The fourth countywide property-tax increase in Davis County has been approved.

Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, which manages water resources in Davis, Weber, Summit, Morgan and southern Box Elder counties, elected to increase property taxes during an Aug. 20 hearing in Ogden.

Davis County, the Davis School District and the Davis Mosquito Abatement District also have approved tax increases.

Residents in various cities were hit with a fifth property-tax increase, as well. The Syracuse City Council recently passed a tax increase and so did the North Davis Fire District, which serves residents of West Point and Clearfield.

Weber Basin Water users will see a tax increase of $4.90 a year on the average home valued at $212,000 in the five counties. The hike is expected to generate $1.9 million a year for various projects, said Tage Flint, the district's general manager.

Weber Basin Water Conservancy District provides culinary, secondary, industrial and agricultural water to its users and is required to manage dams built by the federal government.

The bulk of the revenue from the tax increase will be spent 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 pipeline that carries water to Weber and Davis counties. He added that the district hasn't increased property taxes in nine years.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com