[0:25] It's not a
>> Welcome everyone. It is 6:30. I'm going
[0:28] to go ahead and get started. Thank you
so much for being here. Um we'll call to
[0:33] order this public hearing on our fiscal
year 2027
[0:37] property tax increase. It is Wednesday,
August 12th, 6:30 p.m. We're at Lot 2,
[0:43] Castle Valley Drive, and also on Zoom
tonight.
[0:47] Um
we'll do a quick roll call. Uh then I'll
[0:51] just go over quickly to as a refresher
of what we're doing, and we'll open for
[0:56] public comment.
>> So here we have Jasmine Docken, Pamela
[1:00] Gibson, Tory Hill, and Robert O'Brien,
Colleen Thompson, George Hawley, the
[1:06] Augustins, the Browns, Norman Lewellen,
Don Montoya, and Dave Byers on Zoom.
[1:15] » You ready?
>> Okay.
[1:17] » Okay, so um I know this has been all
over our website and our emails at Town
[1:23] of Castle Valley will consider an
increase to its property tax rate from
[1:27] .000864
[1:30] to .001193
to generate an additional 75,000.
[1:36] The following information is intended to
provide decision makers and the public
[1:40] with an explanation of how the town's
operations would be affected if the
[1:45] proposed property tax increase is
adopted.
[1:49] The Town of Castle Valley's current
property tax rate is .000864.
[1:54] Town of Castle Valley's current property
tax income is 134,000
[1:59] $850.
The proposed revenue with the tax change
[2:04] would be $209,850.
[2:08] And the new property tax revenue to
Castle Valley will be $73,666. It's an
[2:13] estimated increase to the town of Castle
Valley's
[2:18] property tax revenue of 54.04%.
[2:23] And we're not sure why it comes out at
73,666
[2:28] instead of 75,000. That's what the state
generated, so.
[2:33] I'll go ahead and open to public
comments.
[2:36] » Oh.
Hey, I
[2:38] » Yeah, George, go ahead.
>> That was quick. I was expecting Jetson's
[2:43] other things.
[2:46] Okay, you proposed to raise property
taxes.
[2:50] The one thing that you didn't mention
here, you already received a substantial
[2:55] property tax increase last year because
of valuation went up.
[2:59] That's a windfall.
Um so, and um
[3:06] now you seek another 50%.
The first thing that I noticed you list
[3:12] a medium home price of
whatever it is in your about 500 and
[3:17] something thousand. There isn't a house
in Castle Valley that sells at that.
[3:21] Recent sales are 850 to 1.1 4 million.
So, the medium here is probably closer
[3:27] to 950. So, that increase
that you published here is going to be
[3:33] much larger for the average property
owner in the valley.
[3:37] So, that's a little deceptive, you know,
and we need to do that before we do any
[3:43] homestead exemptions.
Um now you
[3:47] seek to double your tax revenues for
2024. And then it was a property tax,
[3:53] property value increases about double.
Um my main concern is that Castle Valley
[3:59] Drive is going to be due for major
repairs and replacement in the near
[4:03] future.
And then you're probably going to do the
[4:06] same thing again. You need to raise
taxes cuz you don't have the revenue to
[4:10] support that.
In the meantime, we have been wasting
[4:14] tens of thousands of dollars on biased
water studies and test wells
[4:19] that will at best benefit a few and
probably no one here in the valley
[4:25] unless they're not
that they're scientifically based.
[4:30] Uh and we've been doing extensive road
repairs on some of the dirt roads like
[4:36] the ones that leave lead to the upper
eighties.
[4:39] Uh and that's will have a limited short
life and benefit a few residents. And we
[4:44] need to remember
people that live in these areas
[4:48] typically buy these properties at a
discount.
[4:51] And then they expect the same service
that other parts of the valley have.
[4:56] When you live in Castle Valley, one
thing being
[5:00] that I strongly feel about, we're a
rural community. We're not a city. We
[5:04] don't have blacktop roads everywhere.
So you need a consider four-wheel drive
[5:10] is a must. We had that in Salt Lake
County when I was president of a
[5:14] homeowners association.
That's what we told people. It rains, it
[5:19] washes, and you cannot drive your normal
road car, your minivan, or whatever,
[5:25] Teslas, whatever they are
uh through those roads. You need a
[5:30] rugged vehicle.
And people who want to live in this
[5:33] community must be aware that some
services are simply not economically
[5:38] feasible and accept it or don't move
here.
[5:42] It's that simple.
In any case, I I see any foreseeable end
[5:47] to town's need for additional revenue.
And the especially the road maintenance.
[5:54] Many of the old residents that live here
on a fixed income
[5:58] and they simply cannot afford these
continuing increases both from the
[6:03] county and the town. It's a it's a big
burden
[6:06] that we need to be aware of.
And therefore I consider that
[6:11] unacceptable.
The town sort of brought that upon
[6:16] themselves when they took over the road
maintenance from the county.
[6:20] It was about the dumbest thing that was
ever done, but some of the people in
[6:24] charge at the time and it's not on here
had a vested interest. They thought they
[6:29] could do better than the county and we
get punished for it now.
