This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Property-valuation notices now arriving in mailboxes statewide are delivering expensive news: 64 local governments are proposing property tax hikes this year.
Officials say they are needed for a range of things, from keeping up with inflation to allowing school districts to compete in what has become "salary wars" to attract and retain teachers.
A few local leaders are again using creative arguments to contend that they are not really raising taxes — even though definitions in state law say they are.
Sanpete County is proposing the largest tax bump, in dollars, this year: $173 on a $250,000 home, up 58 percent. (Appearing even larger is a new $240 tax on a $250,000 home in the new town of Interlaken, Wasatch County — but it largely replaces a road fee residents previously paid to a homeowners association).
By percentage, the largest tax hike is a fortyfold increase — nearly 4,000 percent — in the South Davis Metro Fire Area. It is jumping from what had been a mere $1.24 a year to $50.60 on a $250,000 home.
Among proposed tax increases by dollar amount in some other Wasatch Front areas are: Granite School District, $90.34 on a $250,000 home; Bluffdale, $77; Centerville, $53.21; Davis County, $48.13; Salt Lake City School District, $46.47; West Valley City, $36.58; Salt Lake City, $19.80; and Salt Lake County, $2.61.
Of course, residents in some areas could see multiple increases stacked on top of one another from governments in their areas.
The owner of a $250,000 home in West Valley City, for example, would see increases from Granite School District ($90.34), West Valley City (36.58), Salt Lake County ($2.89), Salt Lake County library (96 cents), the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District ($7.01), and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District ($3.03).
The combined total would be $140.81 — if the taxpayer's home did not increase in value during the year. If it did, the taxes could be even higher once multiplied by the newly adjusted tax rates.
Data from the Utah Tax Commission show that increases are proposed by 25 cities and towns; 16 school districts; nine counties; five fire protection districts; three library districts; two water districts; two districts for citylike services in unincorporated areas; a police protection district; and a mosquito abatement district. A full list is available online at sltrib.com.
The 64 local governments seeking tax increases this year compare to 52 last year and 35 the year before that.
Residents still have a chance to fight most of the proposed increases at Truth in Taxation hearings. The schedules for each are listed on residents' property valuation notices. After such hearings last year, four cities abandoned proposed tax hikes entirely, and three other taxing districts decided to reduce planned increases.
"They are an opportunity for the public and elected officials to have a really great conversation about what is needed," said Billy Hesterman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association.
"The elected officials get the opportunity to put their plan forward to say this is why we need additional funds," he said. "And the public gets the chance to give feedback, to say we agree or to let them know this isn't the right time, that you need to find ways to tighten the belt and stretch the dollar a little further."
Here are among the larger tax increases proposed statewide:
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Playing catch-up • Sanpete County Commission Chairwoman Claudia Jarrett says the largest-in-the-state increase there — $173.11 on a $250,000 home — comes largely because the county had not raised taxes at all for the past 12 years.
"That significantly depleted any reserves we had," and the county was not keeping up with inflation, she said. "You don't want to have your county go bankrupt, and you want to cover your bills."
Also, she said money that had come from mineral royalties is drying up, as are payments from the federal government to help compensate for federal lands that are off local tax rolls. The county had used some of that revenue to cover debt payments incurred 10 years ago to build a new jail and instead had to cover it with other money now.
Because her county is on a calendar budget year, it already had the Truth in Taxation hearing last December. "The biggest complaint was that we didn't do it gradually. Such a big hit all at once was kind of sticker shock," she said. "In hindsight, I guess we should have been doing it more gradually."
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Repeal and replace • Interlaken, population 177, is north of Midway in Wasatch County, and on the backside of the mountain from Deer Valley. Mayor Lisa Simpkins said the town incorporated in 2015 — converting from what had been a water company and homeowners association to help resolve legal battles over local roads.
It is imposing its first property tax this year — $239.53 on a $250,000 home.
But Simpkins says that largely replaces a previous annual assessment from the homeowners association for roads. "According to the state of Utah, we are required to pay for our roads via a tax. So we can no longer do it as an assessment."
The old assessment was equal for each parcel in the area. The new tax, however, will be "a little higher for people who have a higher-value home," the mayor said, because taxes are figured by multiplying the value of a home by a tax rate.
"We have quite a bit of variation in types of homes. We have maybe six or seven monster homes that are worth $1 million to $2 million. Then we have little vacation homes, weekend homes and log cabins," she said. So expensive homes will be paying more, while less costly ones may see a decrease.
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Long time coming • Like Sanpete County, the city of Wellington in Carbon County has not raised taxes in a long time. "No one can remember a tax increase in at least 35 years," said City Recorder Glenna Etzel. "We've not kept up with inflation."
So the city is now considering the third-highest increase by dollar in the state: $118.66 on a $250,000 home.
"We are very short-staffed," Etzel said, adding the increase could help solve that, cover some other needs "and give us a little wiggle room" in a tight budget.
She added that Wellington had about the lowest tax rate among Carbon County cities. "While this looks high, it would bring us in line with what other cities here are charging."
