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[0:00]
from line and members of the public who
[0:02]
are here, just so you're aware that that
[0:05]
we're going to do some training on
[0:06]
property tax in general so that you
[0:09]
understand how property taxes in Utah
[0:11]
work.
[0:12]
Um and then we'll talk about truth in
[0:14]
taxation and what truth in taxation is a really transparent process that our
[0:20]
local governments, regardless if it's
[0:21]
county, city, school district, special
[0:24]
district, they need to go through this
[0:26]
process if they want to increase
[0:28]
property tax revenue over what they
[0:31]
received uh last year. And that's always
[0:33]
the baseline is what they received last
[0:35]
year.
[0:36]
If they want more than that, they need
[0:38]
to go through a process called truth in
[0:40]
taxation. Actually, uh this training
[0:43]
this evening is one of the recommended
[0:45]
practices that you'll see in the
[0:47]
training that we recommend that in May
[0:50]
you have this kind of a town hall
[0:52]
meeting. And then I also want to uh
[0:55]
congratulate the city. When we walked
[0:57]
in, we saw your property tax impact
[0:59]
schedule that you have copies of it
[1:01]
here. Uh this is a new requirement to
[1:04]
have that schedule available in May and
[1:07]
at the meetings where you discuss the
[1:09]
budget. And so congratulations. Um we
[1:12]
just learned from the tax commission
[1:14]
last Thursday when I presented with them
[1:17]
that they want copies of it, physical
[1:20]
copies at the meetings. And so you were
[1:22]
ahead of that curve. We tried to get
[1:24]
that information out to all of our
[1:26]
cities and towns as soon as we heard the
[1:28]
tax commission answer the question that
[1:30]
way. So without further ado, I'm going
[1:33]
to jump into the the training. Um so and
[1:36]
some of you I know have seen it and
[1:38]
hopefully repetition helps. Um I will
[1:41]
give the acknowledgement right now. This
[1:43]
is a very horrible slide deck. It breaks
[1:46]
every slide deck rule. It has a lot of
[1:49]
words on slides and that's because this
[1:51]
process is so detailed. We wanted to
[1:54]
make sure that that had the information
[1:56]
they need as we use it for a training
[1:58]
guide for our local officials as they go
[2:00]
through the process.
[2:02]
So, let's start out just by talking
[2:04]
about Scofield and Salt Lake City.
[2:07]
Pretty different communities, right?
[2:09]
When you look at their budgets, their
[2:11]
budgets are very different. When you
[2:13]
look at their population, population's
[2:16]
very different. Hopefully you sit
[2:18]
somewhere in between those two extremes,
[2:20]
right? From population of 25 up to
[2:23]
217,000.
[2:25]
You can see uh the total amount that
[2:27]
they bring in in property tax revenue,
[2:30]
and you can see how how dependent they
[2:33]
are within their general fund uh on
[2:36]
property taxes. Salt Lake City is a
[2:38]
little bit more dependent than than
[2:41]
um Scofield, but Scofield is about the
[2:43]
average. Our cities and towns across the
[2:46]
state of Utah are about 14% dependent on
[2:49]
property tax. Do you know what your
[2:51]
dependency is on property tax here in
[2:53]
Heber by chance? Okay. I should have run
[2:55]
that number for you, but I didn't.
[2:57]
As different as these two communities
[2:59]
are, there's one thing they have in
[3:01]
common.
[3:02]
It's called truth in taxation. So,
[3:05]
regardless of the size of the community,
[3:07]
everybody has to go through the same
[3:09]
process, the process that we're going to
[3:11]
talk about this evening. There is one
[3:14]
very small carve out. For communities
[3:16]
that do not have a website, you have a
[3:18]
website, correct? So, we're not going to
[3:20]
talk about the carve out because it's
[3:22]
only for communities that don't have a
[3:24]
website, and that's some of our very
[3:26]
smallest. Scofield, by the way, has a
[3:28]
website, so it doesn't even apply to
[3:30]
them, the carve out.
[3:32]
So, first thing to remember about
[3:34]
property taxes in Utah is they are
[3:37]
revenue driven. The rates you might be
[3:39]
familiar with property taxes in other
[3:41]
states, it works differently in Utah.
[3:44]
It's revenue driven. The rate is
[3:46]
calculated based on the amount of
[3:48]
revenue that the government receives.
[3:52]
And valuation increases uh and decreases
[3:55]
do not result in higher taxes.
[3:58]
Does anyone want to argue that point
[4:00]
with me? I usually have somebody who
[4:02]
wants to.
[4:04]
Okay? It might in other places. A
[4:06]
valuation increase might mean you pay
[4:09]
higher taxes in other places. It does
[4:12]
not in Utah. But, valuation increases
[4:16]
and decreases can shift the tax burden.
[4:19]
And we're going to talk about that
[4:20]
tonight. So, if your valuation goes up,
[4:23]
council member, and mayor's yours goes
[4:25]
down, the city will get the same amount
[4:28]
of revenue, but council member, you will
[4:31]
pay a bigger piece of that pie. And the
[4:33]
mayor would pay a smaller piece of that
[4:34]
pie based on those valuation changes.
[4:37]
So, the government didn't raise the
[4:39]
taxes, but the valuation changes caused a burden shift. [snorts]
[4:45]
Does that make sense? And that's how
[4:47]
taxes work in Utah.
[4:49]
So, the reason that's important is
[4:52]
because if you have a large taxpayer or
[4:55]
a commercial property taxpayer, and they
[4:58]
might protest their value, and their
[5:00]
value goes down, guess what? Everybody
[5:03]
else pays a little bit more because
[5:06]
their valuation went down because it
[5:09]
works the same between homeowners as it
[5:11]
works between different classifications
[5:13]
of property.
[5:15]
So, the other thing to remember about
[5:17]
property tax in Utah is the way the
[5:19]
system works, there's a natural downward
[5:21]
bias. And that's because by design,
[5:24]
inflation is removed from the
[5:26]
rate-setting process. Government does
[5:29]
not get an automatic bump every year to
[5:32]
make up for inflation. So, the city has
[5:35]
inflationary pressure, just like we have
[5:38]
as as community citizens and residents
[5:41]
in the community. When inflation goes
[5:43]
up, we have to figure out how to pay for
[5:45]
it. The same is true for the city, but
[5:48]
their property tax does not adjust. Some
[5:51]
of their own taxes do adjust. Sales tax,
[5:54]
when it when people are buying more,
[5:56]
they may get more money in sales tax.
[5:59]
But property tax, the way the set the
[6:01]
rate-setting process works, inflation is
[6:04]
completely removed from the calculation.
[6:08]
So, the city does not receive more
[6:10]
property tax revenue just because of
[6:12]
inflation.
[6:14]
However, primary residential properties
[6:17]
do not pay based on 100% of value. They
[6:20]
are the only properties that don't pay
[6:23]
based on 100% of value. Every other
[6:25]
classification of property pays based on
[6:28]
100% of their market value. Primary
[6:32]
residences get a 45% break, and then the
[6:36]
rate is applied to 55% of the value of
[6:39]
the primary residence.
[6:42]
This used to say "None of these facts
[6:44]
are likely to change." It now says
[6:47]
"Most." And that's because during the
[6:49]
last legislative session, the
[6:51]
legislature actually discussed
[6:53]
increasing that primary residential tax
[6:56]
break.
[6:57]
They They ultimately did not pass the
[6:59]
bill, but we expect it to come back next
[7:02]
year. We think there's pressure to get a
[7:05]
higher break for our residential
[7:06]
properties. And part of that is because
[7:09]
if you look at the data across the state
[7:11]
of Utah, the the burden has been
[7:13]
shifting. It's been shifting away from
[7:16]
commercial and other properties to
[7:18]
residential properties.
[7:20]
Um and so, as that happens, the part of
[7:24]
the response that the legislature is
[7:25]
thinking to help homeowners is to
[7:28]
increase the amount that doesn't get
[7:31]
taxed for homeowners, and then that
[7:33]
would shift some of that burden back to
[7:35]
other types of properties within the
[7:37]
community.
[7:40]
One of the things that we challenge
[7:42]
local officials is to work to understand
[7:44]
this process because you need to be
[7:47]
able, as you know, to explain it to the
[7:49]
residents in your community, especially
[7:51]
when you're going through truth and
[7:52]
taxation. And so, I'm glad that I'm here
[7:55]
tonight to be able to help you with part
[7:57]
of that process.
[7:59]
And then, finally, I like to always end
[8:01]
with noting that despite all of these
[8:04]
challenges of property tax, it still is
[8:09]
the most stable source of revenue for
[8:11]
our cities and towns. It is the one tax
[8:14]
There isn't inflation built into it, but
[8:17]
deflation doesn't mean that they get
[8:19]
less money. So, when values fall, rates
[8:22]
go up so that they get the same amount
[8:25]
of money. And especially when you're
[8:27]
talking about things like public safety,
[8:29]
and I saw on your property tax impact
[8:31]
schedule that the reason you're going
[8:33]
through truth and taxation is to help
[8:35]
with the public safety bill that you
[8:37]
have, especially with those kinds of
[8:40]
expenses, you cannot pull back on those
[8:43]
just because the economy might have
[8:44]
sputtered.
[8:46]
Um In fact, often times, during an
[8:49]
economic sputter is when you want to
[8:51]
keep your your public safety uh services
[8:54]
kind of solid. And so, that's why, as I
[8:57]
work with cities and towns across the
[8:59]
state of Utah, I like to help elected
[9:02]
officials start to close the gap between
[9:05]
public safety expenditures and property
[9:08]
tax revenue. If we look back to 2006,
[9:12]
kind of when I started doing this kind
[9:13]
of work, there was a very small gap
[9:16]
between the revenue that we would bring
[9:18]
in in property tax and our public safety
[9:20]
expenditures. But then, we kind of went
[9:22]
on this um
[9:24]
feast of sales tax, and that gap widened
[9:27]
because we didn't It's been 13 years
[9:30]
since you've increased property taxes in
[9:32]
your community. That's a lot of
[9:34]
inflation eating away at your property
[9:37]
tax revenue. And so, a lot of
[9:39]
communities are starting to rethink
[9:41]
their approach to property tax. To
[9:43]
think, you know, should we go through
[9:45]
truth and taxation more often and try to
[9:47]
catch up with inflation a little bit
[9:49]
more often. And if you do that, you'll
[9:52]
start to narrow that gap between your
[9:54]
public safety expenditures and your
[9:56]
property tax revenue.
[9:59]
So, if elected officials in your city or
[10:01]
town, as as the officials here in Hooper
[10:04]
do, want more property tax revenue,
[10:07]
there are only three ways to get it.
[10:09]
First way is new growth, and we're going
[10:11]
to talk about the impacts of new growth.
[10:15]
Um
[10:16]
This is how the formula works. You can
[10:18]
see the baseline property tax there, and
[10:21]
we take the uh property values, the
[10:25]
personal property, and then what we call
[10:27]
centrally assessed property. Those three
[10:29]
values get added together, and a rate is
[10:32]
devised that gives you the amount of
[10:35]
money you budgeted last year.
[10:38]
And then, we go in and we look at new
[10:41]
growth. That is real new brick and
[10:44]
mortar. That is not inflationary growth.
[10:46]
It's real new structures in your
[10:48]
community. And we apply the rate that
[10:51]
you have last year
[10:53]
to that new growth. So, then that bumps
[10:56]
up your new baseline.
[10:58]
And so, you'll then start next budget
[11:01]
year at a new amount of money that you
[11:04]
received. So, that's one way to get the
[11:07]
additional property tax revenue. If
[11:09]
you're in a high-growth community,
[11:11]
um you you may often get, you know, a
[11:13]
pretty good number coming in in new
[11:16]
growth. But, the catch is, when you have
[11:19]
that new growth, you also have to
[11:22]
provide services to those residences or
[11:25]
businesses. And so, your expenses go up
[11:28]
as well. It's not that you just get this
[11:30]
revenue, and it's windfall revenue. You
[11:32]
have an impact on your expenditure side
[11:35]
as well. But, that's how new growth
[11:37]
works. That's one way that cities and
[11:40]
towns or school districts or special
[11:43]
districts or counties can get additional
[11:45]
property tax revenue without going
[11:48]
through this truth and taxation process.
[11:51]
You don't need to go through truth and
[11:52]
taxation to get your new growth.
[11:55]
There were some changes to the way new
[11:57]
growth is calculated in our last
[11:59]
legislative session. Specifically, it
[12:02]
used to be that if you added a carport
[12:05]
or you put on a new deck or you
[12:07]
remodeled your kitchen, your it it that
[12:10]
would bump it up and we would count that
[12:13]
as new growth. The legislature has
[12:15]
expressly taken all of that out of the
[12:18]
new growth calculation now. It has to be
[12:22]
new inhabitable
[12:24]
brick and mortar. So, that means
[12:27]
somebody adding a garage, even though
[12:30]
it's new, it's brick and mortar, it's
[12:32]
square footage, it doesn't meet the test
[12:35]
of inhabitable.
[12:36]
And so, it wouldn't count as new growth.
[12:39]
And so, really the legislature's driving
[12:41]
the new growth component to be new
[12:44]
homes, new businesses, real new things
[12:48]
in the community. Question.
[12:50]
Would uh our accessory dwelling units
[12:52]
considered new growth? You know, that was a question that was asked last
[12:56]
week with the tax commission. And yes,
[12:59]
if the new garage has an accessory
[13:01]
dwelling unit, that could be partially
[13:04]
new growth. The the garage wouldn't be,
[13:07]
but the accessory dwelling unit on top
[13:10]
of the garage potentially could be.
