County commissioners are fond of keeping the weight off when it comes to their budget. But how they handle a crash diet is about to be seen. The state Tax Commission gave all counties in the state about three days to whack their budgets so that a portion of it can be redistributed to cities instead. The cause is traced back to incorrectly reported local option sales taxes -- a $9.3 million discrepancy statewide -- from January 2005 through November 2007.

Utah County will have to give up about a million dollars at a time when projections show they could already come up $3 million short for their $85 million budget.

"They're just lucky we're good," quipped Commissioner Gary Anderson on Tuesday before finishing, "We're going to find out how good we are."

How good are they?

The $85 million county budget was already considered lean. Commissioners refused to pass a tax increase this year and assumed the maximum tax intake when setting the budget late last year. That means if revenues fall, they have to find other places to cut. To axe a million dollars, department heads will cut back (among others):

• $540,000 in special projects for the parks system such as parking lot improvements.

• $181,750 in jail support. This isn't as bad as it looks because the new jail wing is late in opening so the money originally slated will not be spent.

• $49,960 from the Recorder's Office (including nearly $20,000 in software).

• $5,000 from the Surveyor's Office travel and convention budget.

The money will be transferred from counties to cities as quickly as possible and in lump sums, said state Tax Commission spokesman Charlie Roberts. "It's a direct hit," he said of county budgets. "It does impact their operations."

The "smiley-face side"

"Every city and county has been affected to one degree or another," Roberts said.

Statewide, there will be a $9.3 million shift from counties to cities, some of which will get hundreds of thousands of new dollars. According to Roberts, a few Utah County examples "on the smiley-face side" are:

• Provo -- $203,126

• Orem -- $151,749

• American Fork -- $95,954

• Santaquin -- $4,338

• Goshen -- $3,614

While counties had little time to respond to the shift, cities apparently were just hearing about it themselves.

"We just heard about this today and are waiting for the Tax Commission to confirm the amount and timing," said Provo spokeswoman Helen Anderson. "It will be a very important source of revenue for the city."

Soft economy

While Utah is weathering the shaky economy better than most states, it's not completely immune. State revenue projections are off more than $100 million. Utah County's own projections are off nearly $3 million in a "worst-case scenario," said Clerk/Auditor Bryan Thompson.

To cover a shortfall, the county will rely on the legally required reserve that amounts to about 5 percent of the $85 million budget.

"That's something you really don't want to have to tap into unless you have to," Thompson said.