[6:34] Um
I think we need to look at the road
[6:38] maintenance, see if we could rather than
increase taxes bring our costs down. I
[6:42] noticed
Lazarus Lane has been regraded and
[6:46] regravelled, partially regravelled a few
times.
[6:49] Personally, I don't think it's necessary
cuz you reach our driveway and it's
[6:53] muddy and non-drivable
uh as ever. So I think we need to strike
[6:59] a balance that everyone needs to live
with.
[7:02] And maybe rather than
just increasing the taxes look at what
[7:07] we can do
maintenance-wise, what is necessary and
[7:11] what's not.
You know, having a town as you Everyone
[7:16] here knows my opinion. I love people I'm
dealing with. They're great people.
[7:21] But what's in it for me?
You know, I pay all these taxes at the
[7:26] way county. What additional services do
I get and other than
[7:30] a couple of notaries a year, probably
not much. So
[7:35] the whole aspect is not so being in town
needs to be evaluated. Can we do that?
[7:40] And if so, we need to do a long-term
plan and not just a one-time tax
[7:45] increase. What do they offer people? And
there are some things that we would
[7:50] offer.
Uh protection against overbuilding, but
[7:54] that can be achieved in other ways if we
wanted to.
[7:59] And if we had no property taxes, Castle
Valley taxes, the average owner of
[8:04] $850,000
home
[8:06] would save $440 a year before and $640 a
year after the proposed tax increases.
[8:15] And the county, we already pay for road
maintenance, so
[8:19] I personally see
don't see a lot unless we reinvent the
[8:24] town, then maybe that is doable.
But absent of that,
[8:30] one final closing point and I know I'm
probably over my 3 minutes.
[8:34] The In 2026,
South Hadley, Massachusetts,
[8:40] proposed a property tax for a hike of
50%.
[8:43] And that would have been phased in over
several years, not over one.
[8:48] And the voters rejected by 65 to 32%
[8:55] The largest increases Utah is in Draper,
25% increase for the 26-27 year. So,
[9:03] Castle Valley stands out with that
request.
[9:07] Maybe we need to look at services facing
an over several years.
[9:12] But a one-year tax increase of that
magnitude is a different burden on the
[9:17] community.
>> Thank you, Butch.
[9:20] I had um Dennis, was your hand waving up
back there?
[9:24] » Well, I couldn't hear it from here.
>> Oh, you were just waving your hand.
[9:27] Don, would you like to go next?
>> Uh has the town looked at alternative
[9:33] funding sources
rather than a taxing goods.
[9:38] If so,
what's the feasibility of that?
[9:43] » Like what alternatives? I mean, we have
definitely been using grants this past 2
[9:47] years to do a lot of projects that we've
done.
[9:50] Unfortunately, to do anything, if you
don't have money in the bank, you just
[9:56] the grant wouldn't have even existed for
us if we couldn't have paid for it and
[10:00] then been reimbursed.
So, if we don't have capital projects
[10:05] money in the bank,
you can't even use those resources.
[10:11] » We We received 500,000 over 500,000 for
the Colburn project.
[10:19] » So, grants are another source of
>> Yeah.
[10:22] » They can, but if you don't have money to
pay up front,
[10:28] grants are all based on reimbursement.
>> Not necessarily.
[10:31] » All the ones that are available to
municipalities thank you for being here.
[10:37] » What about
restructuring
[10:42] the tax income? So, it would Draper was
mentioned, for example.
[10:47] Draper has a
absentee owner tax,
[10:54] which
means if
[10:57] you if the if
you're a resident of Draper
[11:02] and you're not the property owner,
then that is looked at
[11:10] taxing differently.
So, it's a uh
[11:14] occupancy tax.
So, second homeowners in Draper,
[11:21] that second home is taxed 50% higher.
>> It's the same in the entire state.
[11:26] » Yeah.
>> Yeah, we get taxed more for being out of
[11:28] state.
>> Well, actually, I think you get a
[11:31] discount for living here.
>> Right. If it's a half
[11:36] » You're paying 100% of your second
homeowner and if we're full-time
[11:39] residents we get a total of 45.
>> But but if there if there's a second
[11:43] home here and it's not the primary
residence of the owner of that property
[11:49] are they taxed the same or differently?
>> They're taxed at 100%.
[11:54] » Pardon?
>> They pay 100%.
[11:56] » That's not true. If it's a rental
property and it's someone's primary
[12:01] residence, it is taxed as a primary
residence.
[12:05] So it it's different if it's a
a nightly rental which we don't have,
[12:12] but in town nightly rentals are taxed at
a way higher rate
[12:16] than
um
[12:19] » Right, they they occupy
So we that's that's
[12:23] and I'm not saying it's a port port it's
a source of revenue here
[12:27] necessarily.
>> Well, it is because second homeowners
[12:31] are charged at the
full rate uh so
[12:36] if if you live here and you're
you're taxed on your residence
[12:41] the value of your home, you're only
taxed on half of that value.
[12:46] If you don't live here and it's not your
primary residence, you are taxed on 100%
[12:51] of the value of your home.
>> Why not 150%?
[12:55] » Yeah, that would be a question for the
state.
[12:58] » Yeah.
>> Well, I don't know that it's I'm just
[13:00] using Draper as an example. My my son
lives in Draper and
[13:06] he has a neighbor
that the house is a rental.
