"Property taxes have been kept artificially low in Utah because of an ever-increasing reliance on sales tax. You can't rely on boom times forever," he said.

While fluctuations in sales tax may not be as noticeable, property tax is a more visible tax and is generating concerns from residents facing higher bills this fall, Tew said.

For Midvale residents, the recent loss of sales tax from a Costco and two auto dealers left city officials trying to choose between cutting city services and raising property taxes. Lee King, city administrator, said when the city crunched its numbers, a tax hike was the only way to meet the budget.

The city has depleted its reserve fund for the past two years and came up another $352,600 short on its 2004 budget. The tax increase will tack on about $27 a year in taxes for the average homeowner and about $50 for businesses.

"This is just raising taxes to stay even," King said. "It's not something that cities like to do, but we've found it was the only way to do it short of cutting essential services."

Midvale resident Mark Katter said cities rely too much on taxpayers' wallets to bail them out of budget shortfalls. Instead, Katter said Midvale officials should weed out expendable city services and fees. Katter also questioned why the city appeared strapped for cash when council members each got a salary raise last year.

"When a business has a shortfall, they start throwing stuff out of the boat to keep afloat," he said.

Tew, however, said governments do not have the luxury of cutting services when budgets get tight. On top of that, the cost of basic services continues to rise, forcing cities to raise taxes just to stay ahead of inflation.

Alta town administrator John Guldner said that was the case this year when the small resort town had to raise property tax by 4 percent just to maintain current services.

"We're not doing anything spectacular. We're not doing any new programs. We're not hiring any new people," Guldner said. " We're desperately trying to stay even."

Murray city officials also faced the dilemma of higher business costs when it voted last week for its first property tax increase in 30 years. The increase will go toward the city's library, which is struggling to buy books and replace a leaky roof.

Murray city finance director Don Wetzel said a 9 percent increase in costs last year was too much for the library's budget, which only had a 1 percent increase in revenue. Without the tax hike, the library would have had to cut hours of operation and scale back on book purchases.

"We're doing more with less, and we're really feeling stretched," Wetzel said.

Cities like Murray that are proposing a raise in property taxes are required to hold Truth in Taxation hearings and send notices to all affected taxpayers before voting on the increase. Park City resident Merlin Rudd said he was frustrated when he and only two other residents showed up for the tax hearing for a fire district tax increase.

The 26 percent increase will help pay for a new fire station and will cost the average Park City homeowner an additional $56.31 a year.

But Rudd said the city should have financed the station through a bond so that residents could have voted on it. Instead, Rudd said the city got the tax increase passed under the residents' radar.

"People figure they can't do anything about it or they don't know about it," Rudd said. "Most people don't even know about it until they get their bills."

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com