[13:14]
Okay.
[13:15]
So, that's one way to get more property
[13:16]
tax revenue, new growth. The next way,
[13:19]
annex new areas. So, if you annex in
[13:22]
land, you get to apply your tax rates to
[13:25]
the land and then you get new tax
[13:27]
revenue. But, just like new growth, that
[13:31]
usually means your expenses go up as
[13:33]
well because there are more properties
[13:35]
that you now have to provide services
[13:37]
to.
[13:38]
So, the third and only other way to get
[13:42]
more property tax revenue is to go
[13:44]
through this truth in taxation process,
[13:47]
and to say, "We need more revenue than
[13:50]
what we had last year, and so we're
[13:52]
going to be very transparent, and we're
[13:55]
going to talk to the public." And the
[13:57]
change to the law is that we always
[14:00]
talked about this in a hearing in
[14:02]
August. And what the legislature has
[14:05]
asked is, "Please, let's move that
[14:08]
forward to May when you're when you're
[14:11]
starting your budget discussions, and
[14:13]
let's be very very explicit about the
[14:16]
fact that we're requesting new property
[14:18]
tax revenue." And so, that's why we're
[14:20]
here tonight because you started through
[14:22]
that process with your tentative budget
[14:24]
last last week, right? With your
[14:26]
tentative budget.
[14:28]
So, the way the truth in taxation
[14:30]
process works,
[14:31]
um is that we we go through it because
[14:34]
as I said, we've got that baseline of
[14:36]
revenue, rates go up or or values go up,
[14:40]
rates go down.
[14:42]
Values go down, rates go up, but we get
[14:45]
that baseline of revenue. If we want
[14:47]
more revenue than that, we go through
[14:49]
this process, this truth in taxation.
[14:53]
So, let's talk a little bit about how
[14:55]
the property taxes work so that you can
[14:57]
see it. This is a very simple, very
[15:00]
simple, um demonstration, but I think it
[15:03]
drives home the point. We don't have
[15:05]
commercial properties in here because
[15:08]
most of us care the most about our home,
[15:10]
and and our home's value and how taxes
[15:13]
are applied. So, this is just homes, but the concept works the same.
[15:18]
So, here we have homes. Um I know
[15:21]
everyone wants to know where that home
[15:23]
is that they can buy for $181,000
[15:26]
because it quite frankly no longer
[15:28]
exists in Utah.
[15:30]
Um, but for our example, we're going to
[15:32]
work with that because it it makes the
[15:33]
example easy.
[15:36]
The taxable value is not the market
[15:38]
value. Remember, it's 55% of market
[15:41]
value. So, the taxable value is
[15:43]
$100,000.
[15:45]
And the taxes that each homeowner pays,
[15:47]
because look how lovely, every home is
[15:50]
valued exactly the same in this
[15:52]
community.
[15:53]
Um, and every homeowner pays $1,000 on
[15:56]
their tax bill.
[15:58]
So, as a community, we have a $1.8
[16:00]
million
[16:01]
base taxable or market value. We have a
[16:05]
$1 million taxable value once we take
[16:08]
that residential exemption off.
[16:11]
Uh, we need a 1% rate. This is much
[16:14]
higher than what anyone's rates are, but
[16:16]
it's the rate that we use to help make
[16:18]
it easy to talk about. And that produces
[16:21]
$10,000 for the community.
[16:24]
Okay, that's in year one. Year two.
[16:27]
Look at this. Everyone's value went up
[16:29]
by the same.
[16:30]
We know that doesn't happen, but but
[16:32]
just go with me on this so that you can
[16:34]
see in the example. Everyone's value
[16:37]
went up the same. Our total value of the
[16:40]
community increased 3.6 million. Homes
[16:44]
now have a tax value of 200,000.
[16:49]
We have a $2 million total tax value.
[16:53]
And our rate went down.
[16:55]
Now, some elected officials will try to
[16:58]
say, as they're running for election,
[17:01]
"I lowered your taxes. Last year, your
[17:03]
rate was 1%. This year, your rate is
[17:06]
0.5%."
[17:08]
And I say, "You can't say that."
[17:11]
Everyone paid still the same $1,000
[17:14]
each. You got your same $10,000.
[17:18]
The rate is revenue driven. We needed a
[17:21]
0.5% rate to produce the same amount of
[17:24]
revenue. You cannot talk about lowering
[17:27]
taxes because you lowered the rate.
[17:30]
That's why I don't like these
[17:31]
discussions of rates.
[17:33]
So, let's go to year three.
[17:35]
This is a little more realistic. Homes
[17:38]
kind of changed all over the place. Uh
[17:40]
the the value changes weren't the same.
[17:42]
Some went up, some went down from year
[17:45]
two. We now have a $2.2 million market
[17:49]
value for our community.
[17:51]
We have homes that have different values
[17:55]
uh that the rate will be applied to.
[17:57]
We get our same $10,000 as the
[18:00]
government because that's our baseline.
[18:02]
We get 10,000.
[18:04]
There's our taxable value, and look what
[18:07]
happened to our rate.
[18:09]
Now, someone who runs against somebody
[18:11]
for office will say, "They raised taxes.
[18:15]
Last year it was 0.5. This year it's
[18:18]
0.82. They raised taxes." And they are
[18:21]
right to say, "No, we did not. We got
[18:23]
the same $10,000 that we got in the
[18:26]
previous year."
[18:28]
But, let me tell you, when I take phone
[18:30]
calls, I've taken many of these phone
[18:32]
calls over my career from homeowner 10,
[18:35]
does homeowner 10 believe that they did
[18:38]
not raise taxes?
[18:40]
They're paying more. They paid a
[18:42]
thousand last year. Now they're paying
[18:45]
1,184.
[18:47]
And what we have to explain to them is,
[18:50]
"We did not raise taxes. We got the same
[18:53]
amount of money, but because your value
[18:56]
went up and others went down, you are
[18:59]
paying a larger proportional share.
[19:02]
Other homeowners are paying a little bit
[19:04]
less, and you're paying a little bit
[19:06]
more. It's not their fault. It's That's
[19:10]
how property taxes work in the state of
[19:12]
Utah. That's the system that we all live
[19:15]
with.
[19:17]
Now, let's go to year four. We didn't
[19:19]
change anything from any of our other 10
[19:22]
homes. That, you know, we kind of the
[19:24]
economy leveled out, everything stayed
[19:26]
steady.
[19:28]
We had our same market value, but look
[19:31]
what happened. We had a new house that
[19:34]
was built in the community.
[19:36]
It has now its taxable value. We get to
[19:40]
apply our 0.82 rate. We get to bring in
[19:44]
another 150,000 of taxable value.
[19:47]
We get to apply that rate, and look what
[19:50]
happens to our baseline for next year.
[19:53]
We get an additional $1,224.
[19:56]
We also have an additional home to
[19:58]
serve, but the following year our
[20:01]
baseline now starts at 11,124
[20:06]
instead of instead of the 10,000 that we
[20:09]
had.
[20:10]
That's just how it works in Utah.
[20:12]
Like it, hate it, you know, whatever.
[20:15]
It's not these elected officials who set
[20:18]
those rules. You just live within the
[20:20]
system
[20:21]
of these rules of how we do property tax
[20:24]
rate setting in Utah.
[20:27]
I don't like communities to compare
[20:29]
rates to each other. And this I pulled
[20:31]
this together for a training that I did
[20:33]
down in Wayne County, but I thought it
[20:35]
was really illustrative of why it
[20:38]
doesn't make a lot of sense to compare
[20:40]
your rate to the next community's rate.
[20:42]
So, in this example, Bicknell has the
[20:45]
lowest rate.
[20:46]
But they don't have the lowest revenue,
[20:49]
nor are they least dependent on property
[20:51]
tax from any of the other communities in
[20:53]
the example. The least dependent is
[20:56]
Lyman, who has a larger rate than
[20:59]
Bicknell does, but they are less than 1%
[21:01]
dependent on property tax in their
[21:03]
community.
[21:05]
Um then you look at Lyman Croghan. The
[21:08]
rate is almost identical on those two
[21:10]
communities, but the revenue is not. And
[21:14]
it's because the rate is multiplied by
[21:16]
their taxable value. So, what you know
[21:19]
from looking at these numbers is that
[21:22]
Croghan has a higher taxable value than Lyman has in their community
[21:28]
because of the revenue that's generated
[21:30]
from nearly the same rate.
[21:33]
I wanted to point out Salina. Salina
[21:35]
made a policy decision a few years ago
[21:39]
that they wanted to do more frequent uh
[21:42]
property tax increases so that they
[21:45]
would become more dependent on property
[21:47]
tax as a total mix within their budget
[21:50]
because they recognized that it is the
[21:52]
most stable part of revenue for local
[21:55]
government. And so, they set out on on a
[21:57]
policy goal of doing more frequent,
[22:01]
smaller increases to try to increase the
[22:04]
amount of revenue that they bring in.
[22:06]
And they are now exceeding the statewide
[22:09]
average where I told you before we're
[22:11]
around 14%
[22:13]
on average within general funds
[22:15]
dependent on property tax. Salina is
[22:17]
around 20% now, and I love that because
[22:21]
as an old budget policy geek, I like to
[22:24]
be able to see, "Oh, you made a policy
[22:26]
decision." And I can start to see the
[22:28]
policy decision reflected in the numbers
[22:30]
now.
[22:31]
And then the same with Wayne County.
[22:33]
does a property tax
[22:35]
increase that's equal to the CPI every
[22:38]
year. They just say they got their
[22:41]
property tax to where they wanted it to
[22:42]
be, and they said, "We don't want to let
[22:44]
inflation erode it again. And so, we're
[22:47]
going to go through truth and taxation
[22:49]
in Wayne County every year so that we
[22:53]
stay even. We want it to be almost a
[22:55]
third of our budget." And that's where
[22:57]
they are now in Wayne County. Again, you
[23:00]
can see the policy decision in action
[23:02]
here.
[23:04]
Another really quick slide. This is I
[23:06]
just recently did some training in
[23:08]
Helper, Utah. So, I pulled the Carbon
[23:11]
County slide so that you can see it's
[23:13]
not just a Wayne County
[23:15]
issue.
[23:16]
You know, you can see the different
[23:18]
rates, the different revenue, and and it
[23:20]
just I hope drives home don't don't
[23:23]
compare your rate to another community's
[23:26]
rate and say that's what our rate should
[23:28]
be because community X has that kind of
[23:31]
a rate.
[23:33]
So, back to our budget process and truth
[23:36]
in taxation. Normally, when you go
[23:38]
through your budget process, it lasts,
[23:41]
you know, you you turn in your tentative
[23:43]
budget at the first meeting in May. Your
[23:45]
budget will needs to be adopted by June
[23:48]
30th. So, between May and June, that's
[23:51]
the bulk of your budget process. When
[23:53]
you go through truth in taxation, you're
[23:55]
going to be busy all summer. There are
[23:57]
things you need to do because you will
[23:59]
not adopt your final budget until
[24:01]
August. Um and we're going to talk
[24:04]
through in excruciating detail
[24:06]
um the way the process works out.
[24:09]
So, I want to show you the differences
[24:11]
between a regular budget process and a
[24:14]
truth in taxation budget process. And
[24:16]
this is the ugliest slide of the deck.
[24:19]
I'll just give you a warning now.
[24:21]
So, this is what a normal budget process
[24:23]
looks like.
[24:25]
Um I always train that kind of January
[24:27]
to April, I want you to be talking about
[24:29]
your big budget policy issues as you
[24:31]
start to narrow in on your tentative
[24:34]
budget and what you're going to need for
[24:36]
the coming year. And then in May, the
[24:38]
tentative budget uh becomes available to
[24:40]
the public. In May and June, you provide
[24:43]
notice of a public hearing on that
[24:45]
tentative budget. And then before June
[24:48]
22nd,
[24:50]
um you go ahead and well, you have your
[24:51]
hearing in June. Before June 22nd, you
[24:54]
adopt your certified tax rate.
[24:57]
Um and then by June 30th, you adopt your
[24:59]
final budget and you're done. You file
[25:01]
it and and you move on to the next year.
[25:04]
When I put this next piece up,
[25:06]
everything in the dark blue is the
[25:09]
regular budget process. Everything in
[25:11]
green is what used to be truth in
[25:14]
taxation and still is. And then
[25:17]
everything kind of in the aqua, the
[25:18]
light blue, is new for this year. And
[25:22]
they're the new requirements that you're
[25:23]
grappling with.
[25:26]
Here it comes.
[25:28]
So that's the new process to go through
[25:31]
truth in taxation this year. And you'll
[25:33]
notice that most of the light blue is
[25:36]
loaded into May because that's where we
[25:39]
wanted to fast forward all of that
[25:41]
transparency. And so that's where a lot
[25:43]
of those requirements are and you've
[25:45]
already crossed your first hurdle,
[25:47]
right? That with that transmittal of the
[25:49]
tentative budget, you've got your
[25:51]
schedule, your property tax impact
[25:53]
schedule. I think I saw on your agenda
[25:56]
that your budget officer made it very
[25:58]
clear you had an intention of a
[26:00]
statement and you made a statement that
[26:02]
you were going to increase property
[26:04]
taxes. And did you do your
[26:07]
Did I see you did your May 1st to June
[26:09]
13th statement last week as well? So
[26:12]
that second statement. So So the law
[26:15]
changed and there are two statements and
[26:17]
a schedule that need to happen and we're
[26:20]
recommending that they happen at that
[26:22]
first meeting cuz it's just totally
[26:24]
completely transparent and that's what I saw that you all did.
