With the topic of implementing fluoride into public drinking water in Uintah County comes the question of cost and cost studies are currently underway to inform the public in case this ends up on the 2018 November election ballot. The Uintah County Clerk/Auditor Office confirms that an application to gather signatures for fluoridation of the public water supplies has been received and that if the required 1,618 signatures are gathered by April 16th then the question of whether or not to fluoridate public water will be included on the November 2018 ballot. In the meantime, Clerk/Auditor Mike Wilkins explains that Uintah County is now in a window of 25 days to come up with a fiscal analysis of implementing fluoride into the water system. Uintah County is working with the water companies on the cost analysis while also gathering information on exactly which water systems this would include. Vernal City Manager Quinn Bennion has also stated that Vernal City has initiated an engineering study to estimate the cost of implementation of a fluoride system as well as the ongoing costs of having fluoride in the water supply. “This petition is not being initiated or supported by Vernal City,” shares Bennion. “The cost study is being done so potential signers of the petition and voters will know the increase in cost to their water bill if it is approved by the voters and if the City and other districts are required to put fluoride in the water. There will be a cost.” Vernal City hopes to have the results of their study available within a few weeks.
