CACHE COUNTY – After much discussion and debate, members of the Cache County Council finally settled on the moving target of a property tax increase for 2026 at their regular meeting on Oct. 14.
In accordance with state law, council chair Sandi Goodlander formally announced Cache County’s intent to levy a property tax rate that exceeds the certified tax rate for next year. Specifically, she stated that the county would be seeking a 10 percent tax rate increase, which would generate more than $3.7 million in new revenue to fund inflationary increases in personnel and pubic safety expenses.
In the wake of the State Tax Commission’s recent denial of a proposed tax hike would have resulted in a revenue boost of more than $6 million for the Cache County School District, the members of the county council were careful to observe correct procedures under the Truth-in-Taxation law.
Later in the Oct. 14 gathering, the panel set the public hearing on the tax increase mandated by the Truth-in-Taxation law for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18.
In previous discussions on the proposed budget for 2026, the council members had been considering a property tax increase of up to 18 percent, while hoping that a tax hike that large would not be necessary to cover a projected budget shortfall for 2026.
Thanks to recent efforts to trim the proposed budget by County Auditor Matt Funk and newly installed County Executive George Daines, the estimated need for a property tax hike has been reduced by nearly half.
Under the state’s Truth-In-Taxation law, taxing entities are required to hold public hearings if they want to increase property tax revenues beyond what their certified tax rates generates.
The TNT law is revenue-driven, meaning the requirement for a hearing is based on the taxing entity collecting more revenue than the previous year, not just on changes in the tax rate.
The purpose of those hearings is to inform taxpayers about proposed increases and allow them to provide input before the increase goes into effect.