[13:11] The tax on that rental
is 50% more than it would be if that
[13:20] was a primary residence. It's not a
primary residence, it's a rental.
[13:26] Well, that's a higher tax.
>> If he had her long-term rental he could
[13:30] file a four
primary residence
[13:35] that's an incentive to have long-term
occupancy instead of
[13:40] the short-term
vacation if you rented out on an annual
[13:44] contract you file a form with your
county assessor and then it's taxed at a
[13:49] different rate primary the county tax
I'm talking about the municipality tax
[13:54] that is based on what the county is the
county gives you 50%
[13:59] the municipality gives you 50% Well no
but
[14:05] the municipality gets its tax rate
so when when the taxes went up last year
[14:12] because everybody's assessed value went
up we did not get any more money than
[14:19] prior year yeah let me give you that
example so 2025 our actual property tax
[14:25] revenue was a hundred thirty-two
thousand three hundred ninety-eight
[14:28] dollars and forty-four cents our
amended budget for 2026 our property tax
[14:35] revenue for the year was
whopping increase of like two grand a
[14:40] hundred thirty-four thousand eight
hundred fifty dollars so we did not have
[14:45] a windfall from that assessment you
should be you should be assessed You
[14:51] should be assessed on the
whole
[14:56] you have
all I'm saying is that there are other
[14:58] municipalities Boulder where I lived
previously
[15:01] if you are not a primary resident
living in that home regardless of
[15:07] whether it's a short-term or long-term
rent
[15:11] that is taxed higher than what a single
property owner would be paying do we
[15:20] have that structure here?
[15:25] » 100% versus 50%.
>> No, 150%.
[15:30] » That's a whole state thing. You'd have
to have the whole legislature change
[15:34] that.
>> That's not a municipal decision.
[15:36] » That is That's not
>> something that we even have any
[15:39] any control over.
[15:43] » Okay, I've got hands. I saw hands.
[15:46] Paulina, go ahead.
>> Um I've I've spent kind of hours going
[15:50] into how our property taxes
work, how they're calculated,
[15:55] and um
even though because of that assessment a
[16:00] year or two ago, everybody's tax here
went up,
[16:03] that money didn't go to the town. It
went
[16:07] toward lowering the rate for other parts
of the county.
[16:11] It's it's very not it's very
counterintuitive the way the taxes work,
[16:16] and there are some um
uh
[16:19] letter or somebody has some resources
explaining this that I would be happy to
[16:24] put on the our website to help people
understand it.
[16:29] But also, if you look at your tax
statement, the town's portion of what
[16:33] you're paying is less than 10%.
So, a 50% increase of that 50% sounds
[16:40] scary, but it's 50% of such a small
number compared to the schools and the
[16:46] library and the fire department. That is
>> Well, that's a different meeting,
[16:53] schools and libraries.
>> I I don't
[16:56] I don't have any kids at school. But
anyway, so it it's it's very
[17:01] counterintuitive and it's kind of it
feels backwards the way they figure the
[17:05] percentage
and the amounts, and then the the amount
[17:10] of revenue through the whole county is
kind of spread out among the county. So,
[17:16] ours went up, somebody else's went down.
When I got my tax statement recently, it
[17:22] said some other part of the county got
reassessed, so your tax
[17:27] amount might go down because of that.
Well, mine didn't, it went up. But
[17:32] anyway, it's it seems really weird the
way they do it, but I checked and
[17:37] apparently that's
nationwide. It's almost the same
[17:42] everywhere.
>> They're supposed to take the whole
[17:45] county value as a whole, yes, and then
proportionally allocate to the
[17:50] assessment. So, that is correct. Maybe
we need that new subdivision they're
[17:54] trying to build with a 10 million dollar
homes.
[17:59] » Chances are you got a tax rate going
higher.
[18:01] » Mhm. That won't help they created their
own municipality.
[18:04] » That's not
>> Right.
[18:06] » But the county staff is still there.
Schools and everything.
[18:10] » But the point is we did not get a
windfall in the town because of that
[18:14] increase. Um
>> I would complain, you should have.
[18:18] » Yeah, I would.
>> Yeah.
[18:20] » A lot of you
You submit your budget, your whether
[18:23] you're the library or the fire
department or town or whatever, you
[18:26] submit your budget and then the county
decides if you get all the money you
[18:30] asked for. And we haven't had an
increase for like 10 years. 11. 11
[18:36] years.
>> years
[18:38] » So, anyway, it's it's
it's a system that's hard to understand,
[18:43] but
>> And 11 years ago, when we did ask for an
[18:47] increase, it was specifically for water
study, it was also for the culvert
[18:52] replacement.
And if we wouldn't have done that then
[18:55] and started putting money every year
into the capital funds, we wouldn't have
[18:59] been able to do that. And it took that
long.
[19:02] Yeah, the other problem is that the the
culvert project happened at the same
[19:07] time that we would have been chip
sealing House Valley Drive, which is
[19:10] very due.
So, this is basically just going right
[19:15] back to that so that we can get that
done by next fall.
[19:19] » I'm waiting for a lawsuit on that Clover
project.
[19:23] » Are you?
