LOGAN – During a public hearing on Cache County’s proposed 20 percent tax increase on Nov. 12, the members of the Cache County Council got an earful of mostly negative comments from a packed audience of irate citizens.
Members of the council and county staff are proposing a 20 percent property tax increase to generate more than $3.5 million in new revenue for 2025.
The purpose of the revenue increase for 2025 will be to meet projected costs of competitive wage increases, additional staffing needs, infrastructure projects and the inflationary cost of goods.
Although that increase is the maximum that county official can request under the state’s Truth in Taxation law, Council Chair David L. Erickson said that he is hopeful that council members won’t have to ask for that full amount after final negotiations on the budget for 2025 are completed in coming weeks.
Those upcoming discussions may include approval of County Ordinance 2024-22, which would adjust the salaries of certain county elected officials. A public hearing on those salary adjustments is slated for the council’s next meeting on Nov. 26.
The majority of the public criticism of the proposed 20 percent tax hike boiled down to concerns about the possible impact of that increase on senior residents on fixed incomes; a preference for small incremental tax increases as opposed to huge increases at irregular intervals; and demands for transparency to ensure that county government had left no stone unturned in an effort to avoid the tax increase, including cutting expenses.
Questions about transparency went unanswered, however, since the council has yet to complete its work on and adopt the 2025 budget
Erickson gave members of the public only two minutes each to plead their cases and did his best to enforce to that time limit.
Late in the evening meeting, Erickson said that he and other council members are “feverishly” working to cut expenses to avoid the full 20 percent tax increase.
“We’re doing the best we can,” he added. “If you don’t like it, vote us out.”
That’s easier said than done, since the council conveniently delayed the final decisions on the 2025 budget until after the Nov. 5 general election, in which three incumbent council members were re-elected.
Former county executive Lynn Lemon was among residents who spoke at the public hearing.
Lemon questioned the need for the tax increase, given that the bond issues on the County’s Administration Building and on the Sheriff’s Complex would be repaid in the next year or so.
He also questioned whether the council had considered tapping the county’s financial reserves in lieu of a tax hike. Those reserves now stand at $24 million.
Lemon suggested that any decision on a tax hike be delayed until after the county’s new auditor Matt Funk has a chance to look over the books.
That sentiment was echoed by county resident Katie Berry, who proposed that the tax hike be delayed until after former President Donald Trump returns to office to see if he makes good on campaign promises to reduce inflation.
Jay Bankhead argued that county officials should be making growth work for them, by charging developers the true cost of infrastructure upgrades including water/sewer connections and other improvements, rather than taxing already hard-pressed country residents.
That comment prompted applause from the audience, as did remarks from former county clerk Jess Bradfield.
Given his previous experience with council members withholding pay increases for arbitrary reasons, Bradfield questioned whether the upcoming debate over compensation increases for elected officials would be fully transparent.
Bradfield’s comments drew an admonition from Erickson that the topic under discussion was tax increases and residents should stick to it rather than airing previous personal grievances.
In the wake of the public hearing, Council Member Sandi Goodlander acknowledged that other taxing entities – including the Cache School District, the Cache Water District and the Cache Mosquito Abatement District – are all in the process of raising taxes.
But she insisted that the county government had not raised its tax rate since 2020.
Newly re-elected council member Nolan Gunnell explained that the tax increase is needed to help county officials respond to rising crime rates, particularly sexual offenses, among other things.
“If you’re not reading Cache Valley Daily,” he said, “you should be. Their coverage (of the prosecution of local sex offenders) is horrifying.”
The county is contemplating the adoption of a budget for 2025 of more than $107.6 million, plus a budget of more than $517,200 for the Logan-Cache Airport Authority.
If approved, the proposed 20 percent tax increase would raise property taxes on an average $528,000 residence from $318.86 to $382.62, an increase of $63.76 per year.
The proposed increase on a $528,000 business would be $115.92 per year, from $579.74 to $695.66 per year.