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'Salary wars' • Rural Tintic and Juab school districts have among the biggest proposed tax hikes in the state — which both districts say are needed to compete for teachers after big salary increases this year by many Wasatch Front schools.
Tintic — which has 250 students in Eureka, Trout Creek and Callao — is proposing the state's second-highest tax increase, $136.26 on a $250,000 home.
The Juab district in Nephi is proposing the fourth-biggest tax hike: $99 on a $250,000 home.
"We are off the Wasatch Front, but we are feeling the hurt from some of the districts there that have made major jumps in their teacher salaries," said Tintic School District Superintendent Kodey Hughes.
Granite, Jordan, Canyons, Murray and Salt Lake City school districts, for example, all voted this year to raise starting salaries for teachers to between $40,000 and $44,000. Granite, for example, has one of the larger tax increases on the Wasatch Front to help pay for that: $90.34 on a $250,000 home.
"Our current salaries are around $36,000" in Tintic, Hughes said, adding that isn't enough to persuade people "to come and live in these rural areas." In fact, he has been unable to fill vacant slots for a math teacher and science teacher "and school starts in four or five weeks." He hopes the tax hike "will give us some numbers so we can be a draw."
Similarly, Juab School District Superintendent Rick Robins said, "Any time we have a position open, we go head-to-head with Nebo School District and Provo, Alpine and even Salt Lake County school districts."
His starting salaries for teachers also are now $36,000 a year. At that level in recent years, "We've had very few applicants. And I think that's a direct result of the salary wars that are happening. We want to be competitive. This is an opportunity."
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Hefty hike • The South Davis Metro Fire Area is proposing a 3,989 percent tax hike, from $1.24 to $50.60 on a $250,000 home. The next biggest increase by percentage in the state is 74.7 percent — a $16.23 increase on a $250,000 home in the town of Torrey.
The fire district — which serves Bountiful, Centerville, North Salt Lake, West Bountiful and Wood Cross — lists numerous reasons it is seeking the money.
Its website says it would increase staffing on fire engines from two to four people; reduce its current response time from 6.5 minutes to 4 minutes to meet national standards; and increase the number of firefighters on structure fires from 11 to perhaps the national standard of 15.
The district also hopes to make several capital expenditures: buying a new $1.5 million ladder truck, making a $5 million upgrade to a station in Centerville, doing $800,000 in repairs at it Mueller Park station and another $350,000 in upgrades at its Foxboro station.
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Not a tax hike? • Every year, some governments argue they really aren't raising property taxes even though state law says they are. The Ogden City School District is doing that now while proposing what under law is the state's seventh-largest increase, $96.11 on a $250,000 home.
"In reality, Ogden School District's tax rate will drop about 6 percent," said Zane Woolstenhulme, the district's business manager. The rate is the number used to figure taxes by multiplying it by the value of a property.
The issue is that the district paid off some bonds, which is supposed to lower taxes. Instead, the district is trying to retain some of that taxing level to pay for capital projects.
"That's a tax increase" under state law, Hesterman with the Utah Taxpayers Association says. Voters agreed to raise taxes temporarily until bonds are paid off. If district officials want to keep them higher afterward, he says, state law forces them to hold a Truth in Taxation hearing to explain why.
"Because we don't let it drop as much as it could, we have to go through Truth in Taxation," Woolstenhulme acknowledges. "But the reality is our tax rate is dropping."
Hesterman said his group recently studied how Utah's Truth in Taxation laws requiring hearings any time governments want to generate more revenue — or in a situation where they want to retain higher taxes after bonds are paid off — have affected the tax burden.
"We looked at when Truth in Taxation started in the 1980s to now, and what we found is that [property tax] burden has dropped significantly in Utah," he said. "We think Truth in Taxation is doing a great job."
But, he warns, it works only with holding down property taxes.
To avoid facing upset taxpayers in hearings, he says his group finds governments often turn to other sources that avoid such hearings — such as raising fees. —
High tax? Truth in taxation hearings allow protests
Following are some of the proposed property tax increases in Salt Lake County, and when Truth in Taxation hearings on them are scheduled:
Granite School District • Proposed increase of $90.34 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 1 at 6:15 p.m., 2500 S. State St., South Salt Lake.
Bluffdale • $77 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 16, 2222 W. 14400 South, Bluffdale.
Salt Lake City School District • $46.47 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 1, 440 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City.
West Valley City • $36.58 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 8, 6:30 p.m., 3600 S. Constitution Blvd., West Valley City.
Salt Lake City Library • $24.89 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 8, 7 p.m., 451 S. State St., Room 315, Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City • $19.80 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 8, 7 pm., 451 S. State St., Room 315, Salt Lake City.
Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District • $7.01 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 9, 6 p.m., 8215 S. 1300 West, West Jordan.
Central Utah Water Conservancy District • $3.03 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 14, 6 p.m, 355 W. University Parkway, Orem.
Salt Lake County • $2.61 on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 15, 6 p.m., 2001 S. State, Room N1-110, Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake County Library • 96 cents on a $250,000 home. Hearing: Aug. 15, 6 p.m., 2001 S. State Room N1-110, Salt Lake City.