Taylorsville OKs 15% tax increase

TAYLORSVILLE — City Council members stayed late into the night, and by around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, they had finally hashed out a budget that will increase property-tax revenues 15 percent.

The tax hike — the city's first in its 10-year history — is less than the 20 percent the administration had proposed. The increase does not apply to a resident's entire property-tax bill, only to the city-levied portion. The 20 percent increase would have meant residents would pay about $30 more annually on a $200,000 home. City administrator John Inch Morgan said Thursday that he hadn't calculated the effect of the 15 percent hike.

The new budget will go into effect July 1, but it is officially considered tentative until a public hearing can be held Aug. 2, in compliance with the state's Truth in Taxation law, which is required any time a taxing entity proposes a property-tax increase.

The budget approval came after residents packed the council's chambers and a handful stood up to voice their opinions of the proposals. Among the sources of contention was a proposed salary increase for city employees.

"Salary increases are usually based on performance," said resident Randy Hulbert. "From what I've seen today, there is no performance" that justifies the raises, including $5,000 for the mayor.

A few residents questioned Mayor Russ Wall's actions since taking office six months ago, especially his recent firing of police chief Larry Marx. Wall has said he fired Marx because it was time for a new direction in the police department. Marx believes he was fired for blowing the whistle on a confidential police report the mayor received from his wife, who works for the county District Attorney's Office.

The proposed raises were the result of a recent salary study commissioned by the councilthat recommended increasing salaries for cost-of-living changes, as well as additional merit-based raises. It also recommended the $5,000 increase in the mayor's pay.

A Deseret Morning News survey of 30 Utah cities last year found that Taylorsville's mayor was the third-lowest-paid full-time mayor, with a salary of $65,000.

Taylorsville's approved budget includes the mayor's raise, but it must officially be passed in a separate ordinance that the council has not yet considered. The council also gave the go-ahead for other raises. However, rather than approving an across-the-board cost-of-living increase, the council allowed for raises to be based entirely on merit, capped at 5 percent.