Mayor Bill Applegarth trimmed about $700,000 from Riverton's previous budget and laid off five city employees, including its public works director. But he said the city still needed $1 million more in revenue, so it pursued the tax hike.

Sometimes several small increases by several governments in the same area can add up to big bottom-line increases for homeowners. For example, several local governments that serve Salt Lake residents imposed tax hikes.

Salt Lake City imposed a tax hike of $16 on a $250,000 home. The Salt Lake School District imposed an increase of $20. Salt Lake County added an increase of $2.48. And the Metropolitan Water District in Salt Lake City added a $3.16 hike.

In total, those governments increased taxes by about $42 on a $250,000 home there.

In West Valley City — the state's second-largest city — the city imposed a $24 increase on a $250,000 home, Granite School District imposed an increase of $26, and Salt Lake County had an increase of $2.50. That added up to about a $53 increase there.

Also worth noting are some of the other larger increases imposed along the Wasatch Front.

For example, American Fork increased taxes by $49 on a $250,000 home. It could have been worse. It initially proposed hiking them by $160, but decreased that during the truth-in-taxation process. City spokesman Linda P. Walton earlier said, "It includes several new construction projects, some increased programs and keeping important programs funded."

Some other Wasatch Front tax increases of note include: Woodland Hills, $107 on a $250,000 home; the Central Weber Sewer Improvement District, $39; Emigration Improvement District, $37; the Salt Lake Valley fire protection district, $35; Midvale city, $30; the Magna Water Co., $28; and Syracuse, $26.

Four governments that had proposed to raise taxes through the truth-in-taxation process ended up abandoning those efforts. They include: West Jordan (which had proposed a $77 hike on a $250,000 home); Elk Ridge (which had proposed a $79 hike); Payson (earlier proposed just a 27-cent increase); and the Garfield School District (which had proposed a $32 hike).

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com