Plenty of hearings on tax increases set

Taxing entities implementing or proposing property-tax increases in Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties will hold public hearings this month for residents to comment on the increases.

Seven increases are planned in Davis County, and property owners may part with money to support four of the increases — two of which are expected to be implemented this month and two in late 2007.

The Davis School District is planning a 16.99 percent increase over the fiscal 2007 budget so that it will not lose $3.5 million in state aid.

If the increase is approved by the Davis Board of Education, homeowners would pay an additional $35.57 a year on a home valued at $210,000. The tax increase would generate $14 million if approved.

Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, which provides culinary, secondary, industrial and agricultural water to Weber, Morgan, Davis and Summit counties, also is proposing a tax increase, said Tage Flint, the district's general manager.

The increase, which is an average of $2.57 a year on the average home in the four counties valued at $212,000, is expected to generate $1.9 million a year for various projects, Flint said.

Most of those projects involve work on four dams: Willard Bay, Wanship, East Canyon and Pineview. The dam at Willard Bay needs repairs, but the other three need to be upgraded to comply with new seismic standards, Flint said.

Flint said the district also needs money to upgrade or replace aging infrastructure, such as the 6-foot-diameter pipeline that carries water to Weber and Davis counties

Large valve structures and pump stations in the system are at the end of their lives, Flint said.

Then there are the tax increases approved by the Davis County Board of Commissioners and the Davis Mosquito Abatement District's board of directors.

In December 2006, commissioners raised $7 million in revenue by implementing a 32.3 percent increase on the county portion of the property tax bill. The increase, which is about $61.79 per year on a $210,000 home, is being used to fund operations and maintenance of the 400-bed expansion to the Davis County Jail, which opened in 2006. The increase is also funding public works projects for the county's ailing storm channels and various services for the county's senior citizens.

Steve Rawlings, Davis County clerk/auditor said the commissioners already authorized money from the tax increase to be spent, so it's not likely comments at the upcoming hearing could sway the commission to make changes to the current budget.

Rawlings said he always welcomes public comments at the truth-in-taxation hearings.