>> Well, if you're coming into town and you
[19:26] go and you hit the corner the the safety
guardrail safety
[19:30] » probably going over 50 miles an hour.
>> No. No, because that safety guardrail is
[19:34] going to trip a car. It's not going to
hold a car back. It's not It's not high
[19:38] enough.
I I guarantee you that somebody is going
[19:42] to at that turn that guardrail is not
high enough to hold the car back should
[19:48] they hit it.
The car is going to flip over that
[19:50] guardrail and there's going to be a
oncoming lawsuit.
[19:54] » But the guardrail is only on one side.
And it's on the uphill side, not on the
[19:58] downhill side.
That's what I find interesting.
[20:03] » I just I Every time I go around that
corner coming into town
[20:07] somebody is going especially
>> Okay, we're we are going to need to get
[20:11] » Well, I'm just saying
get ready for a lawsuit.
[20:16] » Go ahead, James.
>> Why isn't there a guardrail on the
[20:21] downhill side?
>> Well, I just
[20:26] You said it never was.
>> But that doesn't
[20:29] » We We noticed it is because
[20:33] budget, not on the guardrail, not on the
pending lawsuits, and I'd like to move
[20:37] back to the budget and our tax increase.
>> Thank you.
[20:41] You're right.
[20:44] I will take more open public comments
about the budget.
[20:48] » Uh Okay, and Bill Gaston, 100 West Pace.
Uh appreciate the open town hall here
[20:54] just to talk about it.
Recognizing last year's windfall didn't
[20:58] really materialize. Uh it is
question the hardship and the potential
[21:04] for deferral
that I do think there's some serious
[21:07] conversation around
we all took the hit but didn't receive
[21:10] any of the benefit and there may be
further legislation or representation
[21:15] that needs to take place for the the
this Castle Valley. I I am curious also
[21:20] the property amount of property uh and
the improvement of property over the
[21:24] past decade has been substantial in the
valley.
[21:27] Uh and I don't think we are
compensated basically for the change in
[21:33] what's available what
is currently in the valley. It seems
[21:36] like we should be receiving a a better
deal from the county on these increases.
[21:42] I know we all know that. I think we all
know that and I think we actually need
[21:45] to have legal representation to try to
get that. Uh 10 years ago if people
[21:50] weren't here for the past decade yeah,
they probably still think there's open
[21:54] land but take a look. There's properties
everywhere here and we actually need
[21:58] better services and roads and everything
else to make that happen. So as a point
[22:02] I think yes, we got I believe the prior
administration screwed and I I would say
[22:07] that as a group I think you could have a
relatively good pitchforks and torches
[22:11] conversation with the county regarding
that. Uh but knowing that the you
[22:16] answered my first question here, there
wasn't a sudden increase in revenue.
[22:21] Probably my comment here really is a
question of the three to five year
[22:24] projection
of what is going to happen cuz I can see
[22:28] us being here next August having the
same conversation.
[22:32] Uh I think we are actually behind but
we're not reaping the benefits of what
[22:35] should have coming be coming back from
the county.
[22:38] So it would be interesting just in terms
of the KPIs, what's the standard we're
[22:42] going to hold
what is the correct amount of property
[22:46] tax for our valley through 2032?
Uh I don't know if we know that.
[22:51] Actually you guys keep a a very nice
budget. I didn't get a chance to print
[22:54] it off and and bring it along but uh it
would be interesting to project out the
[22:58] next few years because I don't think
your current increase
[23:02] is actually
uh
[23:05] going to satisfy the required needs for
the valley over the next 5 years. And
[23:09] the community
takes the hardship and then the county
[23:13] takes all the money. So,
I do think that there is a legal battle
[23:18] over the next 5 years to say we need our
share back because if you're going to
[23:22] improve taxes, I came from California.
Taxes like the somehow you spell tax
[23:27] with California. I don't know how it
works, but
[23:30] I'm used to taxes. I get it, but I also
had
[23:33] roads and schools and lights and by
golly if we didn't get down to the last
[23:38] penny
we were raising cane to get our money
[23:42] out of the county and the state to make
that happen. So, I think my primary
[23:46] concern, yes, I'd love the property tax
increase to not happen. That's sure.
[23:51] But, the reality is if I'm going to pay
the tax, by golly this valley actually
[23:56] needs to get what they deserve out of
it.
[23:58] And I think that would be where I'd
stake my flag for the next 5 years.
[24:03] We got to get roads and
guardrails. I won't do that.
[24:08] But, the idea is if we're going to be
paying more, we get more. And I don't
[24:12] think the past increase and I guess it's
11 years since the last time we had the
[24:16] increase
time to to portion
[24:19] pitchfork this thing because we're not
getting what we need out of the county
[24:23] and the state to support this valley as
it is today.
[24:26] » One comment on to that, we need a post
office here
[24:30] cuz we can't get we can't have a post
office
[24:34] » I actually I I take everything back.
Post office.
[24:42] But,
but conceptually I get the reality of
[24:45] taxes, but I don't think we're getting
our due for the increase that these
[24:50] these folks, especially the fixed income
folks they didn't move out here to
[24:54] suddenly pay three four times the taxes.
