For the first time since 2017, the county will host Truth in Taxation hearings, the state-mandated process when a tax increase is on the table.
One public hearing is required; Summit County has scheduled two on Dec. 6 and Dec. 13.
The larger tax bill has four potential parts.
There’s a 15.6% tax increase for the general fund and 37.8% for the assessing and collecting levy, which funds property assessments and county tax collection.
There’s also a 5.94% increase for the municipal type services area, which is only levied on residents outside municipalities. The biggest proposed increase is 69.37% for Service Area #6, which provides snow removal in areas around the Snyderville Basin and expanded in March.
It would all work out to a tax increase of about $170 for the median Summit County resident with a $1,352,000 home. Residents of incorporated cities and towns would dodge the municipal type services area increase, which would fund a potential housing authority.
The tax increase would support a county budget of $84 million in FY2024, $11 million more than the county’s current income. Around $7 million could come from reserves to support big one-time purchases, like a new landfill cell, but the rest would require higher taxes.
As Councilmember Canice Harte explains, the council hasn’t responded positively to the idea of raising taxes. Councilmembers have gone back and forth with county manager Shayne Scott and financial officer Matt Leavitt to try to get them to make cuts.
“We have to do everything humanly possible to stay within our spending limits and keep our budget under control. And if, and only if, we can't, then you look at things like Truth in Taxation,” Harte said.
“But fundamentally, this will come down to a conversation around services we provide—what we as citizens of Summit County expect to get for our tax dollars—versus what we can deliver.”
Those services cost money: $2.5 million for landfill cell construction; $2.2 million for emergency medical services; $470,000 for litigation efforts; $340,000 for land and natural resources; and $150,000 for employees’ child care.
Most of the discussion around making cuts has been focused on employee salaries and hiring. The proposed budget includes six new hires, but Scott told the council Nov. 8
“The easy thing to not do is, if there's six new people in this budget, it's not hiring those six new people. We have a hiring freeze,” he said.
However, the county manager acknowledged the overworked tax auditor’s office and the natural resource department’s new 8,600-acre responsibility at the 910 Cattle Ranch.
The council has also pushed Scott on salary increases. The county has historically provided cost of living adjustments and merit-based increases.
The $84 million FY2024 budget includes a 4% COLA and 3% merit increase.
Council chair Roger Armstrong has pushed back on that. He says last year’s 10% COLA, which exceeded the 8% inflation rate, and the usual 3% merit increase means Summit County can dial back raises this year.
“With a 13% raise, we were ahead last year,” Armstrong said Nov. 13.
The council will discuss the budget again at its next regular meeting Nov. 29. After that, it’s time for the public to weigh in.
The Dec. 6 public hearing is scheduled to happen at 6 p.m. at the Sheldon Richins Building in Kimball Junction. The Dec. 13 hearing will likely happen at 6 p.m. in Coalville’s Summit County Courthouse.
Other Summit County organizations are considering tax increases, including South Summit Fire District with a 183% increase, Silver Creek Estates’ Service Area #3 with 21% and North Summit Recreation with 71%.
