He didn't even get two dozen e-mails.

Even after proposing the first property-tax increase of his administration during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Instead, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon logged fewer than 20 letters and e-mails about his push to raise $13.4 million in property taxes to balance the county's battered 2010 budget, according to correspondence obtained through an open-records request.

It's a surprisingly sparse amount of written feedback that Corroon believes reflects constituents' satisfaction with a spending plan that combines higher taxes -- about $20 annually on a $260,000 home -- and a dramatic $142 million downsizing of government expenses.

"People understand that we did what we thought was best for the citizens," Corroon said. "They recognize we are not going to tax our way to a better economy or cut our way to a better economy. We need a balanced approach to meet the needs of our citizens."

If Corroon is correct, that broad public acceptance of a tax increase could bode well for a future gubernatorial run. While the Democrat -- in his second and, he says, final term as mayor -- has not decided whether he will seek the state's highest political office, he is considered the party's front-runner.

Although the public outcry over the 2010 budget may appear muted now, the volume may rise Tuesday, when the County Council opens the microphone to constituents before approving the spending plan, according to Alan Dayton, the former deputy to Corroon's Republican predecessor, Nancy Workman.

Meeting attendance, he argued, is a better barometer of public sentiment than e-mails. However, the mayor "is probably on the right track."

"Let's wait for the hearing," Dayton said. "But he may be right. The public doesn't have the sense that Salt Lake County is coming back to the well again and again."

The last countywide property-tax increase, he noted, happened almost a decade ago.

It's true that Corroon hasn't gone through the kind of highly publicized Truth in Taxation hearing that will happen Tuesday. But the mayor has had an opportunity for a public bruising and escaped it. Corroon rolled out his spending plan -- and talked of the proposed tax increase --in several town-hall meetings last month that attracted fewer than 20 people per session. His final gathering in Herriman was empty.

Tim Chambless, a political science professor at the University of Utah who once worked in former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson's administration, suspects the public clamor would be louder if Corroon's proposal weren't palatable to most property owners.

"We can see by the few number of e-mails that most people are not terribly upset with the fact that their property taxes may go up," Chambless said. "The fact is that most people know that you don't get something for nothing."

That said, the mayor's "in" box wasn't free of outrage or outright desperation in the weeks after announcing the proposed tax hike.

"Please don't raise taxes on property owners," one constituent pleaded. "We are not the deep pockets you think we are. Some of us are barely making it. This really stinks because you know we would rather find a way to pay [than] lose our homes."

"Stop spending," typed another. "I have to cut my programs for my kids within my family budget when times are tough, so should the government."

The mayor received two e-mails applauding his fiscal approach.

"I am so pleased that, in this time of economic downturn, there is someone in government who is proactively looking for ways to spend less and keep taxes low," a constituent wrote. "I know it is a strange concept these days, but hurray for you and the county being fiscally responsible."

While the mayor has recommended higher taxes -- a proposal backed by the Democratic-led council -- his call for deeper cuts includes reducing employee wages and benefits, leaving more than 300 positions empty, ordering steep departmental trims (some exceeding 10 percent) and closing some recreation centers on Sundays.

Still, Corroon insists a tax increase is needed to avoid crippling critical services. It's a turnabout from last summer, when the mayor went toe to toe with council Democrats and vetoed a similar, but more modest, uptick in taxes. Corroon argued for more cuts, which he says government has made.

In the correspondence to Corroon, 14 people protested his proposed tax hike. Five others argued against imposing a law-enforcement fee of $100 or more a year in unincorporated burbs such as Magna, Kearns and Millcreek to plug a shortfall in the county's municipal services fund (an account that pays for citylike services such as police patrols in those areas).

"Isn't it about time you stopped hammering us with taxes," a constituent complained.

The council largely has accepted the mayor's proposed ledger and will decide after Tuesday's hearing whether to adopt it.

Will the public prove understanding -- or even supportive -- of Corroon's strategy for surviving the economic slump? That's a question that may be answered in the empty seats, if there are any, at next week's hearing.

jstettler@sltrib.com