PROVO — The Utah County Commission approved a tax increase Tuesday for unincorporated areas of the county but postponed a vote to finalize its 2009 budget.

The property tax hike affects only the approximately 3,800 lots outside the limits of the county's cities and towns.

The three county commissioners have said the increase was necessary to pay for basic police and fire service in the county's unincorporated areas, approximately 1,800 square miles.

The increase is actually a hike in four police and fire service districts. All of the lots affected are in at least two districts. The average increase for a $250,000 home would be $64 a year. Another $18 or $11 a year for fire service would be added for most lots. The difference reflects the type of fire service required at that property.

Commissioners said a vote on the 2009 budget could come Dec. 16 or Dec. 23. The deadline for a decision is Dec. 31. Commissioner Gary Anderson had asked all county departments to propose cuts that would drop the county budget to $72 million in case the commissioners felt the recession would force them to pass a major reduction.

Now commissioners say they are satisfied with a budget of about $79.5 million, about the same amount the county is expected to spend in 2008.

"We always knew we'd have more money available than what we asked the departments to target initially," Commissioner Steve White said.

The recession has required commissioners to fine tune the proposed budget.

For example, the Utah County Recorder's Office was bringing in $10,447 a day during the first quarter of 2008. So far in the fourth quarter, that has dropped precipitously, to $6,879 a day.

"That's the lowest we've ever seen since I've been in office," White said. "The market in the last two or three years was so hot that we saw little drop off even in winter. If this decrease continued, it would project to a drop of $927,000 a year."

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