[26:29]
We're going to talk through this process
[26:31]
in pretty good detail now.
[26:33]
But that But just as we go through it,
[26:35]
those are your new changes for this
[26:37]
coming year.
[26:39]
So one of the things that we want to
[26:41]
remember is the legislature, by
[26:44]
designing the process the way they have
[26:46]
now, they recognize how transparent we
[26:49]
are as local governments. We do a pretty
[26:51]
good job of being transparent with what
[26:53]
we're doing. They want us to be even
[26:56]
more transparent when we're talking
[26:58]
about increasing property taxes. The
[27:00]
reason being is many many people in the
[27:04]
community don't really clue into the
[27:07]
fact that there was a property tax
[27:09]
increase until they receive the notice
[27:11]
from the county auditor that comes out
[27:14]
right around July 22nd. And that's when
[27:17]
legislator phones go off the hook
[27:19]
because the public's calling and saying,
[27:21]
"I I didn't even know about this and now
[27:23]
there's a hearing and I have no idea
[27:25]
what's going on." And so, what we're
[27:28]
doing this year and the new changes are
[27:30]
in response to that to try to really get
[27:34]
the public informed early and before you
[27:37]
adopt your budget that there's a
[27:39]
property tax increase involved. I think
[27:42]
it's a really great opportunity
[27:45]
for you to do what you're doing tonight
[27:47]
and other meetings where you really
[27:49]
educate the public about the amazing
[27:52]
services that you provide and the
[27:55]
relatively small cost that they pay for
[27:58]
them. And so, I like what we're doing
[28:02]
that we are talking in a in a more
[28:05]
direct way about the cost of providing
[28:08]
those services and how we all need to
[28:10]
pitch in a little bit so that we can
[28:12]
have these great communities across the
[28:14]
state that we live in.
[28:17]
So, this is a headline out of the
[28:19]
newspaper when this law passed and it
[28:23]
was all about bolstering transparency
[28:25]
with city school districts and other
[28:27]
entities that are going through this
[28:29]
process.
[28:30]
We're going to spend a lot of time
[28:31]
tonight talking about the new
[28:33]
requirements of House Bill 236 and then
[28:36]
there are some requirements in Senate
[28:38]
Bill 238. We won't spend as much time on
[28:40]
the other two because they're not quite
[28:42]
as applicable to what we're doing.
[28:45]
The objectives of the new law were to
[28:47]
bring the public into the process as
[28:50]
early as possible and you did that last
[28:52]
week. But, you know, your first meeting,
[28:54]
your first kickoff meeting in the budget
[28:56]
season, you brought them in.
[28:58]
And then also to alleviate the public
[29:00]
concern that by the time they get that
[29:03]
late July notice and they hear about the
[29:05]
August meeting, you're already four or
[29:08]
six or eight weeks into your budget. And
[29:11]
the public was concerned that when that
[29:13]
happens, you're already spending the
[29:15]
money.
[29:16]
Um and you haven't even gone through the
[29:18]
public hearing process to determine, you
[29:22]
know, whether or not you're really going
[29:23]
to raise property taxes. And so, we've
[29:26]
talked a lot of times about how we can
[29:29]
change the process and this transparency
[29:32]
is the best way to change the process
[29:34]
moving forward.
[29:36]
Um and so, there are a couple of budget
[29:38]
things that we'll talk about that you
[29:39]
need to do when you adopt what we're now
[29:42]
calling an interim budget in June.
[29:44]
Uh to move forward.
[29:46]
So, the new requirements, I'm going to
[29:48]
just populate this slide really quickly
[29:51]
because at the end of the day, these are
[29:54]
the four things that we have to do is we
[29:56]
have to have the public statement, which
[29:58]
you did last week, that a property tax
[30:01]
is included in your tentative budget.
[30:03]
We need to have the property tax impact
[30:05]
schedule as a separate item from all
[30:08]
other budget documents and that's what
[30:10]
you have on your back table today and I
[30:12]
think you have it on your website as
[30:14]
well. Is that right?
[30:16]
Um you need another public statement and
[30:18]
that's the one that I asked about that
[30:20]
May 1st to June 13th. There are some
[30:23]
reasons why that latitude was given in
[30:25]
that period of time and it's so that if your tax increase did wasn't so large
[30:32]
and maybe new growth could have taken
[30:34]
care of it, they want to give
[30:36]
communities time to see the new growth
[30:39]
number. And the new growth number now
[30:42]
has to come to you from your county
[30:44]
auditor by June 13th. So, that's why
[30:46]
they've given some time, but if you know
[30:48]
you're moving forward with truth in
[30:50]
taxation because you know from your
[30:53]
building permits that new growth is not
[30:55]
going to produce the revenue you need,
[30:58]
then we think you're wise to go ahead
[31:00]
and do that second statement last week
[31:01]
like you did with your budget
[31:03]
transmittal.
[31:05]
And then, this is a really great change.
[31:07]
Previously, when communities would go
[31:10]
through truth in taxation, we had to
[31:12]
have them tentatively adopt their final
[31:15]
budget in June.
[31:17]
And and it couldn't be a final adoption
[31:19]
because that's not until after August
[31:21]
and after the truth in taxation hearing,
[31:23]
and it was very confusing to the public.
[31:25]
Like, why are we tentatively adopting a
[31:27]
final budget? But, we had to do that so
[31:30]
that our local officials had spending
[31:32]
authority for July 1. There had to be
[31:34]
something in place.
[31:36]
Now, we've introduced this definition of
[31:39]
what we call an interim budget, and I
[31:41]
love this. I love that we came up with
[31:44]
this during this last session. The
[31:46]
interim budget authorizes your spending
[31:49]
on July 1 and serves as your placeholder
[31:52]
budget until you adopt your final budget
[31:55]
in August.
[31:57]
In the interim budget, you're required
[31:59]
to hold in a separate account. For you,
[32:02]
it will be $128,000
[32:05]
because that's the amount of revenue
[32:07]
that you want in new property tax
[32:09]
revenue. You will hold that in a
[32:11]
separate account. It will not be
[32:14]
appropriated. It will not be available
[32:16]
to spend on July 1. You cannot release
[32:20]
that money until after you finalize the
[32:23]
process, and if you don't finalize the
[32:26]
process, your final budget that gets
[32:28]
adopted does not include that $128,000.
[32:31]
Does that make sense? And and we thought
[32:33]
that was a much better way, a much more
[32:36]
transparent way to demonstrate to the
[32:39]
public that our local officials are not
[32:42]
spending money on July 1 that they have
[32:44]
not been approved to have yet. Carrie,
[32:47]
can I ask a question?
[32:48]
>> Yes, please.
[32:48]
>> So, up here when you're talking about
[32:50]
the public statement, the second public
[32:52]
statement
[32:52]
>> Yes.
[32:53]
>> what we're talking about the increase
[32:54]
>> to be here. Sorry.
[32:57]
It's karaoke night.
[32:59]
Uh when we're asking about the purpose,
[33:01]
how granular or specific does that need
[33:04]
to be? So, in our case, we're asking for
[33:05]
128,000 to to help fund law enforcement.
[33:09]
>> Yep.
[33:09]
And we only end up spending a hundred of
[33:11]
that, is there is there blowback on that
[33:13]
extra 28,000 or can a city just announce
[33:16]
say, "Look, this is for our potential
[33:18]
shortfalls in the general fund."
[33:21]
So, it's supposed to be at the
[33:23]
appropriation level. And so, that's the
[33:25]
department level.
[33:27]
And I would not put I would not only
[33:31]
spend a hundred thousand on public
[33:33]
safety and then have 28 that's kind of
[33:35]
flexible. Be really specific. If you
[33:38]
need to add specificity to your property
[33:41]
tax impact schedule to use the full 20
[33:44]
128, do that. Um
[33:47]
you know, certainly it's a budget. You
[33:50]
get to amend your budget just like you
[33:52]
always do. None of your budget authority
[33:54]
is eroded in this process.
[33:56]
But, it will hurt all cities and towns
[33:59]
if we see cities and towns out there not
[34:02]
staying true to the to the property tax
[34:05]
impact schedule. There's a reason we're
[34:07]
developing these schedules and it's so
[34:09]
that we can show the public, this is
[34:12]
where we need the money in our budget.
[34:14]
And if you need the money because you
[34:16]
need to bolster your fund balance
[34:18]
because you're falling below the fund
[34:19]
balance requirement, say that. Say, we
[34:23]
need it in our fund balance. Question.
[34:26]
So, for this exact situation, this
[34:29]
128,000 is is just kind of a
[34:31]
pass-through increase that comes from
[34:34]
the police force for public safety.
[34:36]
Um but it's on a determined amount of
[34:39]
head count that the
[34:40]
uh sheriff's department is is taking in
[34:43]
addition. And so they were working
[34:45]
through a process of getting approved
[34:47]
the six head count. But I don't think
[34:48]
there was a discussion between 10 and 6
[34:50]
and they essentially tentatively landed
[34:52]
on the six coming out.
[34:54]
If they do more or if they do less is
[34:57]
not really up to us. So what happens in
[34:59]
that situation where like we are
[35:00]
contracted to spend for the six head
[35:03]
count of 128,000,
[35:05]
but if they don't pass three of those
[35:07]
guys through the academy and don't get
[35:09]
all six ready, um you know, I doubt
[35:12]
they're going to charge us for three
[35:13]
that aren't existing. So what would
[35:14]
happen in that scenario? Then you would
[35:16]
just have a holdover till next year
[35:18]
because they'd probably get the
[35:19]
additional three, right? The idea would
[35:21]
be you're funding what you're
[35:23]
contractually obligated to fund. But
[35:26]
you're asking a very good question.
[35:29]
You can go lower
[35:32]
anytime between now and August. You can
[35:36]
lower the amount of revenue you need
[35:39]
after June 22nd. Once you adopt that
[35:43]
rate, it gets put into the valuation
[35:45]
notices, you may not go higher.
[35:48]
So from now until June 22nd, you could
[35:51]
go up a little if you needed to. Tax
[35:54]
Commission doesn't love it if you do
[35:55]
that, but but we fought really hard to
[35:58]
keep the council's budget authority. You
[36:00]
have that budget authority until June
[36:02]
22nd. Once you adopt a tentative rate on
[36:06]
June 22nd and you let the county auditor
[36:10]
know and the state tax commission know
[36:12]
how much revenue you need, at that point
[36:15]
you can only go lower. You cannot go
[36:18]
higher.
[36:19]
Does that make sense?
[36:21]
Okay.
[36:22]
Good questions, Foley.
[36:26]
Okay. This is just a sample property tax
[36:29]
impact schedule. Yours looks really
[36:31]
similar. Uh this one got the check of
[36:34]
the State Tax Commission. Um they like
[36:36]
it and so I am certain that yours will
[36:38]
be fine as well because it's modeled
[36:41]
after it and you've got all of the key
[36:43]
information there uh that the Tax
[36:45]
Commission wanted to see on a property
[36:47]
tax impact
[36:48]
schedule.
[36:49]
Um and this is new. This might change
[36:51]
next year, right? This was our first
[36:53]
time out. Um and they they told us Frank
[36:56]
and I were on a Tax Commission training
[36:59]
today on this and they said they've now
[37:02]
reviewed dozens. Just so you know, we
[37:04]
know right now of 50 different cities
[37:07]
and towns going through this process
[37:09]
this year. So you're not alone. There
[37:11]
are a lot of us and and we're out there
[37:13]
learning together. Tax Commission said
[37:15]
they reviewed dozens and that they all
[37:17]
look pretty good. That and I think it's
[37:19]
because we put out an example and we had
[37:22]
worked with the Tax Commission to get
[37:24]
this example ready before we released it
[37:26]
to our local officials 3 weeks ago now,
[37:29]
right? Down in St. George.
[37:31]
So these are just your applicable
[37:33]
statutes. Um if you want to go back and
[37:35]
look at the laws that govern truth in
[37:37]
taxation, whether you're a city or town.
[37:40]
Um the blue are the just the general
[37:42]
budget process and then the green uh
[37:45]
govern truth in taxation. Tax Commission
[37:48]
told us today that the final language of
[37:51]
the laws are now online live. So no
[37:53]
longer do we have to go back and look at
[37:56]
those um bills from last year. Up until
[37:59]
just this week we've been using those
[38:01]
bills to help us um
[38:04]
sift through everything we needed to do
[38:06]
because the language online hadn't
[38:08]
caught up yet, but it's there now.
[38:11]
This is um the Tax Commission checklist.
[38:14]
So this is a really great tool. I hope
[38:17]
you've downloaded it already. If if any
[38:20]
resident wants to see the steps that
[38:22]
cities and towns and school districts
[38:24]
and everyone will have to go through,
[38:27]
um you need to currently you need to
[38:29]
email the tax commission if you want it
[38:31]
directly from the tax commission. Um
[38:34]
they're having an issue putting it on
[38:36]
their website because it is not um ADA
[38:39]
fully ADA accessible yet and they need
[38:41]
to have they can only post links to
[38:43]
things that are ADA accessible. However,
[38:47]
if you look at your Friday Facts from
[38:49]
the Utah League of Cities and Towns from
[38:51]
either April 17th or 24th or May 8th,
[38:55]
this is all online at the Utah League of
[38:57]
Cities and Towns. We took their PDF and
[39:00]
we've got it there for you. So, you can
[39:02]
get to the checklist if you want to see
[39:04]
the checklist. And if you don't get
[39:06]
Friday Facts, you can just go to the
[39:08]
Utah League of Cities and Towns website
[39:10]
and look for the property tax resources,
[39:13]
but this checklist is going to be
[39:14]
invaluable to you.
