Monticello hires a familiar face as new assistant city manager

Ruth Skouson has been hired as the new assistant city manager for the City of Monticello. The Monticello native began work on September 2.

Skouson, a 1990 graduate of Monticello High School, returns to Monticello after a ten-year absence. She takes on a host of responsibilities at the city, including planning and zoning.

“My customers are the residents of Monticello and I want to provide good customer service,” said Skouson, who added that she has heard a number of comments about regulations and code enforcement in her first week on the job.

Skouson is an entrepreneur who co-founded the Bighorn Express Shuttle Service more than a decade ago. She has worked in a variety of human resource settings in recent years, including in the banking, property management and medical staffing industries.

“We are extremely excited to have the position filled by a true professional and one who has ties to Monticello,” said Monticello City Manager Myron Lee “This position is absolutely vital to the City.”

Skouson initially moved to Monticello with her family when she entered the sixth grade. Her parents are Garth and Sandra Skouson. She said that there are many reasons she agreed to accept the position, including “the clean air, a great place to live, nice people, close family ties and a great opportunity to serve the people of Monticello.”

Skouson recently completed her 14th marathon and said she looks forward to training at the 7,000 foot altitude in Monticello.

The City faces a host of issues in the near future, including construction of a new fire station and public works building, completion of the visitor center and Veterans Memorial Park pavilion, and securing funding mechanisms for the city. In addition, the city faces a number of issues related to a possible huge influx of growth related to the creation of a Monticello campus of George Wythe University.

“There is a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done, said Lee.

Monticello voters will face a November 4 ballot issue that would create two new sales taxes. The City lost a .5 percent resort city sales tax in December, 2007 that resulted in the loss of approximately $100,000 a year in tax revenue. The proposed sales taxes would restore up to .4 percent of the sales tax.

It is estimated that the new sales taxes would generate approximately $20,000 a year for parks and recreation programs and approximately $50,000 a year for transportation.