When the Davis County Board of Commissioners approved a 37 percent increase on the county's portion of property taxes Tuesday, they defied residents who had spoken against the increase during a public hearing earlier this month.

The commissioners stood behind their decision Tuesday, saying the increase is necessary to fund critical needs in the county.

The increase is slated to fund operations in the newly expanded Davis County Jail, repair 19 flood-control channels and augment services in the county's Division of Senior Services.

About 80 people attended the Dec. 13 hearing, and 15 spoke. The 13 residents who spoke against the tax increase are still unconvinced that commissioners did the right thing.

Ruth Gulbransen, a Bountiful resident who attended the hearing, learned Wednesday that the tax increase had been made official.

"I don't know what good it did us to go out in pounding rain, when they paid no attention," Gulbransen said.

Gulbransen, a widow on a fixed income, said the tax increase, which amounts to $60 per year on the average home valued at $171,000, will make her rethink how she spends money. Since she lives in a home worth more than $171,000, her tax increase will be more than the average, she said.

"It just means that I will have to pay it, and I'll have to let something else go," she said.

That something might be some of the money she usually gives her grandchildren for Christmas, she said.

Gulbransen believes the commissioners should have tabled the tax increase until the new commission is established in January.

Gerald Gilbert, a Layton resident who spoke at the meeting to oppose the increase, said he isn't surprised the commissioners passed the tax increase.

"I knew it wasn't going to make a difference anyway," he said, referring to his voicing his disapproval. "I feel a lot better at least getting to say it."

Gilbert suggested that commissioners look at efficiencies in the county and "make sure everyone is running a tight ship."

Tyler Farrer, a North Salt Lake resident who runs the blog Davis County Watch, said he is disappointed that the county is raising taxes to help the Division of Senior Services, because many of the division's programs are federally mandated and federally funded.

According to a presentation by Davis County Health Department director Lewis Garrett during the Dec. 13 hearing, Senior Services' programs receive about 70 percent of their money from federal grants. So the county must make up the difference. Because the county's senior population is growing, the county needs to plan ahead to meet seniors' needs, he said.

Farrer said the county should just fulfill the minimum federal requirements. But he said he sympathizes with senior citizens because they often have limited incomes.

"They don't want to depend on the government," he said. "I just think (commissioners) have a different perspective than I do for what the people want."

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com