[39:16]
Secondly, at the Utah League of Cities
[39:19]
and Towns website, we have um a really
[39:22]
detailed spreadsheet that lists out
[39:25]
Frank, was it 53 tasks?
[39:28]
that you need to go through um
[39:31]
and some of them are required by
[39:33]
statute, some of them are tax commission
[39:36]
rule, and then some of them are best
[39:39]
recommendations that that we're just
[39:40]
making to you.
[39:42]
Um so, you can go look at can hold you
[39:45]
can say, "I don't really care about
[39:46]
Carrie's best practice recommendations.
[39:48]
I just want what's in the statute." You
[39:51]
can get rid of the recommendations and
[39:52]
just see the statute requirements or you
[39:54]
can just look at what the tax commission
[39:56]
uh requirements are. So, that's a really
[39:58]
helpful tool for you and you can see
[40:00]
that on that we've uh cited the
[40:03]
statutory reference so that if you want
[40:05]
to go back and read the law for
[40:06]
yourself, which we hope you do and we
[40:09]
hope your attorneys do um because that
[40:12]
you'll see it at the end, but but we're
[40:15]
not giving you legal advice here. We're
[40:17]
giving you our best read of the law. You
[40:19]
have your attorney, and your attorney
[40:21]
needs to give you the legal advice for
[40:23]
your community.
[40:26]
So, now we're going to do a deep dive
[40:27]
month by month, and we're going to use
[40:29]
this same legend that we used. We're
[40:32]
going to focus a lot on the Aqua, which
[40:35]
are the new requirements for 2026.
[40:38]
So, January to April, we're well past
[40:41]
that now. Um but that's when I like to
[40:43]
have that annual goal setting session,
[40:45]
and I start looking at the historic
[40:48]
revenue and expenditure trends as we
[40:49]
build the budget.
[40:51]
Um at that point, and if you haven't
[40:53]
already, please go in and create or
[40:55]
update as a as a city your user
[40:58]
information in the certified tax rate
[41:00]
system. You're going to need to be
[41:02]
putting information into that system
[41:04]
throughout the process. So, you want to
[41:06]
make sure that you can get in there, and
[41:08]
you can access the system well.
[41:10]
Um in mid-April, um
[41:13]
we thought people should maybe have a
[41:15]
training like this, where you talk about
[41:18]
property taxes, and you talk about the
[41:19]
way property taxes work in Utah.
[41:22]
Okay, May.
[41:24]
Um
[41:25]
the first Tuesday or first meeting in
[41:27]
May, depending on when your first
[41:29]
meeting of May is, you've already passed
[41:32]
that. As far as I can tell, you've
[41:34]
already checked all the boxes that
[41:36]
needed to be checked. You had your
[41:38]
property tax impact schedule as a
[41:40]
separate item on your agenda and
[41:42]
separate from your budget. You made two
[41:44]
different statements, and with each
[41:46]
statement you made an intention that you
[41:48]
were going to make the statement. Um I
[41:50]
think that's where some people are going
[41:52]
to get tripped up this year. Cam, when
[41:54]
we were presenting last week at the
[41:56]
Rural Growth Summit down in Wayne
[41:58]
County, he said that's probably part of
[42:00]
the language we'll work on next year, is
[42:02]
that do it making an intention and then
[42:04]
a statement feels
[42:05]
a little clunky, but it is how we are
[42:08]
all interpreting the code this year. And
[42:11]
so, I'm glad you did it that way because
[42:13]
we feel pretty strongly and and actually
[42:16]
the tax commission in the meeting with
[42:18]
me training last Thursday said, "Yep, we
[42:21]
interpret it the same way. The same way
[42:23]
you read it, that's how we read it." So,
[42:25]
we're really glad that that you've got
[42:27]
that through. You'll want to make sure
[42:29]
in your minutes that it's well reflected
[42:32]
in the minutes that you did all of that.
[42:34]
So, you've got your agenda and then have
[42:36]
your minutes before you finalize the
[42:37]
minutes of that last meeting.
[42:40]
For as you go through this process, what
[42:42]
you don't want is the tax commission to
[42:45]
have to go fumbling through your
[42:46]
recordings and stuff to find the
[42:48]
information they're looking for. So,
[42:50]
talk to your clerk's for orders and have
[42:52]
them be really great about really
[42:54]
putting in these details as you go
[42:57]
through in your minutes. So, that when
[42:59]
you submit this as evidence and we're
[43:01]
going to talk about that at the end of
[43:02]
the process, you need to submit evidence
[43:05]
to your county auditor and the state tax
[43:07]
commission, your minutes become part of
[43:09]
that evidentiary record. And then I
[43:12]
think that you followed our best
[43:13]
recommendation approach of three
[43:15]
different resolutions. Um it looked like
[43:18]
it on the draft agenda that I saw. And
[43:21]
again, that's helping the tax commission
[43:24]
see that that information was provided
[43:26]
to the public. And doing it in
[43:28]
resolution form then involves the
[43:31]
legislative body giving the direction to
[43:33]
move forward. And so, that's why we
[43:36]
recommended that approach.
[43:38]
Um you've got that then we said, you
[43:41]
know, maybe have a mid-May town hall
[43:42]
meeting and and you're doing that to
[43:44]
talk about the reasons why. This is the
[43:46]
next statement. I didn't put it in the
[43:48]
first Tuesday because it's not legally
[43:50]
required to be there. You've done it
[43:52]
already, but but between those dates,
[43:55]
that statement's required.
[43:58]
These are our recommended practices.
[44:00]
Number one is we think you should create
[44:02]
an electronic file location and that's
[44:05]
where you're going to start saving all
[44:06]
of your evidence.
[44:08]
So, you're going to save those signed
[44:09]
resolutions. You're going to save the
[44:11]
agenda. You're going to save your
[44:13]
minutes, so that it's really easy for
[44:15]
you to pull together this evidentiary
[44:17]
package when you need to at the end of
[44:19]
the process and send that through to the
[44:21]
tax commission.
[44:23]
Um
[44:24]
And then, this
[44:26]
It was very interesting to me when I was
[44:28]
training with the tax commission last
[44:30]
week. My recommendation for our cities
[44:33]
and towns is that every time you discuss
[44:36]
the budget from now until June 30th,
[44:39]
whenever the budget's on your agenda,
[44:42]
please include your property tax impact
[44:44]
statement as a separate informational
[44:47]
item and include it here in the meeting
[44:50]
physically.
[44:51]
Um When I said that, the tax commission
[44:54]
said, "Because legally, the way the law
[44:57]
is written, you only need do that if
[45:00]
you're having a budget hearing."
[45:03]
And I just think that this is all about
[45:05]
transparency, and so why wouldn't we
[45:08]
include it every time we have a budget
[45:10]
discussion?
[45:11]
And the tax commission said, "We agree,
[45:15]
and we're going to be looking to see if
[45:17]
the schedule was there at every meeting,
[45:20]
because they they actually think it was
[45:22]
kind of a drafting error that it says
[45:23]
hearing, not meeting." And so, I really
[45:27]
think if if as we move forward, just put
[45:29]
it on every agenda as an informational
[45:31]
item. And the example I gave in the
[45:34]
training last week was
[45:36]
say you have somebody who comes to your
[45:38]
meeting,
[45:39]
wasn't at your tentative budget meeting,
[45:42]
comes to your next meeting where you're
[45:43]
discussing the budget, but you're not
[45:45]
discussing public safety or the tax
[45:47]
increase, you're discussing that say
[45:49]
animal control.
[45:51]
If you don't have the schedule on your
[45:53]
agenda, and if it's not there for them,
[45:57]
they honestly could maybe not even know
[45:59]
you're proposing a tax increase.
[46:02]
And so, in transparency, if it's on the
[46:04]
agenda every single time as your
[46:07]
property tax increase impact schedule,
[46:10]
then you've just been fully transparent
[46:12]
that this budget that we're discussing,
[46:14]
even though we might not be discussing
[46:16]
that aspect tonight, the budget as a
[46:19]
whole includes this property tax
[46:21]
increase.
[46:22]
Um and then,
[46:24]
you know, again, I just I love town
[46:26]
halls. I love bringing the public in.
[46:28]
Frank and I worked with a client last
[46:30]
year on doing theirs. By the way, when
[46:32]
all of the others or many of the others
[46:34]
didn't get through, ours did. Our
[46:36]
the one we were working on did get
[46:38]
through, but it was awesome. They had a
[46:40]
community potluck. Now, who will show up
[46:43]
to a community potluck where you're
[46:44]
going to talk about taxes?
[46:46]
Their community did. Um and they said it
[46:49]
was great fun. Everyone brought food.
[46:51]
They shared the food with one another,
[46:52]
and then they talked about the budget,
[46:55]
the constraints on the budget, and why
[46:57]
the elected officials were were
[46:59]
contemplating raising the taxes, which
[47:02]
they ultimately did.
[47:04]
We've talked about the first meeting in
[47:05]
May recommendations and the three
[47:07]
resolutions submittal. I won't go
[47:09]
through those tonight.
[47:11]
This, for the members of the public who
[47:12]
are here, uh one of the things that we
[47:14]
provided was a best practice sample
[47:17]
agenda, and your agenda mirrored the
[47:20]
sample. That was great. And so, we
[47:23]
wanted again, we wanted to make it
[47:25]
really easy for cities and towns uh to
[47:28]
meet the requirements of that first
[47:30]
meeting in May. You had all eight items
[47:32]
on your agenda as as I saw them. Um and
[47:35]
so, that was great.
[47:37]
So, then into June. Um you always had to
[47:40]
do this in June. You had to set the
[47:42]
public hearing date and time for your
[47:43]
truth in taxation hearing.
[47:46]
Um and you need to notify by June 1st
[47:48]
the auditor and the state tax
[47:49]
commission. Um if you If you should have
[47:53]
set that time in your last meeting, um
[47:56]
notify them now. Don't wait till June
[47:58]
1st. If you haven't already sent that
[48:00]
notification, get it sent on tomorrow.
[48:03]
Um, because the county auditor needs to
[48:06]
then take all of those dates that are
[48:08]
set and needs to balance and make sure
[48:11]
that no tax hearings are overlapping one
[48:14]
another. So that a taxpayer has an
[48:17]
opportunity to go to every tax hearing
[48:21]
that will impact their property. And
[48:23]
it's quite an elaborate process. I know
[48:25]
in Salt Lake County, the county auditor
[48:27]
has designated one night that's going to
[48:30]
be all cities because they know they
[48:33]
won't overlap with anyone else. So
[48:35]
they're not going to have any other
[48:36]
entities on that night. It's just going
[48:38]
to be all the cities who are going
[48:39]
through truth and taxation in Salt Lake
[48:41]
County on that one night. But if you
[48:43]
haven't already, you have until June
[48:46]
1st, but I would not wait until June
[48:47]
1st. You've already You did it last week
[48:50]
procedurally, so go ahead and make those
[48:52]
notifications to your county auditor and
[48:55]
the state tax commission.
[48:57]
Uh, in June, this has been a big
[49:01]
question. Do we still need to have a
[49:03]
public hearing on the tentative budget
[49:05]
in June? Yes. Nothing in the law
[49:08]
exempted us from not having the
[49:10]
regularly scheduled June public hearing
[49:13]
on our tentative budget. So you should
[49:15]
still plan You should have set that date
[49:17]
last week when you adopted your
[49:19]
tentative budget. You should still plan
[49:21]
to have that hearing and it can be no
[49:24]
sooner than 10 days after the release of
[49:26]
the tentative budget. So some
[49:28]
communities I know like to have that
[49:30]
budget at the end of May. They just need
[49:32]
to make sure they've given enough time
[49:34]
that the tentative budget's been out
[49:35]
there. And then just a reminder, again,
[49:39]
if at your June hearing, this isn't a
[49:41]
recommendation of best practice, you
[49:43]
must have that schedule available and it
[49:47]
must be a separate item on your agenda.
[49:49]
Can be informational, but it needs to be
[49:52]
there on the night of your June budget
[49:54]
hearing, okay? Your property impact
[49:57]
schedule.
[49:59]
And then before June 22nd,
[50:02]
uh you need to adopt a resolution
[50:03]
establishing the tentative tax rate. And
[50:06]
you'll you'll narrow in on what that
[50:08]
needs to be. The county auditor's going
[50:10]
to help you with the tax commission uh
[50:13]
because you're going to be exceeding the
[50:14]
certified tax rate, but whether you're
[50:16]
going through truth and taxation or not,
[50:19]
everyone needs to do this step by June
[50:21]
22nd because this is what goes into the
[50:24]
county auditor's notice that goes out to
[50:26]
the public. Okay? So, by June 22nd, uh
[50:31]
actually before June 22nd, you can't do
[50:33]
it on the 22nd. It's The law says
[50:35]
before.
[50:37]
Um you need to adopt the resolution
[50:38]
tentatively establishing the rate that
[50:41]
will produce the revenue that you need
[50:43]
it to produce.
[50:45]
And then before the last day of June, so
[50:47]
by June 30th, you need to adopt an
[50:50]
ordinance or resolution approving your
[50:53]
interim budget. This is where we're no
[50:55]
longer in truth and taxation tentatively
[50:58]
approving the final budget. You approve
[51:00]
that interim budget to give you your
[51:02]
spending authority beginning on July 1.
