Salt Lake County residents might see a tax increase this year. But the amount, if any, is yet to be determined.

The County Council is considering imposing a judgment levy to make up for existing and possible future court decisions that decrease the amount of property taxes paid by big utilities, airlines and mining companies such as Kennecott.

"We're going to have to do a judgment levy somewhere down the road, and the sooner we do it the less pain there will be," Councilman Joe Hatch said.

Companies with property or operations that cross over into multiple counties are assessed for property taxes by the state, not by the counties. If a company believes its assessment is too high, appeals and wins, the expected and budgeted property tax income is reduced, leaving county government to figure out how to make up the difference.

A judgment levy is one tool for making it up. It is used regularly by cities, but to date, Salt Lake County has stayed away from levies and not all council members want to start up with them now.

"I agree (a judgment levy) is a good way to go. I just don't know if this is the time," Councilman Cortlund Ashton said.

Ashton and others prefer to keep making up the shortfall — which some years can run into the millions — from existing fund balances.

"Those fund balances are too high," Ashton said. "We already have way more than we need."

The county has a yearly budget of about $750 million and about $160 million in fund balances, but most of those are restricted and can't be used to make up tax judgments.

The general fund, which can be used that way, has a projected year-end fund balance of $39 million, with $18 million required to maintain its AAA bond rating. County budget director Lance Brown, however, cautioned that fund balances tend to diminish quickly without either reducing services or increasing taxes.

The council is scheduled to make a final decision today on whether to impose a levy and how large that levy would be.

The county is already facing shortfalls from centrally assessed tax judgments of about $750,000 in the general fund and about the same amount in the municipal services fund. Making up that difference in the next year would result in a $13 tax increase for residents of the unincorporated areas and $1.50 for all others.

No one knows exactly how much in decreased tax revenue the county might face in future appeals. A case pending before the Utah Supreme Court, for example, concerns whether a $5 million reduction in Magna's Alliant Techsystems' taxes can legally be carried out, which could constitute a large hit for the county.

If the county opts to impose a levy, one option would be to conduct truth-in-taxation procedures now but wait to actually impose the levy until the council revisits the budget next June.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com