Salt Lake City holds a unique position among Utah's cities. Its population of approximately 180,000 is small compared with the Wasatch Front, which is home to about 1.8 million people from the southern tip of Utah County to the northern tip of Weber County. And yet it is the center of commerce, culture and tourism for all those people, not to mention home to hundreds of thousands of workers and students who commute in and out every morning and evening.

So it may seem natural, then, that the city's tax burden is the highest, in terms of municipal taxes, in the state. While sales tax dollars flow into downtown, the state's formula for dividing that money leaves the city with about half of what it generates. Add to this the fact that city residents seem happy to vote themselves tax hikes for such things as museums and soccer fields, and city living keeps getting more expensive.

Now Mayor Rocky Anderson is proposing a $1.4 million property tax hike as part of his recommended budget for fiscal 2005-06. Sooner or later, however, the city has to find a way to keep the tax bills from rising.

Luckily, a natural increase in city revenues, due to a strong economy, ought to allow the City Council to fund the city's needs without raising taxes.

Anderson, like mayors before him, has spoken of the need to attract more people to live in the city. In particular, Salt Lake City has a dearth of middle-income families. Too many families choose to settle in the suburbs. They do so for a variety of reasons. Real estate in the city tends to be more expensive than elsewhere. But at some point, taxes enter in as well, even though suburbs tend to tax people more heavily for school costs than does Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City's population is roughly the same today as it was in 1950, while the metro area has grown by roughly 1 million people during that time. And yet the city's needs continue to grow.

The mayor says the extra money is needed to hire 15 new police officers and two more support people for the police department. Frankly, it would be rare to find a public official who tried to sell a tax increase for anything other than public safety, the sort of thing that rings alarm bells among residents. Property tax increases go into the general fund, where they can be used for any of a variety of purposes. We have no doubt the city wants to beef up its police force, but it likely has other needs in mind, as well.

If approved, this would be the third tax hike in a row for city residents. Granted, they inflicted pain on themselves two years ago by approving five of six items on a municipal bond election, but they ought to get a break.

There are some possible long-term solutions to the city's problem. The state could redo the formula for sales tax distribution, allowing the city to keep more of what it generates. We don't recommend that, as it would encourage cities to raid each other's retail businesses even more than they currently do.

Another would be to consolidate all of Salt Lake County into one large city, which would spread the burden more evenly. That's an idea with merit, although voters have been reluctant to consider it in the past.

In the meantime, the City Council should weigh the mayor's proposal carefully, then do all it can to allow for more police officers without another tax hike this year.