The government boards in charge of selling water to local water companies in Summit and Wasatch counties have scheduled Truth-in-Taxation hearings at the end of August.
Truth-in-Taxation is the public process required under Utah law to raise property taxes.
The Central Utah Water Conservancy District is proposing a 1.6% property tax increase across Salt Lake, Utah, Juab, Duchesne, Uintah, Summit and Wasatch counties.
The Weber Basin Water Conservancy District is proposing a 6.95% property tax increase split between Box Elder, Davis, Weber, Morgan and Summit counties.
The water districts tax all property owners at the same rate. So Wasatch and Summit counties, where property values are high, pay more per person than the other localities.
That’s the basis of David Darcey’s criticism for the Weber Basin water district. The Kamas resident who sits on a number of local government boards spoke out at Wednesday’s Summit County Council meeting.
“They’ve come up with two proposed uses: $1 million for conservation efforts, like the rebate programs … taking out your turf or $100 for low-flow toilets, and also $738,000 to go towards the original Bureau of Reclamation project that was done in 1955,” Darcey said during public comment. “You know, the big aqueducts down in Layton and Clearfield and in Davis County.”
Darcey predicted the money for incentives will be spent downstream as well, since most people live along the Wasatch Front.
He said Summit County only accounts for 5% of the Weber Basin’s population. It’s the county with the highest median income, but it also has large income disparities — particularly between the Park City area and rural eastside.
“We are being used as the golden pig — or the patsy — paying for 37% of the property taxes and seeing nothing spent in this county that benefits county residents,” Darcey added. “At this point, I'd be happy for a couple of gardening classes up here in Coalville, or something to show for the $10 million that we're spending each year — that we're sending down to Layton each year.”
If the tax increase goes through, the Weber Basin water district would be collecting an additional $642,000 from Summit County annually. That’s more than it would collect from Davis or Weber counties, which have between six and nine times as many people.
The Weber Basin public hearing is at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24 at district headquarters in Layton. Residents can attend virtually as well.
The Central Utah water district only includes a sliver of Summit County in Francis and Woodland.
It would still collect an extra $120,000 from Wasatch County landowners. But the bulk of its increase would come from Utah County paying more than $500,000 and Salt Lake County paying more than $1 million.
Central Utah has planned three hearings.
The first is in Roosevelt on Aug. 24; the other two will be Aug. 25 and 26 at district headquarters in Orem.
