The council approved an increase in property tax revenue of about 8% Tuesday, excluding revenue that comes from new growth. For a home valued at $893,000, that would amount to an increase of $27 per year.
Heber City finance manager Sara Nagel told the council the increase would add just over $200,000 in revenue for the city. This would be used to pay for a 5.5% cost-of-living increase for city employees, as well as an increase in merit pay of 3%. It would also pay for the salary of an additional parks employee.
Those pay increases have already been approved by the council. During the public comment portion of the meeting, Heber City resident Aaron Cheatwood asked how they would be paid for if the tax increase wasn’t approved. Mayor Heidi Franco said the city would have to dip into its financial reserves.
"We're trying to hold on to those reserves for emergencies," she said. "We don't want to be spending our reserves on continual annual costs. We need the city to be more self-sustaining."
The meeting was sparsely attended, and only five residents in total offered public comment. Some had questions and concerns that went beyond the proposed tax increase from the city.
"I appreciate all these services," said resident Patty Sprunt. "As a mother of a law enforcement person, it means a lot to me. So per person, it's really not onerous.
"The big elephant in the room is the hit we're seeing from Wasatch County School District," she said.
Sprunt asked city council members to be present at the school district’s truth-in-tax meeting Wednesday, saying their voices carried more weight than an average resident’s. Mayor Heidi Franco and Councilmember Yvonne Barney said they planned to attend.
Sprunt told KPCW if tax increases from the city, the school district, and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District are all approved, her property tax bill will go up from $270 a month to $420 per month.
"If this is a trend that's going to continue, we can’t afford to retire, because my house payment is going to go up every year," she said.
Sprunt said she also worried about the impact of tax increases on elderly neighbors who have lived in Heber for decades.
"I had one woman tell me this Sunday, 'My parents said if this passes, they're going to have to look at putting their home up for sale, because they can't afford that much of an increase,'" she said.
At the council meeting, Councilmember Scott Phillips noted the state does have a property tax abatement program for low-income and elderly residents.
"There's a form to fill out that you can get some reprieve from taxes. It's at the county office," he said. "I don't think anyone's advertising it. But it is there, it's available."
The city council voted five to zero to approve the city’s tax increase.
