The public will have one last chance to weigh in before the Summit County Council approves next year’s budget.
County Manager Shayne Scott’s recommended budget included tax increases in four key areas, but after weeks of negotiations, he and the council found a way to avoid two of those.
“The way that we vet out the budget, and why the council thinks it’s so important, really does show what their priorities are,” Scott said.
Councilmembers asked Scott to fund employees’ child care, new hires and a potential housing authority in the upcoming year. Other areas were cut, including the $2.5 million landfill cell that they’ll need to fund next year.
The two parts of the budget that haven’t been cut and may still get tax increases are Service Area #6 and the assessing and collecting fund.
Service Area #6 is a recently-expanded district that handles road repair and snow removal in the Snyderville Basin. Only Basin residents living in its boundaries would see a tax increase.
That increase could be around $91 per year, a 69% increase, although it’s unlikely residents will need to pay the full amount.
Because the service area annexed new property in March, it will get new tax revenue from those areas. County staff don’t know if the new revenue will be enough so the council may approve a tax increase just in case.
The other possible tax increase is for property assessing and collecting. This tax is countywide, and the median taxpayer’s bill would go up $23, a 38% increase.
The money would go toward the process of assessing the value of residents’ properties and levying property taxes.
There’s one other organization that could up taxes at the Dec. 13 meeting, North Summit Recreation. Councilmembers could have approved the increase last week in Kimball Junction, but they decided to wait until the second hearing in Coalville.
It wants councilmembers to approve a 71% increase, or $18 more per year for the median North Summit household. The recreation district would bring in an additional $75,000 for a full-time director and another part-time employee.
Councilmembers will also review North Summit Fire District’s budget, which isn’t requesting a tax increase this year.
The budget hearings begin at 6 p.m. in Coalville at the Summit County Courthouse. Click here to attend online.