[51:07]
So, also in June, you can request that
[51:11]
the county auditor include your property
[51:13]
tax impact schedule in the statements
[51:16]
that they mail out to the public.
[51:18]
If you want it included, you will have
[51:21]
to pay for that. They They likely won't
[51:23]
pay for it. You will need to get it to
[51:26]
them in June,
[51:27]
um but after June 22nd, you can only go
[51:30]
down. You can't go up anyway. So, you
[51:32]
should have that schedule pretty set. If
[51:35]
you want to include it, ask your county
[51:37]
auditor. They must include it if you're
[51:40]
willing to pay to have it included.
[51:42]
Yes, Frank.
[51:46]
Yes, also in January you'll have three
[51:49]
resolutions, but I want to make sure
[51:51]
that there's also a resolution adopting
[51:54]
your property tax impact schedule. So,
[51:56]
by the time
[51:59]
we're there,
[52:00]
you've had your public hearing on your
[52:02]
tentative budget and you're adopting an
[52:04]
interim budget one resolution, tax levy
[52:07]
two resolutions.
[52:08]
We This is a best practice.
[52:11]
Nothing is
[52:12]
It's probably required, but we
[52:14]
>> adopting your tentative budget by
[52:16]
resolution for what? But but the
[52:17]
tentative budget well uh And the rate.
[52:20]
but
[52:21]
uh the property tax impact schedule
[52:25]
should also be adopted. And you may have
[52:27]
refined it, you may have changed it, but
[52:29]
you should adopt it
[52:32]
at that same
[52:33]
uh time.
[52:35]
And and
[52:37]
uh that's a good point, Frank. We asked
[52:39]
that question today in the tax
[52:41]
commission training.
[52:43]
Uh we said, "Do they need to adopt the
[52:45]
schedule separately?" And the tax
[52:47]
commission said, "Yes." And we will want
[52:49]
to see evidence that that was adopted
[52:50]
separately. So, when you say that we
[52:53]
what we could send to the county to mail
[52:55]
out, it would be this schedule that we
[52:57]
would be sending? [clears throat]
[52:58]
Yes.
[52:59]
But but by then we would have what they
[53:01]
are giving us as our tax rate. So, this
[53:04]
could change a little bit if the tax
[53:07]
rate they come in and it does a little
[53:09]
bit differently. Yeah, but they need to
[53:11]
have that by June 13th. So, you should
[53:13]
be able to adopt what the rate will be
[53:16]
by June 22nd like you've always had to,
[53:18]
even if you're not going through truth
[53:19]
and taxation.
[53:21]
If you consider sending that schedule,
[53:24]
something you might want to add to the
[53:26]
schedule is the monthly impact because
[53:30]
many of your residents pay their taxes
[53:34]
in monthly increments with their
[53:36]
mortgage. And so, it's sometimes nice to
[53:39]
be able to say in addition we By law you
[53:42]
have to show the annual impact. But,
[53:44]
sometimes it's nice to be able to say,
[53:47]
"And that annual impact is $8.72
[53:50]
a month."
[53:51]
So, that people can understand what that
[53:53]
monthly impact is. And for me, that's
[53:56]
the benefit of sending that schedule. If
[53:59]
you can get some information in the
[54:01]
hands of the public that helps them to
[54:03]
better understand what you're doing,
[54:06]
it might be worth including that.
[54:09]
So, and you'll just need to ask the
[54:10]
auditor how much it will cost to include
[54:13]
that in that mailing.
[54:14]
Okay?
[54:16]
Thanks for that, Ed Frank. That was That
[54:18]
was right. We learned that today in the
[54:20]
treatment taxation.
[54:22]
Here are our recommended best practices
[54:24]
for June. Um see, we had adopting the
[54:27]
property tax impact schedule as a
[54:29]
recommended best practice, and we'll now
[54:32]
amend the language to say tax commission
[54:34]
kind of wants it as a tax commission
[54:36]
rule,
[54:37]
um that we'll adopt that.
[54:39]
And then, um
[54:42]
again,
[54:43]
each time in June and that you have, and
[54:46]
we said this in May, but each time in
[54:49]
June that you have the budget on, please
[54:51]
have that property tax impact schedule
[54:54]
on the agenda as a separate item, and
[54:56]
then have hard copies in your meeting.
[54:58]
The tax The way the tax commission
[55:00]
answered the question was they said that
[55:03]
they read the part of the law that says,
[55:06]
"Make the schedule available." mean you
[55:09]
have a hard copy. That's so you can hand
[55:11]
it to somebody. You're making it
[55:13]
available to them.
[55:15]
Okay?
[55:16]
So, now we're done with the regular
[55:18]
budget process. We won't see any more
[55:20]
dark blue. Now, we're just like, if we
[55:22]
were not raising taxes, we're finished.
[55:25]
But, because we're raising taxes, we're
[55:27]
going to continue to go on.
[55:29]
So, in July,
[55:31]
sometime before July 22nd, you will
[55:34]
receive a notice from the county auditor
[55:38]
with your evaluation and and all of the
[55:40]
information you need finalizing the
[55:43]
time, date, and place of your public
[55:45]
hearing for August. And also, you will
[55:47]
get from them a schedule of all of the
[55:50]
truth and taxation hearings that are
[55:52]
going on in the county during the year
[55:56]
or for for the tax season.
[55:58]
You will need to prepare and publicly
[56:00]
post your agenda for your August truth
[56:02]
and taxation hearing. We put this in
[56:05]
July because if you have the hearing
[56:08]
early in August, you need to do this in
[56:10]
July. It needs to be done as part of
[56:12]
July.
[56:14]
And then there are some date
[56:15]
requirements. They're not new. Um needs
[56:17]
to be 14 days a minimum of 14 days
[56:20]
before the scheduled hearing date. And
[56:22]
then there there can be it should it I
[56:25]
can't even emphasize it enough should be
[56:28]
it it must be. No other agenda items on
[56:32]
the night of your truth and taxation
[56:34]
hearing. No other agenda. You know,
[56:37]
we've had lots of questions. Well, if we
[56:39]
do this at 6:00, can we have another
[56:41]
agenda at 7:00 to do general business?
[56:44]
Not if you want a tax increase. You will
[56:46]
not get certified if you have any other
[56:49]
business other than the tax increase.
[56:52]
Um the tax commission clarified today,
[56:55]
you can adopt your final budget on the
[56:58]
night of the tax increase hearing, but
[57:00]
that's it. It's you're you're adopting
[57:03]
you're having a public hearing on the
[57:04]
tax increase, you're adopting your final
[57:06]
tax rate, and adopting your final
[57:08]
budget, and that is it that night. So,
[57:11]
if it ends up that it's one of your
[57:13]
regularly scheduled meeting nights, you
[57:16]
might have to call a special meeting for
[57:18]
another time if you have other business
[57:20]
that needs to be conducted. This tripped
[57:23]
so many communities up last year because
[57:25]
they they said it wasn't on the same
[57:27]
agenda. It was completely separate
[57:29]
agenda. And the tax commission and it's
[57:32]
not their fault. They have no latitude.
[57:34]
The The law is what the law is, and the
[57:37]
law says no other business on that
[57:39]
night. No general business. Um so, that
[57:42]
was really emphasized in the
[57:43]
legislation. So, in public hearings
[57:46]
no allowed comment over the comment. So,
[57:48]
does that mean that we are restricted in
[57:49]
what we can discuss in that public
[57:51]
hearing as well? If we're asked about
[57:52]
something and not related to that tax,
[57:54]
do we need to
[57:55]
instruct
[57:56]
>> That's a good question, lawyer.
[57:59]
>> [laughter]
[58:03]
» You're not restricted. If somebody asks
[58:04]
you a question, I mean, you're there to
[58:06]
answer it. It's not on your agenda. Uh
[58:09]
you have not agendaed it as something
[58:11]
you would take action on.
[58:13]
Certainly a member of the public's going
[58:14]
to ask you a question. I feel like
[58:16]
you're free to answer it.
[58:18]
Maybe off topic. And you as you know, as
[58:20]
council members, that happens all the
[58:22]
time. So, uh yeah, sure. But, I think
[58:25]
the issue is is it on the formally on
[58:27]
the agenda uh that
[58:31]
you're going to take action on it. That
[58:33]
uh
[58:34]
these other cities that got trouble or
[58:36]
towns and cities that got in trouble
[58:38]
last year were actually action items.
[58:41]
So,
[58:42]
uh yes,
[58:43]
they bring something up, they're
[58:45]
certainly free to answer the question
[58:46]
and deal with it. Okay, thank you.
[58:49]
Um and that's an interesting question to
[58:52]
me because a lot of the public hearings
[58:54]
that I participate in, there isn't
[58:56]
dialogue back and forth. The body just
[58:59]
accepts the public comment and doesn't
[59:01]
make them serve the questions. That's
[59:03]
your own rules. That's what you decide
[59:05]
to do. Um and we'll get into this more
[59:08]
when we talk about We've got a deep dive
[59:10]
on the hearing night, but you do need to
[59:13]
let you know, pretty much everyone who
[59:15]
wants to speak needs to be able to
[59:16]
speak. You can put time limits on it
[59:19]
like you normally do for your meetings.
[59:21]
Um but, you need to allow people to
[59:23]
speak at the hearing. And we'll get into
[59:25]
that a little bit more.
[59:26]
Okay?
[59:27]
Uh next in for July and into August
[59:31]
for 14 days before the date of your
[59:34]
hearing, whatever your hearing date is,
[59:37]
you need to post on the front page of
[59:40]
your website the county auditor's list
[59:44]
of all of the hearings. This tripped
[59:46]
people up last year as well.
[59:48]
That posting needs to stay on the front
[59:52]
page of your website until you get your
[59:55]
certified rate from the State Tax
[59:57]
Commission. That will probably be
[59:59]
sometime in September.
[1:00:01]
So, it will go on. You will not move it.
[1:00:04]
You will leave it there. You're going to
[1:00:06]
take a screenshot of it as evidence that
[1:00:08]
it was there when you turn in your
[1:00:09]
evidentiary file. Please have a way that
[1:00:12]
you can see the date so that you can
[1:00:14]
show the date that it went on. Maybe
[1:00:16]
take one in the interim to show that it
[1:00:18]
was still there. And then on the date
[1:00:20]
that you submit your file, take another
[1:00:22]
one to show it's still there.
[1:00:24]
Um but it needs to stay and the law the
[1:00:27]
law is very clear. It has to stay until
[1:00:30]
the State Tax Commission certifies your
[1:00:32]
new rate.
[1:00:33]
And that that could be We're going to
[1:00:35]
talk about that process, but it could be
[1:00:37]
into September.
[1:00:39]
So, in August uh your you need to at
[1:00:42]
least 14 days before the August hearing
[1:00:44]
date, you need to create a notice in the
[1:00:47]
Truth in Taxation system. And that's the
[1:00:49]
notice that you're going to post lots of
[1:00:51]
different places. Um you need to post it
[1:00:54]
It's a class A notice. Uh your clerk
[1:00:57]
recorder should know what that means and how you post a class A notice. But
[1:01:02]
it needs to be on the Utah Public Notice
[1:01:04]
website. It needs to be on your
[1:01:06]
municipality's website. It needs to be
[1:01:08]
in a physical location where you meet.
[1:01:11]
So, here you would post it there. And
[1:01:14]
then you post in Utah Legals. Um there's
[1:01:17]
no longer a requirement that you post in newspaper. However, our experience in
[1:01:23]
working with Utah Legals is that they
[1:01:25]
often require you to post in a newspaper
[1:01:28]
so that you post up there's.
[1:01:30]
Um Frank has a best practice that you do
[1:01:34]
not wait until 14 days and he and I
[1:01:36]
argued over this last year because I
[1:01:38]
thought he was being a nervous Nellie.
[1:01:40]
Um and it was a good thing that he that
[1:01:43]
we tried to get that in 21 days in
[1:01:45]
advance because it was a weekly the
[1:01:47]
community we were working with they only
[1:01:50]
their their Utah Legals in their
[1:01:52]
community only goes weekly. And um they
[1:01:55]
messed up the first one. And so because
[1:01:58]
we had been 21 days out we had time to
[1:02:01]
correct the error.
[1:02:03]
Uh
[1:02:04]
don't cut it so close that you don't
[1:02:06]
have time because if you miss this
[1:02:07]
you're done.
[1:02:09]
There isn't there there in the law this
[1:02:11]
year
[1:02:13]
there is a little bit of grace for the
[1:02:15]
things that are in aqua for the things
[1:02:17]
that are brand new in 2026. There is no
[1:02:20]
grace on any of the other stuff that's
[1:02:22]
always been in the law for us.
[1:02:24]
So don't don't cut it to the edge of the
[1:02:28]
time. And and again that's airing on
[1:02:31]
transparency you're giving more notice
[1:02:33]
not less notice but also give yourself
[1:02:36]
that pivot time. When we woke up I woke
[1:02:39]
up at like 5:00 in the morning and he
[1:02:41]
said will you go check and make sure the
[1:02:43]
ad got posted and I pulled it up I'm
[1:02:45]
like
[1:02:46]
it's not there.
[1:02:48]
Uh you know and so we had to scramble
[1:02:50]
but then we had a week and then the next
[1:02:52]
week when we woke up early and it was
[1:02:54]
there you know we were doing the Snoopy
[1:02:56]
dance the ad was there and we were able
[1:02:58]
to continue with our client moving
[1:03:00]
forward in the process.
