I stand AGAINST State created Monopolies.
I feel a free market is best for the consumer and the state of Utah. That is what our country was founded on. Through free markets, better products are made and prices are kept to a reasonable rate. When Draper City Council was asked to vote on whether to kill some of our deer within city limits it was brought to my attention by Point of the Mountain Politics.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, which is the agency tasked with protecting the state’s wildlife, has begun a program to control urban deer populations. The department gives cities two options, Kill the deer or trap them and relocate them. Of course, most people and cities would rather trap and relocate. You would expect that the Division of Wildlife would want that too. Well, you would be wrong. The state only recommends one company for the cities to use to kill these urban deer.
Since this contractor is the only one referred by the state, the opportunity for overpricing the service is greatly increased. It is like a monopoly. This monopoly has already reared it’s ugly head. The state has also formed a monopoly by only recommending one contractor to the cities. This practice has to stop. It is a waste of taxpayer dollars and the state’s wildlife resources. As your next State Legislator, I will fight to stop this kind of abuse and waste of taxpayer dollars and fight to bring transparency to all the state government.
In the summer of 2018, Draper City was considering hiring this contractor at the behest of the Division of Wildlife Resources. The city was progressing quickly until a report was completed by a local issues-oriented Facebook page. The report found that the cities that had implemented a deer management program and contracted with the contractor to manage the program were being charged significantly less than Draper City. They looked at Highland, Mapleton and Springville’s programs. They all had contracts with this contractor to provide trained archers, set up stands, bait the deer, kill the deer and then remove the deer for distribution to food banks. The contracts and resolutions are almost all identical. The contracts were approved in 2013, 2016, and 2017.
The major difference is that the Draper City Taxpayer will pay inflated charges while all the other cities had to pay far less for the same program. The facts are astounding!
Highland City was charged a total of approximately $2,500 for their entire program for three years. They are only two years into this program and so far the city has killed 114 deer as of the last public report, and the cost per deer was $21.92.
https://www.deseretnews.com/…/Highland-deer-management-a-re…
Springville will be charged a total of $6,000 a year by Humphreys Archery. The city has contracted to spend a total of $18,000 over three years to kill 200 deer which will be $90 per deer.
https://www.good4utah.com/…/springville-plans-to-…/838528753
Mapleton will be charged a total of $5,800 a year by Humphreys Archery, The city has contracted to spend a total of $17,400 over three years, and they intend to kill 300 deer which will be $58 per deer.
http://mapleton.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/04/Item-5.pdf
According to the approved Draper City Deer Management Plan, Draper has 400 deer living in the flat part of Draper. The plan calls for a population of 150 to 200 deer. The main difference between the other cities contracts and Drapers is, that the Draper Taxpayer will be charged $2,500 each time a new stand is put up to focus on the perceived Deer Problem.
State-Created Monopolies are not good for anyone except the business that has the monopoly. Please SEND IN YOUR BALLOT TODAY.