So, I see that happening over the next
[24:58] five
>> They reassessed them. When it was
[24:59] assessed at one value and then a year or
two later it doubled.
[25:03] » Yeah.
>> Yeah, improvement. We're still living in
[25:05] a fifth wheel and yet you know, with a
the you know, a ruthless thing and and
[25:11] yet we're taxed you know, they get
increased.
[25:13] » It's probably worth four times as much.
>> It's really expensive.
[25:15] » And so, that's that's what got me is
that like yes, they they assess reassess
[25:21] the value for way more. Like and now
they're like way more and now you're the
[25:26] math doesn't even work. So, they tax us.
They increase it but then you don't get
[25:32] the same amount of the increase. That
doesn't make any sense.
[25:35] » Right.
>> Not unless we ask for it, which is what
[25:36] we have to do and
>> Yeah. Yeah.
[25:39] » Okay, so you're asking for it is not
going to affect us. You're just asking
[25:43] for your share out of what they're
taking from us already. It's not going
[25:47] to increase our
>> No, it won't.
[25:49] » It won't.
>> Well, see that's
[25:50] » That's the only and that's the only way
>> But
[25:53] they should be just giving you what
giving us what we're we're paying
[25:57] what Yeah.
>> I think we're all in agreement on that.
[26:00] » Yeah.
>> But we just don't know what to do about
[26:03] it. How do you get the county to
I mean, they'd rather spend money on the
[26:07] arches shovel than they
>> We should get three of all commissioners
[26:13] on the county board. That would
dramatically change.
[26:16] » Yeah.
>> Or at least have residents go to the
[26:18] meetings.
>> Mhm.
[26:20] » And some of them you got that quorum.
>> And remember in November, vote.
[26:24] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[26:25] » Amen.
>> Uh so,
[26:27] » Yeah, that's my 10 cents. I don't think
I'm
[26:31] I know the tax increase is real but I
just don't think we're getting our fair
[26:34] share. Happy to have a separate meeting
on how to figure that out.
[26:39] » Thank you.
>> Yeah.
[26:42] » Anyone other than calling that hasn't
gone
[26:44] Just sorry but I'll come back to you.
Anyone online um have public comment
[26:50] that has not spoken?
[26:53] » Uh yeah, Dave Fry here. Hi, guys.
>> Hi, Dave.
[26:57] » Hi, everybody. Um
yeah, my comment's pretty simple. I
[27:00] mean, I'm looking at my tax property
valuation and tax changes notice that we
[27:06] just all got um recently from the uh
from uh Gabriel at the uh uh uh
[27:14] uh Grant County uh
auditor with uh
[27:18] tr- uh clerk or whatever. Um
It seems pretty
[27:23] simple to me. I do understand
everybody's uh issues um and uh wanting
[27:28] these these different things. Um And the
last uh gentleman that mentioned um how
[27:34] we're not getting um our share out of
the big price tag that the county puts
[27:40] on their dollar amount. Um I totally
agree with that. But, I'm looking at my
[27:45] tax bill and it says the increase is
$213.41.
[27:50] That's how much my taxes are going to go
up for the increase to Castle Valley. Am
[27:55] I reading that right?
>> Totally. Yep.
[27:58] » Okay. Um
and um
[28:02] I mean
and we have two properties here and uh
[28:06] so we're going to have to pay some extra
money. I am totally okay
[28:11] with giving
Castle Valley $214.41.
[28:18] Um
for each property. Um it uh I understand
[28:23] that the bills are big, but the portion
that goes to us to our town is small.
[28:29] And I think Tory really explained it
pretty pretty well there, too. So,
[28:34] $213.41,
I'm all for um
[28:39] the tax increase on my properties, our
properties, Susan and I's, to um
[28:45] uh
better the roads and continue uh
[28:48] uh
making the town better.
[28:53] That's my two cents.
>> Thank you, Dave. Thank you, Dave.
[28:58] » Ruth, um you've got us tonight. I agree
with Dave. I mean
[29:03] obviously we we can afford the increase.
We think that it's necessary. The town
[29:09] needs the money. I think it would be
great to get more from the county. I
[29:14] don't know if we can figure that out,
but we need the money. We need the money
[29:17] for our roads. We need it for all the
other activities that we're doing and
[29:23] I we love living here and it's
cheaper than where we came from. So,
[29:28] we're we're up for going for the extra
tax.
[29:32] We support it.
>> Thank you, Bonnie.
[29:35] » Thank you, Ruth.
>> Hey, Colleen.
[29:38] » Um I just wanted to say that somebody
said vote. Um
[29:43] the last let's see when we had the new
assessment a couple years ago, a lot of
[29:48] us filed a protest.
And I don't know how many people
[29:53] attended the Zoom meeting of the uh
when they had the hearing for that.
[30:00] Um it was very unsatisfactory.
The assessor apparently has nobody
[30:06] running against her.
So, I would
[30:09] keep that in mind
cuz the assessor was invited to come and
[30:14] talk to us out here and refused to come
or send a representative.
[30:19] Trisha Hedin came and did her best. But
the other thing was that the uh
[30:27] I forget what it's called, but the
hearing uh appeal committee is the
[30:32] county commissioners and they all said
"We're not qualified to sit in judgment
[30:38] on this stuff. We have no idea how it
works.