[1:03:02]
So that's just a horror story but give
[1:03:04]
yourself time to pivot. But as everyone
[1:03:06]
knows now in an open meeting on the
[1:03:08]
record Frank she said you were right.
[1:03:10]
Oh.
[1:03:11]
>> [laughter]
[1:03:11]
>> Thank you counselor.
[1:03:15]
So
[1:03:16]
uh again we talked about this posting
[1:03:19]
that needs to be on your website. We put
[1:03:21]
it again in the August recommendation
[1:03:23]
because if your hearing's later in
[1:03:25]
August, you'll probably do the posting
[1:03:27]
in August, not in July. And we just
[1:03:30]
wanted to make sure there was no
[1:03:31]
ambiguity.
[1:03:32]
Now, 24 hours before the hearing, you
[1:03:36]
need to post instructions for virtual
[1:03:38]
participation in the hearing on your
[1:03:40]
entity's website. I've been working on
[1:03:44]
this today.
[1:03:45]
It's shocking to me how many of our
[1:03:47]
communities do not have a way for people
[1:03:50]
to participate virtually. So, they can
[1:03:53]
watch virtually, but they can't
[1:03:55]
participate virtually. They have to be
[1:03:58]
able to participate virtually to meet
[1:04:00]
the law.
[1:04:01]
And so, if you don't currently, you've
[1:04:04]
got time. It's We're only in May, but
[1:04:07]
you've got to be able to have people be
[1:04:09]
able to participate virtually, and we
[1:04:12]
learned on the training today by phone
[1:04:14]
call.
[1:04:16]
So, it's not just I click a link and I
[1:04:18]
participate. They also want to have a
[1:04:20]
phone number that people can call into
[1:04:23]
and participate by phone call as well.
[1:04:26]
And we need to allow people to submit
[1:04:28]
comments before the hearing, and if we
[1:04:31]
get written comments before the hearing,
[1:04:34]
we need to get them into the public
[1:04:35]
record at the hearing to make sure that
[1:04:37]
the council's aware of those comments.
[1:04:40]
So, I don't know if that impacts you. I
[1:04:43]
know it impacts some other people we're
[1:04:45]
working with, um that they do not
[1:04:48]
currently allow virtual participation.
[1:04:50]
They allow people to watch on YouTube,
[1:04:52]
on the Zoom, but it's not a two-way
[1:04:54]
street. It's not a oh, you can comment,
[1:04:57]
or you know, we can turn to you and take
[1:04:59]
your virtual comment. So, we've got to
[1:05:01]
figure out how to do that.
[1:05:03]
By August. And And if you have to figure
[1:05:06]
out how to do that, you're not alone.
[1:05:08]
And I sent a a note into the League of
[1:05:10]
Cities and Towns today to let them know,
[1:05:12]
I think there might be a tripwire. We've
[1:05:15]
got to We've got to figure out how we
[1:05:16]
help our communities through this one.
[1:05:19]
Okay? And then, on the assigned August
[1:05:21]
date, you'll conduct your Truth in
[1:05:23]
Taxation hearing on the proposed
[1:05:25]
increase, and we've talked about that.
[1:05:27]
Um you're going to state the dollar
[1:05:28]
amount, you're going to explain the
[1:05:30]
additional of tax revenue, you're going
[1:05:32]
to explain the reasons for the proposed
[1:05:34]
increase, and you'll include the
[1:05:36]
intended use of the revenue.
[1:05:39]
Now, this is what's kind of funny. This
[1:05:41]
is basically your property tax impact
[1:05:43]
schedule.
[1:05:44]
What is all And this is green. This has
[1:05:47]
always been required. We've always had
[1:05:49]
to do this as part of Truth in Taxation
[1:05:51]
in August. And so, that's where the
[1:05:54]
thought process came from during the
[1:05:56]
legislative session. Is when we were
[1:05:58]
looking at it, I don't know if you were
[1:06:00]
following the session, but during the
[1:06:02]
session, the legislation started out
[1:06:05]
that you would create two complete
[1:06:06]
different budgets. One with a tax
[1:06:08]
increase, one without. And the League of
[1:06:11]
Cities and Towns and us, but you know,
[1:06:13]
as contractors of the League, we were
[1:06:14]
arguing that's just too hard on our
[1:06:17]
communities to have to do two complete
[1:06:19]
different budgets.
[1:06:21]
Um and they said, "Then come up with a
[1:06:23]
solution." And it was the fact that we
[1:06:25]
already had to do this. We said, "Why
[1:06:27]
don't we just make it a schedule and put
[1:06:30]
it at the beginning of the process,
[1:06:32]
because we have to do it in August
[1:06:34]
anyway?"
[1:06:35]
And so, that's that's kind of where that
[1:06:37]
idea was born from. It's not a new
[1:06:40]
requirement, the schedule. You had to do
[1:06:42]
it anyway. We're just having you do it 4
[1:06:44]
months earlier
[1:06:46]
than when you had to turn it in.
[1:06:48]
So, now let's talk about the night of
[1:06:50]
the hearing. The hearing must be at or
[1:06:52]
after 6:00 p.m.
[1:06:54]
Um the hearing uh may not overlap with
[1:06:57]
any other entity's hearing. The county
[1:06:59]
auditor will make sure of that. They
[1:07:01]
will make sure that they balance all of
[1:07:03]
those out.
[1:07:04]
This is new. It may not be on the same
[1:07:07]
date as a public meeting for uh
[1:07:09]
addressing any other kind of business.
[1:07:11]
This is so explicit this year. It was
[1:07:14]
Some people thought it was a little gray
[1:07:16]
last year. We didn't think it was gray.
[1:07:18]
It's super explicit this year. They did,
[1:07:21]
however, say you could have it on the
[1:07:23]
night of a regular meeting. It's just
[1:07:26]
that then you can't do any other
[1:07:27]
business that night. If you have it if
[1:07:29]
you, you know, choose to ask the auditor
[1:07:31]
to have it on that night.
[1:07:33]
And then printed copies of your public
[1:07:35]
property tax impact schedule should be
[1:07:37]
made available at the hearing as well.
[1:07:41]
The only items allowed on the hearing
[1:07:43]
agenda, as we talked about before, are
[1:07:45]
related to the hearing and then the
[1:07:47]
final budget adoption. So, it'll be your
[1:07:49]
hearing, it'll be adopting your final
[1:07:52]
tax rate, and it'll be your final budget
[1:07:55]
adoption. If you don't adopt your final
[1:07:58]
budget that night, in that meeting, you
[1:08:00]
need to state when you're going to.
[1:08:03]
Okay? You don't have to adopt it that
[1:08:05]
night. If you If after the hearing you
[1:08:07]
just say, "We're not ready. We're not
[1:08:09]
ready to adopt the final budget."
[1:08:12]
Uh you need to tell people when you are,
[1:08:14]
but it has to be done by September 1st.
[1:08:17]
Um
[1:08:19]
The These are just talking about the
[1:08:21]
things that you need to explain and
[1:08:22]
again, basically, it's your property tax
[1:08:25]
impact schedule. It's everything on that schedule is what's
[1:08:28]
required to be stated in that August
[1:08:30]
hearing anyway.
[1:08:32]
We've talked about the public must be
[1:08:34]
able to participate both in person and
[1:08:36]
online.
[1:08:38]
And by telephone, we learned today.
[1:08:41]
Call. They need to be able to call. And
[1:08:43]
then, if your county auditor, if you
[1:08:45]
have other hearings in the county, if
[1:08:47]
the county auditor produced that list of
[1:08:49]
the hearings, you need to have
[1:08:51]
[clears throat] that list We've already
[1:08:52]
talked about it being on your website.
[1:08:54]
We need to have it available that night
[1:08:55]
at the hearing. Question.
[1:08:58]
Just looking at the worst the scenario.
[1:09:01]
So, uh
[1:09:02]
we don't participate now online in that.
[1:09:06]
If we do everything in our power to make
[1:09:09]
it work and there's a failure that
[1:09:11]
night, what happens? Because it's blue
[1:09:15]
because that online participation is in
[1:09:17]
blue, I think that there's a little bit
[1:09:19]
of give there, but it has to be a good
[1:09:21]
faith effort. But, I think we're going
[1:09:23]
to figure out a way to help people cross
[1:09:25]
[clears throat] that finish line because
[1:09:28]
you're not alone. Big communities don't
[1:09:31]
have virtual participation. I mean, that
[1:09:33]
I I was doing some sampling today
[1:09:36]
um because one of our clients, they
[1:09:38]
don't do that. And so, I called other
[1:09:41]
communities and and I would And that's
[1:09:43]
why I sent it in to the league and I
[1:09:44]
said, "If our larger communities don't
[1:09:47]
allow virtual participation, I can't
[1:09:49]
imagine that this isn't going to be a
[1:09:51]
problem for some of our smaller." So, as
[1:09:54]
you mentioned, they can call in by
[1:09:55]
phone. So, that could be We'll have that
[1:09:59]
also option. So, if worst case scenario
[1:10:01]
it doesn't work, then they still should
[1:10:03]
be able to have that ability to call on
[1:10:05]
the phone that we will have available
[1:10:07]
there that I'm assuming then is on
[1:10:09]
speaker when they call in ask a question
[1:10:12]
Yep. Or make their comment. Yep. Okay.
[1:10:14]
Yep. And you you can still put all of
[1:10:17]
that, you know, all time restrictions
[1:10:20]
around all of that
[1:10:22]
like you would any normal hearing.
[1:10:23]
Frank?
[1:10:28]
So, we have not had an opportunity to
[1:10:30]
look at this late. This is a a very uh a
[1:10:32]
different bill. There was 236 and then
[1:10:35]
there was another bill. So, this Senate
[1:10:36]
bill 238 Yeah, 238. Uh
[1:10:39]
that
[1:10:40]
has these provisions in it. And so, uh
[1:10:44]
we're going to explore this further. Uh
[1:10:47]
we did not anticipate the our
[1:10:51]
all these communities
[1:10:53]
having this issue. So, we will get back
[1:10:55]
and Terry will get back to you. Uh
[1:10:59]
but we need we need
[1:11:00]
an opportunity to look at this. We're
[1:11:02]
going to look at it in the next few days
[1:11:04]
and see and talk to the tax commission.
[1:11:07]
You know, today they mentioned the phone
[1:11:09]
and
[1:11:10]
I was sitting there
[1:11:11]
wondering whether if it provided
[1:11:13]
comments, would that be adequate.
[1:11:16]
Uh
[1:11:16]
but then they then they brought up the
[1:11:17]
phone. So,
[1:11:19]
uh we need to explore that. We will get
[1:11:21]
back to you on this issue in the next
[1:11:23]
few days. One thing is a note on
[1:11:25]
just encourage you to take that when you
[1:11:26]
start professionally and do learning and
[1:11:29]
development trainings and I do them
[1:11:30]
virtually for hundreds of people.
[1:11:32]
Um I don't know of a way or software
[1:11:35]
that allows us to restrict multiple
[1:11:37]
comments. Uh so, if we're publicly
[1:11:39]
you're allowed to get up and make
[1:11:40]
comments and you get 3 minutes, but
[1:11:42]
that's what you get. On the phone you
[1:11:44]
would get comments, but you get 3
[1:11:45]
minutes, that's what you get. But if
[1:11:47]
you're virtual and you're sending in a
[1:11:48]
bunch of chats or spamming the chat or
[1:11:50]
whatever that, you know, we have to have
[1:11:51]
somebody monitoring those questions and
[1:11:53]
how do we um regulate
[1:11:57]
those comments coming in and making sure
[1:11:59]
that it's not just kind of filibustering
[1:12:01]
the meeting and gives an opportunity for
[1:12:03]
us to make sure we're addressing what's
[1:12:04]
being asked, but also holding people to
[1:12:06]
the restriction of if they were talking
[1:12:08]
in person, they'd have 3 minutes, but
[1:12:09]
they could type as many questions as
[1:12:11]
they want. So, I know in instance of
[1:12:14]
Zoom that the league uses, they can do
[1:12:17]
things. They can mute somebody, so they
[1:12:20]
can give them their 3 minutes and mute
[1:12:22]
them, and they can also completely turn
[1:12:24]
the chat off. And I would assume that's
[1:12:26]
what you would do, is you would say,
[1:12:28]
"We're going to turn the chat off. Chat
[1:12:30]
is not the way we're taking the
[1:12:32]
comments.
[1:12:33]
Uh if you want to submit written
[1:12:35]
comments, here's the email address.
[1:12:37]
Submit them through that."
[1:12:39]
Um but I but I think So, so just the see
[1:12:43]
you know, using Zoom that way, but I
[1:12:45]
think the problem is it's an expensive
[1:12:48]
license. And so, I I that's what some of
[1:12:50]
our communities have faced. like one of
[1:12:52]
the city managers I talked to today
[1:12:54]
said, "Oh yeah, we allowed all of that
[1:12:56]
during COVID, but then people weren't
[1:12:59]
using it after COVID, so we dropped that
[1:13:01]
licensing as a budgetary savings
[1:13:04]
approach."
[1:13:05]
So so as Frank said, this literally was
[1:13:08]
unfolding in the hour and a half before
[1:13:11]
we came here after the tax commission
[1:13:13]
hearing, and so we'll follow up with
[1:13:15]
you. We've got time to get this figured
[1:13:17]
out as communities before August.
[1:13:20]
Okay.
[1:13:22]
Um and and so we talked about that list.
[1:13:24]
You've got to have that list available.
