Draper City Council Truth in Taxation Hearing - August 13, 2025
Draper City Council Truth in Taxation Hearing - August 13, 2025
At the August 13, 2025, 6:00 PM Truth in Taxation hearing, the Draper City Council considered a proposed property tax increase by holding the tax rate steady, generating additional revenue of $935,965 to cover inflationary cost increases. The hearing included presentations from Finance Director John Vik, public comments from residents, and discussion among council members. No action was taken; the final budget hearing is scheduled for August 19, 2025.
Public Comments & Testimony
- John McMahon (14434 Lapis Drive): Asked for clarification on how the additional revenue would be used, specifically whether it would go to law enforcement, infrastructure, or other areas.
- Paul Kearsley (14686 Ravine Rockaway): Expressed concern that the bond payoff was not mentioned during last year's tax increase, and that continuing the same rate without reducing taxes feels like an unnecessary addition. He questioned why the budget is not based on need.
- Cordell Anderson (12263 Durral Place): Reported receiving a notice showing a 9% increase from Draper City and sought understanding of the change.
- Bob Clark (13590 South 30 East): Suggested the city consider reducing the number of police and fire personnel while paying them more, and extending the life of equipment, to better manage costs. He noted that many households are struggling financially.
Discussion Items
- Finance Director John Vik presented the proposal: The city is holding the combined tax rate steady at 0.001022 (same as last year). The certified tax rate (without the expiring bond) was 0.000936. The difference on a $1 million home is $47.30. The additional revenue ($891,036 from Salt Lake County, $44,929 from Utah County) will support inflationary cost increases in the city budget. The city will hold a final budget hearing on August 19 at 7:00 PM.
- Mayor and Council Members responded to public comments:
- The previous year's tax increase was for public safety. The bond (for Corner Canyon) is now paid off, but the city needs the $935,965 to cover rising costs, especially for police and fire services. Sales tax revenue has flattened and is declining, ending the city's growth-phase reliance on sales tax.
- Council members noted that police and fire costs are rising due to inflation, equipment costs (e.g., fire trucks now $2 million, up from $480,000), and a shrinking applicant pool. The city has eliminated some positions to save money.
- The proposed rate keeps the tax burden level while providing necessary revenue. The city is exploring other revenue sources, such as attracting car dealerships and encouraging local shopping.
Key Outcomes
- No action was taken on the proposed tax increase at this hearing. The council will hold a second public hearing and adopt the final budget on August 19, 2025, at 7:00 PM at Draper City Hall.
Meeting Transcript
All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our meeting this evening. I'll call our meeting to order. We have um all the council members present. Councilmember Fred Lowry is online for this meeting. Um the first item, our second item on our agenda is a public hearing. This is a proposed tax increase. It's a and we're gonna have a public hearing regarding the proof of tax rate. So I'm turned over to John Vik, our finance director. Go ahead, John. So we are here for the public hearing on the uh tax increase associated with holding the tax rate steady. So we are required by statute to uh inform people uh of a few things, and so this slide will take care of that. Um we will need to read it twice because we will have two public hearings, one for Salt Lake County and one for Utah County. So Draper City General Operations will receive an additional property tax revenue each year as a result of holding the tax rate level with the comp with the combined rate from last year. The additional revenue represents from Salt Lake County 891,000 and 30 891036 from Utah County 44929 for a total of 935,965. The additional tax revenue will be used to support inflationary cost increases within the city budget. Um, and for no following this public hearing, the city will hold an additional public hearing and adopt a final budget on August 19th at the 7 o'clock p.m. at 7 o'clock p.m. at Draper City Hall. So that meets all of the requirements that we are scheduled to do. Just quickly through this. We are holding the rate steady, so you can see the combined rate on the on my left-hand side shows what the rates have been since 2003 within Draper City. Last year we had a combined rate, which was a which was the general operations rate plus the bond rate of 0.001022. The proposal for this year is to maintain that rate at 0.001022. Um the certified tax rate, which did not include the bond rate, which um because the city had paid off the bond was 0.00936. So there's a difference there on a million dollar home of 47 30 cents. So that would be the difference if we had used the certified tax rate as opposed to using the same tax rate as last year. This chart shows uh all property tax rates within Salt Lake County. The red line at the bottom, um, second from the bottom is Draper City. Did you get that, Tasha? Okay. Um the chart of this is a chart of general fund revenues and a comp of a comparison from last year to this year on a budgetary uh scale, and then two slides, one expense by type. So this shows us personnel costs versus operational costs, and then this one by department. Um just this last slide shows a few of the notable increases or changes within it. So revenue on the left hand, my left hand side and expenses on the right hand side. You can see the different changes that are were within the proposed budget. And that's the end of my presentation, and we would open it up for public comment. Anybody have any questions for John before we take public comment? I don't think Fred has sound yet, but okay. Thank you, sir. Right. This is a public hearing. Mr. Mayor, before we start, can I fix the audio really quickly? So Fred can fear. Just need to just a few things. Thank you. We'll hold off then. Welcome to enter your meeting ID followed by town. Enter your participant ID followed by pound. Otherwise, just pound.
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