was the Rotary Club's annual Burro Barbecue, held in April as the local organization's major annual fundraiser.     Read more

Order halts park renovation

Construction company accuses BHC of violating state law

By NEIL YOUNG Mohave Daily News Originally published Thursday, May 21, 2009

BULLHEAD CITY - Work on the new Community Park ramada has come to a grinding halt.  Wednesday, Mohave County Superior Court Division 1 Judge Charles Gurtler issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of Pueblo Construction to stop work on the project.  The action results from the city's awarding a bid to Tonto Supply, Inc. of Colorado City to replace the ramada and construct new restrooms.  The project was approved by voters in 2007 when they passed the AEL (Alternative Expenditure Limitation) initiative.  After the contract with Tonto was signed, the state of Arizona "swept," or took away, a grant previously awarded to Bullhead City which would have paid for sewer improvements as part of the restroom phase of the project.  The city council approved a "change order" April 7, amending the contract to remove the restrooms from the project.  Pueblo owner Larry Adams protested the action at a city council meeting and City Manager Tim Ernster denied the protest.  Adams returned to the council chamber Tuesday with two attorneys in tow: local attorney Dan Oehler and Joshua Grabel, from Snell and Wilmer of Phoenix.  In an attempt to convince them to reverse Ernster's decision, Grabel told council members the city is in violation of state law.  "An amended contract is a material change," he said.  "If it's distinct or different from the original contract it must be put out to bid again."  Bullhead City Attorney Kent Foree argued the project had not changed. "It's the same project," he said.     Read more

Recession reins in sprawl

By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services Arizona Daily Star - Tucson, Arizona Originally published July 1, 2009

PHOENIX — The shrinking economy is taking a toll on growth and urban sprawl.  New figures this morning from the U.S. Census Bureau show that the rate of population growth has slowed in most Arizona communities.  In some cases, the pace between July 1, 2007, and a year later is only half that in the 12 months preceding.  The pattern is especially evident in what had been the "hot" growth communities of the first half of the decade, those in what had been the exurbs — often affluent areas beyond typical suburbs.  For example, Fountain Hills, north of Scottsdale, saw its year-over-year growth rate cut in half.  A nearly similar decline was logged in Queen Creek, southeast of Mesa.  In Sahuarita, the decline was not quite as precipitous: from 18.7 percent in 2007 over 2006 to less than 11 percent the following year.  Marana also saw its growth slowed.  In some cases, the drop was even sharper.  Litchfield Park found just a 1 percent year-over-year growth, a third of what it was the year before.  Even outside the two big metro areas, there were some sharp declines.  Lake Havasu City, for example, found its 1.1 percent growth rate between 2006 and 2007 slashed to just 0.2 percent.  And Pinetop-Lakeside grew at just a fifth of the rate it had the prior 12 months.  Even Flagstaff grew at just half the rate in 2008 as in the prior period.  Tucson saw its growth rate fall to 0.9 percent in 2008, from 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2007.  A few communities bucked the trend.  Oro Valley managed to maintain its growth rate.  And Phoenix actually posted an increase.  Several small communities lost population.  The one that was not surprising was Colorado City, on the Arizona-Utah border.  It was vacated by many members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints after Warren Jeffs, its leader, was arrested.     Read more

County sets tax rates for property

BY PATRICE ST. GERMAIN The Spectrum Originally published July 5, 2009

ST. GEORGE - Property owners in Washington County will see a difference in their property valuations when receiving their tax bills later this year, but it doesn't change the bottom line in what their payments will be.  To keep the tax base steady, the tax rates for most municipalities went up to compensate for the valuations that went down.  The certificated tax rates for the county and local municipalities were sent out earlier this week, said Washington County Clerk Kim Hafen.  Hafen said the bottom line for property owners in the county won't change by much unless a municipality decides to raise the tax rate.  "The way the law works is that valuations went down so the tax rate went up, ensuring the municipalities of the same revenue so the total won't change a great deal," Hafen said.  County Assessor Arthur Partridge said about 70 percent of the properties in the county are down in value between 10 and 30 percent.  Those hit the hardest are the newer subdivisions where houses were over-valued and foreclosed and sold at distressed prices.  The county's taxable value in all real estate went from $13 billion to about $11 billion between 2008 and 2009.  Partridge said when people get their tax bills in August, the values will still be higher than current values as the county taxes at the value of the property as of Jan. 1 of each year.  Vacant land saw a greater decrease than lots with homes, he said.  An appraiser for 48 years, Partridge said he hasn't seen a cycle of high price spikes following a dramatic downturn in prices since the 1930s.     Read more

Council must re-vote on bid to demolish pool

By John Gutekunst Parker Pioneer - Lake Havasu City, AZ Originally published Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Parker Town Council approved a bid to demolish the old Parker town pool, but found themselves having to hold a second vote Sept. 21 due to a possible violation of the state's conflict of interest laws by one of the council members.  A second vote was set for 5:15 p.m. Sept. 21.  At the council's Sept. 15 meeting, a bid of $43,645 was awarded to Tonto Supply Inc. of Colorado City.  The possible conflict of interest came from Councilwoman Chris Boatwright when she participated in discussion on the matter after she had recused herself from the vote.  She stated her son worked for Tonto Supply.  Conflicts of interest are covered in Section 38 of Arizona Revised Statutes.  A public official who has a substantial interest or whose relative has a substantial interest in a decision by a legislative body must publicly declare a conflict and, "shall refrain from voting upon or otherwise participating in any manner as an officer or employee in such contract, sale purchase or service."  Pat Shannahan of the state's Public Access Ombudsman's Office told the Pioneer Boatwright could have spoken out on the issue, but only off the dais as a private citizen and not as a member of the council.  Town Manager Lori Wedemeyer said she had spoken with Town Attorney Scott Ruby, and he agreed a possible conflict of interest occurred.  As a remedy, they will need to vote to ratify or rescind their Sept. 15 action on the pool demolition.  The bids were opened Sept. 11. Of the five bidders on the project, one was a local company, Mike's Contracting.  On Sept. 15, Councilman Frank Savino acknowledged they were not going with a local bidder, but added Tonto Supply's bid had been the lowest.  He said they were trying to save the town some money.  Mike's Contracting's bid had been for $60,374.     Read more

Is there no value in trust fund?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Spectrum Originally published October 23, 2009

I am a newly single mom who is not able to receive temporary help for my children, such as food stamps and medical, and I certainly do not own acres of land or property of any kind, or I would sell it. So I wonder this. If the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a $110 million dollar trust fund, why do they receive welfare that we taxpayers pay? I would think that there is some kind of asset in that so-called trust fund. Stacy White St. George

Read the Mohave County Board of Supervisors' Press Release about Gary Watson presenting a check for $24,198 to Colorado City Town Manager David Darger on July 6, 2009

Read the Arisona Department of Transportation communication about the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) monies given to Colorado City dated April, 2009

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