Wasatch County staff and volunteers labored late into Tuesday night to release preliminary election results for several municipal elections just past 11:30 p.m.
Early the next morning, they provided updated results and city employee according to the latest update on Utah’s election website, every ballot received by election night has been processed and counted.
While the results will be officially certified until early next month, it is highly unlikely any of the races will go to candidates not currently on top. While 11 candidates ran for three open positions on the Heber City Council, Mike Johnston was the community’s first choice with 703 votes, Aaron Cheatwood was second with 420 and Sid Ostegaard was third with 314.
The results also show that Proposition 9 passed, which authorizes the county “to impose a 0.5% sales tax for the purpose of funding emergency medical services in Wasatch County” received 4,340 votes for and 2,692 against.
Before the election, Wasatch County Fire District Eric Hales said the imposed tax will prevent property owners from having to pay higher taxes in the future, as it will allow emergency services to be funded not only by community members, but also visitors who patronize local businesses.
The tax, he added, won’t be added to essential commodities like groceries, fuel and medicine. He said this would largely prevent the tax from greatly affecting those who can’t afford it.
“Those in fixed incomes, most of those people aren’t going out and having discretionary funds to make these additional purchases,” he said.
Before the election, each of the three council candidates who will likely be confirmed as winners spoke with The Park Record about their plans for the future of Heber City in their platforms. They discussed hopes to update city codes, guide development and ensure there are affordable living options options, among other goals.
Graphs showing the processes of elimination and confirmation for each seat, using Heber City’s ranked-choice method, are available on election page of the city’s website.