[30:41] So, we'll just go along with what the
assessor said. So, I would
[30:46] pressure the county commissioners to
do something, change the system,
[30:53] get a different assessor, do something.
They contract out the assessments, they
[30:57] said, and they have for years to the
same outfit.
[31:02] That and there's a lot of unequal
assessments that I put in my appeal that
[31:08] they didn't care. So, that would be an
angle to
[31:12] use.
>> Well, along those lines, see, properties
[31:17] on the next to the town are still
significantly lower for no apparent
[31:21] reason.
>> Because they didn't reassess that area.
[31:26] » Well, they did this year.
And they're still lower.
[31:28] » They're still lower?
>> Yeah.
[31:29] » Oh, wow.
>> So, someone needs to take a look at
[31:32] that.
That is probably the biggest thing just
[31:36] because you're on the other side of the
town border. No offense, but I don't
[31:40] think the town adds that much value to
anything.
[31:43] » Well, people across the creek are in
county.
[31:47] » Yeah.
>> receive no road service whatsoever. We
[31:50] did not receive road service from the
county on our side roads out here ever.
[31:54] We town, POA, the county has never done
road service on side roads here ever.
[32:01] So, if you think that that's what
they're going to do if we get to get rid
[32:05] of the town and go back to the county,
that's not what's going to happen.
[32:09] » Well, I don't
>> We need to talk
[32:10] » about the assessment right now. Yeah.
The properties on the other side of the
[32:15] town boundary should be comparable in
value. There's no reason why they
[32:19] aren't.
>> and I know why they're not because I've
[32:21] seen them on the market for the same.
>> Yeah. Well, they are, but if you look at
[32:25] the assessed value, I looked a couple of
months this year.
[32:28] » Yeah. Well, then they've driven it
because they're selling for the same
[32:31] amount.
>> Yeah.
[32:32] » They should be assessed higher because
you don't have as many limitations on
[32:35] what they can do with their property as
properties in the town.
[32:40] » Mhm. We think that, too.
>> I know, it's our our our house decreased
[32:45] in value, but our property went up, but
we can't do anything more with our
[32:49] property. I mean, our land. I mean, you
can't build another house or anything.
[32:54] So, I mean, they're just kind of weird.
The assessment.
[32:59] » Good people are dropping 400,000 for a
bare lot.
[33:02] » Well, that's the problem.
>> appeals for people who had flooding in
[33:06] 2024.
They did approve appeals for people who
[33:10] had flooding.
And our appeal
[33:13] a portion of our property that floods
was approved. The next 2 years it
[33:19] wasn't. And well, just like yours. Why
not?
[33:22] » Three times as much as it was before.
>> Right.
[33:24] » And it's still the same flooded piece of
property.
[33:28] » Yeah. It makes no sense. Yeah.
So.
[33:31] So, talk to your commissioners about the
assessor.
[33:35] » Mhm.
Well, will that do anything about it?
[33:38] » Well, that's part of it. But, I do
appreciate
[33:41] the discussion about long-term plan for
where where this goes because I do think
[33:46] and Tory and I have talked about um
capital projects plan at least for this
[33:51] coming
couple of years before she's retiring
[33:55] from her position as the treasurer here.
So, keep that in mind, too.
[34:00] Um
[34:03] » See y'all later.
[34:07] » I don't agree with having a a continuous
need for increases down here.
[34:12] I'm more on board with I'm going to ride
my cow if I have to.
[34:17] That's kind of my where I, you know, the
four-wheel drive person. Um but, there
[34:22] are certainly people here and uh there's
an expectation here now from a lot of
[34:26] people that aren't going to
be able to do that, you know. Just And
[34:31] we can't realistically
do that. We have state road funds coming
[34:37] in for every mile of road that we have.
So, we can't just tell people, "Sorry,
[34:42] you just going to have to walk."
>> That's only Castle Valley twice, right?
[34:46] » No, it's all of our roads. You get more
for the paved surfaces than you do for
[34:52] the gravel surfaces, but it's all all 70
miles of roads that we have.
[34:57] » Yeah, exactly.
That was in the last year like that.
[35:00] » Oh, so we have had gravel
>> Yeah, 3 years ago.
[35:03] » Well, anyway
I think
[35:05] I had gravel would be
a less you get less with that.
[35:14] » Random question. Are there
not alternate sources of income, but is
[35:18] direct funding an opportunity Castle
Valley? Do we have to raise property tax
[35:23] or do you have
funding that 100% state in Castle
[35:26] Valley?
Would that be appropriate?
[35:28] » Like donors?
>> Yes.
[35:30] » Single use capital improvement
>> Um I I would find it difficult
[35:35] to rely on donors as a long-term plan.
>> No, yeah, long-term single use single
[35:40] single budget like $5.
>> Project? Yes, we could probably do that.
[35:46] » Uh okay.
I
[35:49] I would entertain the possibility that
within scope of what would be reasonable
[35:53] for
the uh
[35:55] our neighbors
that
[35:59] there may be a certain criteria or
limited a single time capital
[36:04] improvement for the valley where we
don't give it to the county and we keep
[36:07] it all within the town.
