The projected FY2025 budget shortfall has been as high as $15 million, but Summit County Chief Financial Officer Matt Leavitt’s latest estimate is $7 million.
And as Councilmember Canice Harte noted, "shortfall" is an interesting term because the budget won’t be final until December.
“Last year as an example, we would have said there was a shortfall at this stage, but we said, ‘No, we don't want to raise taxes. What can we cut or what can we defer to bring that back down to zero?’” Harte said on the “Local News Hour.”
Oct. 9, Leavitt and County Manager Shayne Scott gave councilmembers a first look at the possible program cuts they could make if they defer a tax increase again.
Potential cuts include $600,000 for armed school guardians and $280,000 in dependent care assistance. Child care does not appear to be on the chopping block.
The largest possible cuts are $2 million in new staff, $2 million in cost-of-living and merit raises and up to $1.2 million in mental health care.
But budget cuts are just one of three options for tackling the shortfall. The others are taxes.
“We're wanting you to know if the decision is to not go through ‘Truth in Taxation,’ we want you to know that getting us to a balanced budget without the emergency services sales tax would be a heavy lift,” Scott said Oct. 9.
He referred to the 0.5% sales tax the council put on November’s ballot to make up for the shortfall. It exempts groceries, gas and prescriptions, and it may or may not pass.
So state-mandated property tax deadlines put the county in a strange position. At the Oct. 9 meeting, the council decided to begin “Truth in Taxation,” the process of raising property taxes.
Leavitt called it hedging the county’s bets, and Canice called it a “backstop.” The council has indicated it wouldn’t do both a sales tax and property tax this year.
Councilmember Tonja Hanson did express concern that voters will get the wrong idea. Property owners are about to receive notices of a potential property tax increase, as required by state law.
The council can stop the Truth in Taxation process, keeping property taxes the same, any time between now and next summer.
Before they put it on the ballot, councilmembers indicated they preferred a sales tax over property taxes so that tourists could share the tax burden.
Leavitt’s data indicates around 15% of property taxes collected in Summit County are collected by the county government. Schools collect the most.
Councilmembers must adopt a budget in December.