[1:13:26]
And then uh finally, you need to provide
[1:13:30]
all interested persons the opportunity
[1:13:32]
to speak on the proposed tax increase.
[1:13:37]
All right. Oh, and then we talked about
[1:13:39]
that. If you're not going to make your
[1:13:40]
budget decision that night, you need to
[1:13:42]
state in that meeting when you're going
[1:13:44]
to when the next meeting is that you'll make the budget decision.
[1:13:48]
So then into September. So by September
[1:13:51]
1st, you need to adopt an ordinance or
[1:13:54]
resolution implementing your new rate
[1:13:56]
that exceeds the certified tax rate, and
[1:13:59]
adopt an ordinance or resolution
[1:14:01]
approving your final budget for the
[1:14:03]
fiscal year. Now, you don't have to
[1:14:05]
re-adopt your uh impact statement
[1:14:07]
because the revenue now is in your final
[1:14:09]
budget. It's part of the final budget
[1:14:11]
that you adopt.
[1:14:12]
Um and then you need to send copies of
[1:14:16]
those ordinances, and there are
[1:14:18]
different things throughout the process
[1:14:20]
that you need to send them to the tax
[1:14:21]
commission, and times that you need to
[1:14:24]
go in and you need to update things in
[1:14:25]
the system, and that schedule on the
[1:14:28]
League of Cities and Towns website will
[1:14:30]
help walk you through like, "Okay, we
[1:14:32]
need to go in and put the rate in now.
[1:14:34]
We need to go do these things." And the
[1:14:36]
tax commission will help you with that.
[1:14:38]
Their checklist is going to tell you the
[1:14:40]
things that you need to be doing, when
[1:14:42]
you need to be updating their system.
[1:14:45]
But once all of that is done, within 7
[1:14:48]
days of adopting your budget, you have
[1:14:50]
to send your package of evidence to the
[1:14:52]
tax commission and the county auditor.
[1:14:55]
And they told us that today. We need to
[1:14:57]
update this slide now because it does
[1:14:59]
need I asked the question. I said, "Does
[1:15:01]
it need to go to the county auditor?"
[1:15:02]
And they said, "Yes." Because the county
[1:15:05]
auditor also can not by law look at it
[1:15:08]
and certify that they helped the tax
[1:15:11]
commission say, "Yes, they met all of
[1:15:12]
the requirements from the county auditor
[1:15:15]
perspective."
[1:15:16]
Um and so you'll submit all of that.
[1:15:19]
That's why I think you want your date
[1:15:22]
earlier in August because if you don't do this until September
[1:15:26]
1st, they then have 30 days after you
[1:15:30]
submit to certify your rate. They may
[1:15:33]
not take the 30 days, but if they did
[1:15:36]
and you didn't turn it in it like if you
[1:15:39]
adopt Say you adopt on the 30th
[1:15:42]
uh or the 31st of August, you take your
[1:15:45]
7 days, you're now into September and
[1:15:47]
they take their 30 days, you could be
[1:15:50]
October before they certify your rate
[1:15:54]
and and you're home to the races and
[1:15:56]
ready to go. And so for for the people
[1:15:59]
we're working with, we're asking for
[1:16:01]
early August dates even though it means
[1:16:04]
we're going to have to do, you know,
[1:16:06]
some advertising work during kind of
[1:16:08]
what's that peak peak uh holiday season
[1:16:11]
in July,
[1:16:13]
um we think it's worth the trade-off so
[1:16:15]
that we can get the process like
[1:16:17]
front-loaded and get the certified rate
[1:16:19]
back from the tax commission as early as
[1:16:22]
possible. What date did you all put in
[1:16:24]
to the tax or to the county auditor?
[1:16:28]
I believe it was the first Thursday in
[1:16:30]
August. I can probably look it up real
[1:16:31]
quick. I'm pretty sure when we discussed
[1:16:33]
it that we had that and it was our first
[1:16:36]
meeting in August, but I can look.
[1:16:38]
Perfect. No no need to look, but that's
[1:16:40]
just to know I think that's wise because
[1:16:43]
it keeps the process moving along.
[1:16:45]
Hopefully, you'll get that date. It just
[1:16:47]
depends on how they have to balance
[1:16:49]
against everybody else.
[1:16:51]
Okay? And then again, you go back in and
[1:16:54]
you update the entity information in the
[1:16:56]
certified tax rate system. And then
[1:16:58]
there is a form PT-800
[1:17:01]
that you will fill out and you will send
[1:17:03]
to the tax commission and you can send
[1:17:05]
it with the resolution that adopts the
[1:17:08]
tax rate. You can send the In fact, when
[1:17:10]
we write the resolutions, when Frank
[1:17:12]
writes them, he actually authorizes the
[1:17:15]
signing of the PT-800 form in the
[1:17:18]
resolution so that the council has
[1:17:20]
authorized that that can be signed. And
[1:17:22]
I I looked up here, Carrie, and it was
[1:17:24]
we set that for August 6th. Okay,
[1:17:27]
perfect.
[1:17:28]
So so yeah, your advertising, you'll
[1:17:29]
just back up from that, you'll be
[1:17:31]
advertising in July.
[1:17:33]
Um and then within 30 days of your
[1:17:36]
adoption of your final budget, you just
[1:17:38]
do just like you would in a normal
[1:17:40]
process and you submit that to the state
[1:17:41]
auditor.
[1:17:43]
So uh just the few things looking ahead,
[1:17:46]
avail yourself of the tax commission
[1:17:48]
checklist if you haven't already.
[1:17:50]
Um I I spent a lot of time with the tax
[1:17:53]
commission last week in Wayne County
[1:17:55]
when we were doing this training.
[1:17:57]
Their staff want you to succeed.
[1:18:00]
They do not want to have to not certify.
[1:18:03]
Um and so they've really put a lot of
[1:18:05]
time and effort into being very
[1:18:07]
comprehensive in their checklist so that
[1:18:09]
you can get through the process.
[1:18:11]
Um
[1:18:12]
in that, however, they have very limited
[1:18:15]
authority. They have very limited
[1:18:18]
ability to say, "Oh yeah, they meant
[1:18:20]
that. Oh yeah, that's what they meant to
[1:18:22]
do." Uh that that was taken away from
[1:18:25]
them last year. And so you really have
[1:18:28]
to be, you know, super
[1:18:31]
uh detail-oriented on this. And then in
[1:18:33]
your minutes, really get things in those
[1:18:35]
minutes. Otherwise, as your evidence,
[1:18:38]
you're going to need to tell them where
[1:18:39]
the timestamps are so that they can go
[1:18:42]
listen to it because they don't want to
[1:18:43]
have to listen to your whole meeting.
[1:18:45]
They want to be able to go to the
[1:18:46]
timestamp of where
[1:18:48]
the information is. They are doing some
[1:18:51]
trainings.
[1:18:52]
We like I said, we went to one today. I
[1:18:55]
can let you know if I hear of another
[1:18:57]
one. Today's was pretty good. I thought
[1:18:58]
they did a really nice job talking
[1:19:00]
through what they're expecting, but they
[1:19:02]
really leaned hard into the checklist
[1:19:05]
and said that people should use that.
[1:19:07]
And then the supplemental support that
[1:19:09]
we have for you. And then the one-year
[1:19:11]
grace period is for the things in this
[1:19:14]
slide deck that are in aqua only. And
[1:19:17]
what that means is mayor, exactly what
[1:19:19]
you said. If the tax commission looks at
[1:19:21]
it and says, "You know what? They They
[1:19:24]
really did the spirit of what we were
[1:19:26]
after, but they had a technology fail or
[1:19:29]
they had something happen." Then there's
[1:19:32]
that little bit of flexibility, but
[1:19:34]
there is zero flexibility on anything
[1:19:37]
that's a prior requirement. So, it's
[1:19:39]
only the things that are new
[1:19:41]
requirements
[1:19:42]
with this year's
[1:19:44]
lots of legislation.
[1:19:46]
And then I always end with our lawyer's
[1:19:49]
fine print that's not so fine. None of
[1:19:51]
this is legal advice. Lean on your
[1:19:54]
attorney. Your attorney might have you
[1:19:56]
do things different.
[1:19:58]
Frank does things, you know, with a lot
[1:20:00]
of resolutions and ordinances. Other
[1:20:02]
attorneys may choose to do motions on
[1:20:05]
some of it, but we think the best
[1:20:07]
practice is that that way Frank Frank
[1:20:10]
does it because then we've created the
[1:20:12]
record. And so that body of evidence, if
[1:20:15]
we can put it, you know, Frank Frank has
[1:20:17]
in the resolution for one of our clients
[1:20:19]
we're working with now, we had them
[1:20:21]
actually develop their purpose statement
[1:20:24]
of why they're doing the tax increase
[1:20:26]
and we put it as an appendix in the
[1:20:28]
resolution. So that it's just And then
[1:20:31]
they stood up and you were there. You
[1:20:33]
can I I wasn't at that meeting. Tell
[1:20:34]
them how that meeting went.
[1:20:37]
I had to drive down to Wayne County, so
[1:20:39]
he had to cover the meeting. Boy, she's
[1:20:41]
really building you up tonight.
[1:20:43]
I'm pretty impressed with you. Now, they read the statement into the record.
[1:20:49]
The purpose statement of theirs was much
[1:20:51]
longer
[1:20:53]
uh than yours would be. Uh I can see it.
[1:20:56]
You're focused on primarily one issue,
[1:20:58]
that's public safety. Yours is a lot
[1:21:01]
easier to see. So,
[1:21:03]
uh maybe their their purpose statement
[1:21:05]
was much uh
[1:21:07]
had different departments and different
[1:21:09]
issues, but they read in the record.
[1:21:11]
Yeah, I believe in resolutions because
[1:21:14]
we control that the the
[1:21:16]
uh
[1:21:17]
discussion and the the narrative uh
[1:21:19]
and the tax commission. Uh
[1:21:22]
they don't want to be looking into your
[1:21:24]
minutes and uh they and then go look for
[1:21:27]
the recordings. They can see what we've
[1:21:29]
done. Uh
[1:21:31]
that the sooner they they can see that,
[1:21:33]
the sooner you get your tax rate
[1:21:35]
certified.
[1:21:36]
So, I I don't mind putting it piece by piece in a resolution. That's
[1:21:40]
just the way I operate, but
[1:21:43]
you're not required to do that. But your
[1:21:45]
purpose statement should is very
[1:21:47]
straightforward. I I read it. Uh it's
[1:21:49]
pretty straightforward, so
[1:21:51]
you can have it a little easier than
[1:21:52]
most.
[1:21:54]
And just so you know, Frank was a
[1:21:56]
10-year city attorney for Salt Lake and
[1:21:58]
a 20-year city attorney for Murray.
[1:22:00]
So, when I say he's writing all the
[1:22:02]
resolutions, I would not attempt to
[1:22:03]
write the resolutions. He does it
[1:22:05]
himself.
[1:22:07]
Okay? So, that's the end of my training.
[1:22:09]
If there are any questions uh that we
[1:22:11]
haven't asked along the way, I'm well
[1:22:14]
happy to take any. So, I when you asked
[1:22:17]
since I went back and did a little
[1:22:18]
figuring here about most of them do
[1:22:20]
about 14%
[1:22:22]
of their general fund.
[1:22:24]
>> That's average. Yeah.
[1:22:25]
>> So, I figured ours and just for weighing
[1:22:28]
those listening and those here, so our
[1:22:30]
general fund anticipated budget is
[1:22:33]
$4,192.50.
[1:22:37]
Or
[1:22:38]
yes, $190,150.
[1:22:42]
Currently, we have 7%
[1:22:45]
of our property tax
[1:22:48]
is in the general fund. In the general
[1:22:50]
fund because we get this year we'll
[1:22:52]
probably get around $290,000
[1:22:56]
per year tax. With our anticipation
[1:22:59]
of this, which is on our form, of
[1:23:01]
getting $428,000,
[1:23:04]
that will bring us to 10%.
[1:23:07]
So so still below average for the job
[1:23:10]
cities we're at. Yes, we're still below
[1:23:12]
average. And and in my humble policy
[1:23:14]
opinion, moving in the right direction.
[1:23:17]
Cuz I don't like to see us so low in
[1:23:19]
property taxes that I like I said, I
[1:23:22]
like to get a little closer to those
[1:23:24]
services that we can't pull back on if
[1:23:27]
we have the economy constricted on us.
[1:23:30]
And so every other tax that we have is
[1:23:33]
more volatile. It goes up and down with
[1:23:36]
economic cycle. Property tax is the one
[1:23:38]
that stays pretty stable for us. Yeah,
[1:23:40]
carry with the
[1:23:42]
>> [clears throat]
[1:23:43]
>> I like how you talked about putting the
[1:23:45]
monthly impact because when we tell our
[1:23:47]
residents we're looking at a proposed
[1:23:49]
47% increase,
[1:23:51]
that's got a sticker value. But when we
[1:23:53]
tell them it's $3.27
[1:23:55]
per month to be able to have access to
[1:23:58]
those six new officers, it may make that
[1:24:00]
a little easier to swallow.
[1:24:02]
You know, that's a really good point and
[1:24:04]
I should have mentioned this. Um
[1:24:06]
one of the things and in the League of
[1:24:08]
Cities and Towns, I think you saw down
[1:24:10]
in St. George, they've created some
[1:24:12]
training videos on property taxes for
[1:24:14]
you. And part of that is showing the
[1:24:16]
public that when we talk about a 47%
[1:24:20]
property tax increase, We're talking
[1:24:22]
about 47% of probably 8% of the total
[1:24:27]
property tax. And so, it's showing that
[1:24:29]
whole bill so that they can see that you
[1:24:31]
don't take most of it, but the
[1:24:33]
percentage feels so large because it's based on your little sliver of the
[1:24:40]
pie.