Uh and see if we could raise the funds
[36:11] ourselves to do it.
>> As a just as like a fundraiser?
[36:15] » One one time for Yeah, cuz that's a $10
million project. That's not going to
[36:18] happen, but if it's
$150,000
[36:22] to improve something, I I bet you there
There be enough of us to say I don't
[36:26] want it to
>> Maybe
[36:27] » it was a very important project.
>> Yeah, maybe. I just want to offer that
[36:30] up as within reason. We don't have money
here.
[36:33] » Yeah,
time that we have to get Castle Valley
[36:36] Drive done.
We probably don't have the time that
[36:39] we'd take to rally that
a fundraiser to come up with that kind
[36:44] of money. But I do think with this
What did we discuss this year's
[36:49] increase and
I'm not really going to say right now.
[36:53] » But I'm I'm going to be really
>> We could talk about that at our next
[36:56] meeting.
Um Jocelyn and I have been working on
[36:59] the actual budget and it's been
a little difficult just because of all
[37:04] of the funding and everything. So
>> Right.
[37:06] » Um I I'd be more than happy to discuss
that
[37:10] next week.
>> Okay.
[37:12] So we're probably
somewhat close to being ready for Castle
[37:16] Valley Drive with this year's increase
and then maybe I feel like we could then
[37:21] discuss
a better way forward.
[37:27] Well, you know, if you know, I'll talk
about that
[37:30] » have We never We're never going to not
have a need for some capital projects.
[37:35] My sitting in a in an account ready for
a problem. So, you know, that's always
[37:40] going to be a need.
How we get it there, I don't know. You
[37:45] know, that could be another discussion.
>> Well, this is a step forward
[37:52] in being able to do that. It took us
almost 10 years to save up what
[37:58] we had in our capital funds and because
of our grants that helped with culvert
[38:04] project we still do have
some money in the capital road
[38:10] funds. So
um
[38:14] it's looking likely we may be able to do
that next fall.
[38:17] » Okay. What is the figure that NRCS put
in?
[38:21] » It's like $500,000.
>> Yeah.
[38:24] So
>> amount of outside money.
[38:27] » Yeah, half half of it.
Half of it was paid out by
[38:31] » Yeah.
>> Yeah, I right. Generally, like I pulled
[38:35] budgets from the from 2008 through
like 2023 because 20 after that were
[38:41] kind of weird off years because of
projects.
[38:46] And like the amounts that we were
putting in every year just to make these
[38:50] things happen were between five and 40
grand.
[38:55] You know, like whatever we could
basically every year to make these
[38:59] things happen. So, it
It's kind of scrapping things together,
[39:03] which is not a great long-term
huge solution.
[39:11] » I just have a clarification question. Do
we actually service any debt in town
[39:15] once this all
>> Um, we do have debt. It's buildings.
[39:18] We're We're getting really low on that.
We're almost done
[39:22] with most of our debt. So,
>> And they're very minimal. I mean, it's
[39:26] like one payment is 7,000 a year. The
other payment's 8,000 a year. It's not
[39:31] » And now that we own our road equipment
and our leasing, you know, some of those
[39:35] things have gone away. Like we don't We
work towards, you know, keeping them
[39:39] » the problem.
>> Yeah, that's good.
[39:40] » We're not just throwing
>> Well,
[39:42] I think it's maintenance.
>> Maintenance is what I mean.
[39:45] » Yeah, that's a big
>> Yeah, now they're getting old enough
[39:47] where we're going to have to start
repairing them.
[39:50] So,
>> Yeah, one or two more years and then you
[39:52] say, "Yeah, that's someone else's
decision now." So,
[39:58] » Um,
I just wanted to say something that
[40:00] George A. always brings up and that is
that
[40:04] in the last I don't know, I did an
average of what property tax income we
[40:07] were getting 130,000-ish
a year.
[40:11] 120 I mean, 125,000 to 134,000 for the
last 10 years.
[40:19] That doesn't buy today what it did then.
And that is our main problem is
[40:25] everything costs so much more now.
>> And yet we're still trying to
[40:30] make this place run on what we were
getting years ago. Everything costs
[40:36] more.
>> Yeah.
[40:38] » The diesel
>> was our last chip seal? 150?
[40:41] » 120 bucks.
>> 125,000? 250,000.
[40:46] For now.
>> But it's everything. It's computers,
[40:49] it's electricity.
>> hole
[40:51] repairs to get it ready.
>> Yeah.
[40:54] » And it'll probably be a quarter inch
thinner.
[40:57] » Yeah. Right. Exactly.
>> Hey, what the cell tower can come have
[41:03] helped putting in the stuff or not?
>> No, I think Brian had proposed that to
[41:09] the
fire district because of the county.
[41:12] » Oh.
>> Oh, the county
[41:14] » Yeah, fire.
>> So I got the valley never even getting
[41:16] that?
>> Oh, no control zones.
[41:19] » Okay.
>> So the valley never gets anything.
[41:21] » That's no matter.
>> Yeah.
[41:23] » It's still more than we have.
>> But we do
[41:26] » Yeah, we're going to have.
>> That's the door.
[41:28] Let's
these street lights.
[41:30] » Oh, yeah, the cost of everything is
getting ridiculous.
