As officers scour Salt Lake City for drug dealers who have scattered after an unprecedented crackdown in the Rio Grande neighborhood, officials seek $21 million toward the two-year effort’s $67 million price tag.
Operation Rio Grande is in its third week, but a preliminary budget was shared for the first time with media Monday after a closed-door meeting at the Capitol.
The state could pay half of the $21 million gap, House Speaker Greg Hughes said later Monday, and he expects Salt Lake City and County to split the remainder evenly. But Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski apparently has yet to agree to that back-of-a-napkin arrangement.