[1:24:41]
Um and you may want to figure that out.
[1:24:43]
Unfortunately, you may not put that on
[1:24:46]
that statement. We had or on the
[1:24:48]
schedule. We had that on a schedule and
[1:24:51]
the tax commission said, "You You That
[1:24:54]
is an assumption because you don't know
[1:24:56]
what every other entity is doing. And
[1:24:58]
so, you don't know in that year what
[1:25:01]
that slice of the pie is." But you could
[1:25:03]
say in other materials,
[1:25:06]
you know, you could you could have some
[1:25:08]
other materials produced that say, "You
[1:25:10]
know, we only take of your total
[1:25:12]
property tax bill, we only get 7 or 8 or
[1:25:16]
9% of it." Whatever that is, you can
[1:25:19]
look at it and see. Um and that 47% is
[1:25:23]
just of that little slice. But yes,
[1:25:25]
that's why we like getting it down to
[1:25:27]
that monthly number because then
[1:25:29]
people Otherwise, they think it's 47% of
[1:25:32]
$2,000
[1:25:33]
rather than 47% of the little slice that
[1:25:36]
you get.
[1:25:38]
Karen, um actually this year too in the
[1:25:41]
legislature, as I recall, they actually
[1:25:44]
had a bill that they were looking into
[1:25:46]
that was going to limit cities to a 5%
[1:25:49]
Yeah. annual bump in property taxes for
[1:25:53]
our city
[1:25:55]
wouldn't amount to We couldn't even buy
[1:25:56]
popcorn with that. Well, and I think
[1:25:59]
that's why we have 50 communities going
[1:26:01]
through this because I think that people
[1:26:03]
understand that the reality of that
[1:26:05]
legislation coming back is likely.
[1:26:09]
And so, they need to get their property
[1:26:11]
tax kind of right-sized so that if they
[1:26:14]
then are limited in any given year to
[1:26:16]
5%.
[1:26:17]
It's it's more doable. If you're a
[1:26:20]
community like some of those that I
[1:26:22]
showed you that are less than 1% reliant
[1:26:24]
on property tax, if you if we get
[1:26:27]
limited to 5%, that community will never
[1:26:29]
catch up. They will never be able to
[1:26:32]
have property tax paid for their
[1:26:34]
services in any kind of a holistic way.
[1:26:38]
So, I that's a very good point and that
[1:26:40]
was a piece of legislation that didn't
[1:26:42]
pass this year. We fully expect it to be
[1:26:45]
back. So, it it closed?
[1:26:47]
Um yeah, it was talked about deep into
[1:26:50]
the session.
[1:26:51]
Carrie, do you
[1:26:53]
think there would be any caveats to
[1:26:54]
cities
[1:26:56]
Obviously, it's hard to look in the
[1:26:58]
future, especially with our legislature,
[1:27:00]
but
[1:27:01]
would they write in do you think they
[1:27:02]
would write in any kind of exception for
[1:27:04]
cities that basically don't collect a
[1:27:07]
property tax that that 5% cap would keep
[1:27:10]
them behind for decades?
[1:27:14]
I I I could not presume to
[1:27:17]
think what they would do.
[1:27:20]
Yeah, but but
[1:27:22]
I think that the headwinds against
[1:27:24]
property tax are really strong right now
[1:27:27]
and that's what you're seeing in the
[1:27:29]
legislative session, but I do think that
[1:27:32]
Cam and the team at the League of Cities
[1:27:34]
and Towns were able to do a great job of
[1:27:36]
educating legislators about our needs.
[1:27:41]
You know, and then there were the bills
[1:27:43]
that were limiting
[1:27:45]
our fund balance and things like that.
[1:27:47]
And so, I think that we did a really
[1:27:49]
good job educating this year,
[1:27:52]
but I do I mean, this process and for
[1:27:55]
those who might be watching online feels
[1:27:57]
very cumbersome, but it it is believe
[1:28:00]
me, it is mountains better than two
[1:28:02]
budgets.
[1:28:03]
And so, and and and honestly, it's a
[1:28:07]
transparency we should be having.
[1:28:09]
They're discussions we should be having
[1:28:11]
and we should be having them right now
[1:28:14]
in May and in June, not in August. I
[1:28:18]
mean, August should be perfunctory
[1:28:21]
because we really should have hashed
[1:28:23]
things out in May and June.
[1:28:25]
You also made I believe you made your
[1:28:28]
slide presentation available to us that
[1:28:30]
you presented at the League of Cities.
[1:28:32]
There are some changes in this. Will you
[1:28:34]
also forward or make us a copy so that
[1:28:36]
we can This is This is on your computer
[1:28:38]
already.
[1:28:39]
>> All right. I just want to say you've
[1:28:40]
already got it. Yes, we made a couple of
[1:28:42]
tweaks. And we're And we're continuing
[1:28:45]
to tweak like Frank said, you know,
[1:28:47]
we're going to figure out this new thing
[1:28:48]
we learned today.
[1:28:50]
Um I sent it off to the league just
[1:28:52]
before we came here with a headline of
[1:28:54]
Houston, we might have a problem.
[1:28:57]
Um and so I just want them to be talking
[1:28:59]
about it because we want to stay in
[1:29:01]
front of these issues as we all go
[1:29:02]
through this together this year.
[1:29:05]
Okay?
[1:29:07]
Any other questions, comments?
[1:29:09]
And I just want to say we've tried to be
[1:29:11]
really transparent with this and when we
[1:29:13]
went through our, you know, tentative
[1:29:16]
budget when we approved that because
[1:29:17]
that's we knew there was this increase
[1:29:20]
that was coming and that's one thing
[1:29:21]
that our city treasurer really
[1:29:23]
recommended. Look, we can keep
[1:29:25]
subtracting from fund balance.
[1:29:28]
But that's one-time money.
[1:29:30]
But eventually there it's no longer
[1:29:32]
there and if we don't somewhat start to
[1:29:34]
get on top of this Yep.
[1:29:37]
then we're we're not not being very
[1:29:40]
solvent as a city. Well, it's not
[1:29:42]
fiscally responsible, right? It's just
[1:29:44]
like in our home budgets. When we have
[1:29:46]
savings, we get to spend our savings
[1:29:49]
once.
[1:29:50]
Then it's gone and then we don't get to
[1:29:52]
spend it again and if we don't have a
[1:29:53]
way to replenish our savings and to make
[1:29:56]
sure we've got it there, it's it's
[1:29:57]
exactly the same scenario.
[1:30:00]
Um and so I think your treasurer was
[1:30:02]
right that if you've been, you know, for
[1:30:04]
a few years spending down fund balance
[1:30:06]
as the way to balance the budget, you
[1:30:08]
don't get to do that forever. At some
[1:30:11]
point, you have to say, we need
[1:30:14]
additional ongoing revenue. And and then
[1:30:17]
maybe you follow up with a a policy
[1:30:19]
discussion of, you know, do we want to
[1:30:22]
only do this once every 13 years or do
[1:30:25]
we want to do it with more regularity so
[1:30:28]
that we don't get ourselves into this
[1:30:31]
position. So that we you know, and and
[1:30:33]
then you adopt a policy uh that would be
[1:30:36]
we're either going to do smaller more
[1:30:38]
frequent or we're going to do less
[1:30:40]
frequent larger.
[1:30:42]
That's I mean that those are your
[1:30:43]
choices, right? Um I would always
[1:30:46]
advocate that never isn't a choice
[1:30:50]
if you're being fiscally responsible
[1:30:52]
with the community.
[1:30:54]
Well, and that's the one issue that we
[1:30:55]
are dealing with is we have a lot of
[1:30:56]
capital improvement projects that we
[1:30:58]
need to take care of and our fund
[1:31:01]
balance isn't going to cover them. So we
[1:31:03]
need
[1:31:04]
stuff like this to Yeah.
[1:31:06]
to help us still provide services that
[1:31:09]
we need for the city.
[1:31:10]
>> Right.
[1:31:10]
There's another community right now who
[1:31:13]
you know, they just they actually took a
[1:31:15]
dollar bill and and I liked the way I
[1:31:18]
can send these visuals to you if you
[1:31:20]
want them, but they took a dollar bill
[1:31:22]
and they broke down the dollar bill so
[1:31:24]
that people could see where that was
[1:31:26]
going to where a dollar of the tax
[1:31:27]
increase was going to. And of their
[1:31:30]
dollar, 43 cents is going to capital
[1:31:34]
projects.
[1:31:35]
And so they they just said, we're so far
[1:31:37]
behind on capital infrastructure that a
[1:31:40]
good chunk of this increase that we're
[1:31:42]
asking for is going to every year we're
[1:31:45]
we've adopted a capital improvement plan
[1:31:48]
and we're going to dedicate this ongoing
[1:31:51]
revenue source to funding those
[1:31:53]
projects. You know, and I said Frank,
[1:31:55]
wow, almost half of their increase is
[1:31:58]
going to cap their capital projects to
[1:32:01]
fund capital projects. We for sure need
[1:32:03]
you to send us that dollar.
[1:32:05]
Okay. Okay, I'll send my I thought they
[1:32:07]
were really great visuals and so I'll
[1:32:09]
send them to you because it just breaks
[1:32:11]
it down into a way and then they had a
[1:32:14]
pie chart that showed, you know, how
[1:32:16]
much of the property tax bill total goes
[1:32:18]
to their community. Um I just I thought
[1:32:21]
they did a really nice job. So I'll send
[1:32:23]
them off, Mayor. I'll get back to you.
[1:32:25]
Great.
[1:32:27]
See, I I like to go look at all this
[1:32:28]
stuff, isn't it nice?
[1:32:30]
Thank you. Is there any other questions
[1:32:32]
that we have
[1:32:34]
from the audience that is here? Any
[1:32:37]
other questions that are
[1:32:39]
I don't have a question, but thank you
[1:32:41]
so much for coming. I I don't even know
[1:32:45]
I just want to come give you a great big
[1:32:47]
hug just for
[1:32:48]
being here and explaining it to I mean,
[1:32:50]
this is the second time I've heard it
[1:32:52]
from you.
[1:32:53]
And it made more sense to me tonight and
[1:32:57]
by having it on our site, if anybody's
[1:33:00]
uh listening to it,
[1:33:02]
just go back and watch it and
[1:33:05]
uh we really appreciate you. Yeah,
[1:33:07]
absolutely and thank you for inviting us
[1:33:10]
to come.
[1:33:11]
Um and then also, you can get links to
[1:33:14]
these, but you know, all of the
[1:33:15]
different budget trainings that I do for
[1:33:17]
you, if you want to use those with your
[1:33:20]
community to just really talk about how
[1:33:22]
you budget and how the budget process
[1:33:23]
works, those are all on the League
[1:33:26]
website as well. So Yeah, I was going to
[1:33:28]
ask cuz this is a public meeting, so I'm
[1:33:30]
sure we'll show it. It'll be listed cuz
[1:33:32]
that's going to be displayed. So I
[1:33:34]
wasn't sure how that works for your
[1:33:36]
organization to allow your training to
[1:33:38]
just be published out there, but I you
[1:33:40]
know, we got to let it go. It's It's
[1:33:41]
Yep, it's fine. It's It's my little
[1:33:43]
business that I come out on. I do
[1:33:46]
contract with the League of Cities and
[1:33:47]
Towns for theirs and they put it out. Um
[1:33:50]
but you know, Frank and I, we just
[1:33:52]
laugh. We're like, we do this and then
[1:33:54]
we just give it away to other people. We
[1:33:56]
appreciate
[1:33:56]
>> [laughter]
[1:33:57]
>> you both and I'm not going to come hug
[1:33:59]
you.
[1:34:02]
Cuz he's a nervous Nellie.
[1:34:15]
» [laughter]
[1:34:18]
>> Alrighty, well hopefully I'll see you
[1:34:19]
all in October, right? In Salt Lake
[1:34:21]
City. Yes, and thank you so much and I
[1:34:23]
will I'll just tell everybody anytime I
[1:34:26]
met one of the Utah League meetings and
[1:34:29]
I see Carrie's name, I attend every
[1:34:32]
single one of the seminars that she does
[1:34:34]
and after I've been down to the League
[1:34:36]
in St. George and then you presented it
[1:34:38]
online, I watched it again online and we
[1:34:41]
had talked about it, those of us that
[1:34:43]
were at the meeting. We could have tried
[1:34:45]
to have explained this, it would have
[1:34:47]
never ever been the information that you
[1:34:50]
were able to do and that's why we felt
[1:34:52]
like this was so important. And just as
[1:34:54]
you mentioned, it'll now be online that
[1:34:56]
people can go on, they can watch this
[1:34:58]
over and over and hopefully people will.
[1:35:00]
So again, yes, thank you and thank you
[1:35:02]
as well for coming. Yes, thank you.
[1:35:05]
And with that, um
[1:35:07]
is there I don't think we didn't
[1:35:09]
actually make a motion second, does
[1:35:11]
someone want to make a motion to
[1:35:12]
adjourn? So moved. Okay. Okay. We have a
[1:35:15]
motion a second. A second. Okay, all in
[1:35:17]
favor? Aye. Okay, this is now our
[1:35:19]
meeting is adjourned. Thank you so much
[1:35:21]
for coming. Yep, thank you. Recording.