[41:33] » And hiring people to do anything.
>> Yeah.
[41:36] » People won't work for 10, 15, 12, 20
dollars an hour anymore.
[41:42] » Yeah, if you go back and it's on our
finances page of the website. I called
[41:45] him Scott on there today and put all of
these budgets on there for me because I
[41:49] wanted them. And then she So she Thank
you. Um
[41:52] what we were paying for roads department
in 2008 was like
[41:57] great.
You know.
[42:00] We're paying people 10
15,000 a year to
[42:05] to do everything.
[42:08] That's your problem.
>> Not a living.
[42:10] » No one can live.
>> No one's going to to have a job like
[42:13] that.
>> Was it full-time back then? Or is it
[42:16] still part-time?
>> Well, I think none of these jobs
[42:18] » Yeah, there's never been a full-time.
>> They're
[42:20] » Never full-time.
>> We don't have any full-times now.
[42:23] » I think we when I first
in 2012
[42:27] when I was first on the council,
we had um
[42:32] our roads manager was also our operator
was on a salary.
[42:37] I think it was like 14,000 a year or
something.
[42:40] And was working way I mean, he was
probably making like
[42:44] 250 an hour.
>> Uh
[42:46] » Cuz he was working a lot.
And I think that kind of got us spoiled
[42:50] and the reality hit after he retired.
[42:56] » Okay.
[42:59] » Neither.
>> What's the next steps?
[43:03] » Um oh, right. Our next steps is that we
will be discussing and taking action on
[43:09] this
budget at our
[43:12] regular town council meeting next
Wednesday
[43:15] August 19th.
Here
[43:19] and on Zoom.
[43:22] So, we have a week to
[43:29] » Oh, we all know it's going to happen.
So,
[43:33] It is really important to get our
capital funds
[43:37] back up. You know, not only for the
road, but to them
[43:41] have you know, we just basically took
everything out to
[43:45] fix the culvert.
And thank goodness uh you know, in terms
[43:49] of looking for outside money,
>> Thank
[43:53] » People people yeah, absolutely people
>> Jocelyn for that 500,000 cuz she worked
[43:58] her butt off for you.
Big time.
[44:01] The grants are not easy.
>> own account that had been I thought that
[44:05] was its own
>> And that's I voted last year, though.
[44:09] Had you been saving all this time for
that project?
[44:13] » for the for the road.
>> Yeah, that for the culvert. I thought
[44:16] that
>> That was our capital roads project
[44:18] money.
>> Yeah.
[44:19] » That was one of the projects in that.
>> Yeah, they took all that money out, too.
[44:23] Yeah.
>> That's the same pot that the county
[44:26] voted on.
Thanks for the grants. We still have
[44:28] some in there.
>> You got
[44:31] » Just one really stupid question. We were
talking about commissioners earlier.
[44:36] How come Castle Valley doesn't get their
own commissioner?
[44:39] » We did have that money.
>> You know, Trish Trish uh Trish she's in
[44:42] your area.
is our area. She's kind of got the rural
[44:45] area. So, this piece and then kind of
the southern part of Spanish Valley
[44:50] that's in
Grand County. So, she's kind of the
[44:53] rural representative and if you have
she's really approachable. She'll listen
[44:59] to your concerns.
>> I'm just saying we provide all these
[45:02] taxes here in Spanish Valley. We should
have our own representation. Uh-huh.
[45:08] » Well, Greg Hales was on there for 4
years.
[45:10] » Yeah.
>> So.
[45:12] » And he was the guy I was talking about
that was a supervisor working for Trish.
[45:18] » So, you need to get him to run. You
should run, George.
[45:21] » Yeah, George, run.
>> I'd nominate George.
[45:23] » I know. Second second.
[45:26] Here's the first question.
>> All right.
[45:29] » It pays money.
>> It does.
[45:32] Hopefully. And like some council
positions.
[45:34] » Yeah, yeah.
[45:38] » You mean they don't pay you 150,000 a
year to be on the council?
[45:42] » No, I do it out of the goodness of my
heart, George.
[45:46] » So, the council doesn't pay
[45:49] » I mean
>> It's a
[45:50] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[45:54] But we have a lot
>> Yeah, you got really qualified people
[45:57] here who could take that up, you know.
>> Mhm.
[46:01] No, we really do.
>> Can I I
[46:03] » A lot of them have been very busy and a
lot of them have already served in all
[46:07] of these roles. That's part of the
problem like where people aren't coming
[46:11] out here to work, they're coming out
here to retire and be away from things.
[46:14] » And complain.
>> Yeah, but to be left out.
[46:20] » Yeah, someday when I retire I might
consider it.
[46:24] » Okay.
[46:27] » Retirement isn't that bad.
It is.
[46:31] » My wife would kill me.
>> You may or may not be in your entire New
[46:35] York.
>> All right, well if we're if we're kind
[46:39] of past our substitute
>> Yeah, it was
[46:43] » I'll go ahead and adjourn this public
hearing at 7:17
[46:48] p.m.
>> Thank you.
[46:50] » Thank you all. Thank you all for coming.
Appreciate it.
[46:53] » Yeah.
Very
[46:55] » I didn't recognize you out of costume.
>> That's right.