Any occasion that requires elected officials to face the public and justify why they need to increase property taxes is good.

Utah's truth-in-taxation hearings help to hold elected officials accountable for their use of public resources. Moreover, they require elected officials to justify programs or capital projects that require considerable increases in taxes.

But some critics of the hearings call them a "sham" because there is no give and take between the public and elected officials. Members of the public have the opportunity to speak their piece but the hearings are conducted so late in the budgeting process that most elected bodies do not retreat from their proposed tax increases.

It's not a perfect mechanism, but the alternative poses even more concerns. Precious few people attend budget hearings, during which financial officers lay out the costs and revenue projections for the upcoming year. That's usually the beginning of the discussion on tax increases. Absent the truth-in-taxation hearing process, most people wouldn't become aware of a property tax hike until it showed up on their tax bill.

The truth is some governmental bodies have retreated from substantial tax increases after being confronted by taxpayers at the hearings. Two years ago, 1,000 Davis County residents protested a proposed 138 percent increase intended to expand the county jail. After hearing from the public, the commission scrapped its plans and implemented a more modest tax hike.

The hearings also serve an educational purpose. The Salt Lake, Murray, Granite and Jordan school boards each voted to increase property taxes to received matching funds from the state for Gov. Olene Walker's K-3 reading initiative. Some people who attended the school board hearing may not have been aware of the initiative or the required participation from local school districts.

Although the hearings are not held at the most convenient date or hour, they help to ensure a check-and-balance in government. Barring a controversial issue, most members of the public do not attend meetings of the county council or commission, school board or city council on a regular basis. But when their government needs more resources to provide its services, taxpayers owe it to themselves to show up and ask why.

As Mike Jerman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, explains, "We tell people they need to show up because if they don't, then the district gets the message that taxpayers aren't concerned . . . (and) they can continue to raise taxes every year and no one will mind."

Considering those prospects, truth-in-taxation hearings sound like an awfully sound idea.