Draper City Truth in Taxation Hearing on Proposed Property Tax Rate Increase - August 12, 2026
Draper City Truth in Taxation Hearing on Proposed Property Tax Rate Increase - August 12, 2026
The Draper City Council held a Truth in Taxation public hearing on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at 6:00 PM (called to order at 6:12 PM) in the City Council Chambers. The meeting was solely for public comment on a proposed 25% property tax rate increase for both the Salt Lake County and Utah County portions of the city. No action was taken; the final budget adoption and related public hearing are scheduled for August 18, 2026, at 7:00 PM.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Alberto Delator (13889 Standing Oak Drive): Opposed the increase, calling it overspending and noting that fixed-income residents cannot absorb a 25% hike. He urged the council to cut costs instead of raising taxes.
- Michelle Polish (555 East Tilden Park Lane): Asked about potential future tax reductions, measurable outcomes from the increase (e.g., firefighter fatigue, response times), alternative solutions considered, and whether council members are receiving raises. She questioned the need for increased playground maintenance funding.
- Quinn Horrocks (875 East 138 South): Opposed the increase, arguing that property taxes always rise beyond stated amounts and that the city should find cuts, such as unnecessary snow plowing and coordinated maintenance with Salt Lake County. He noted that the flood tax already generates substantial revenue.
- Ashley Kohler (14094 South Pine Mesa Drive): Opposed, citing inflation, fixed-income residents, and the burden of rising property taxes on homeowners. She questioned the need for additional revenue given new growth and suggested the city scrutinize spending.
- Julie Walton (13496 South 300 East): Opposed, stating that this would be a 45% increase over three years (including a failed attempt last year). She argued the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, and criticized the lack of town halls and transparency.
- Scott Brown (1797 Ain Tree Avenue): Opposed, saying the presentation lacked justification for the increase. He noted that property taxes are regressive and urged the city to reduce costs.
- Jeff Hanson (12057 South 300 East): Opposed, citing inflation and the burden of multiple tax increases (county, school district, city). He questioned why the budget remains the same with or without the increase and suggested taxing commercial areas more heavily.
- Shauna Fuller (13843 Ranch Circle): Asked about volunteer opportunities to reduce costs, better notification of meetings, and campaigns to promote local shopping. She expressed concern about elderly residents choosing between taxes and food.
- Christian Schenck (14032 Old Saddle Road, online): Strongly opposed, calling the tax regressive. He recommended cutting the $39,000 annual renewal for Flock safety cameras, reducing the $350,000 community events budget, and raising recreation fees instead of raising property taxes.
- Marvin Clough (1459 East Forge Way, online): Supported retaining Flock cameras but suggested a partial increase (half) to ease the burden. He advocated for smaller, more frequent rate increases to avoid large jumps.
Discussion Items
- Presentation by Finance Director John Vike: He presented the proposed tax rate increase from 0.000902 to 0.001128 (certified tax rate after 25% increase). The increase would generate approximately $2,696,000 in additional ad valorem tax revenue: $2,455,712 from Salt Lake County and $122,224 from Utah County. For a primary residence in Salt Lake County (valued at $941,000), the monthly increase would be $9.75 ($116.97 annually); in Utah County (valued at $838,000), $8.68 monthly ($104.17 annually). The funds would offset operational and compensation costs, reduce reliance on fund balance (from $3.3 million drawdown to $5.7 million without the increase), add three firefighters ($165,000 net cost to reduce overtime), and increase playground maintenance ($70,000 to $200,000).
- Mayor’s Closing Remarks: Mayor Walker explained that this is only the second property tax increase in his 18 years of service (the first was a 20% increase two years ago; a 10% increase last year failed due to procedural error). He noted that sales tax growth, which previously funded the budget, has slowed. He emphasized that the city has cut costs where possible, that new growth does not automatically increase property tax revenue due to Utah’s equalization laws, and that the fund balance (rainy day fund) is needed for emergencies (e.g., a $3 million storm damage event). He argued that significant cuts would require reducing public safety personnel. He also addressed specific concerns: the Flock camera system is a small part of the budget, community events are popular, and the municipal court saves money and time. The council acknowledged public input and clarified that the proposed tax revenue is held in escrow until the final vote.
Key Outcomes
- No action was taken at the hearing.
- The council will hold a public hearing and adopt the final budget on August 18, 2026, at 7:00 PM at Draper City Hall.
- The proposed property tax rate increase of 25% remains under consideration; the council will vote on the budget at the August 18 meeting.
- The city encouraged residents to sign up for notifications via the Draper website to receive information about future meetings.
Meeting Transcript
All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome this evening to our truth and taxation hearing. We are gonna I'm gonna call this meeting to order. I'm gonna note that we are past the the stated time at 612, but as I said before, we were having a little bit of difficulty with our recording system, but it is now up. Um you have council members present as you can see. Um council member Johnson is calling in from where she is. Councilmember Green is in a place where he has no service to call in. So you've got these three council members and council member Johnson will be online with us shortly. So this is a the only agenda items on this for this meeting are two public hearings. The first public hearing is a proposed property tax rate increase for the Salt Lake County portion of our community. Um the hearing is an opportunity for residents living in Draper City, Salt Lake County to provide public comment on the proposed tax rate increase. No action will be taken on that public hearing. The item number two B, which is next, is a public hearing with proposed property tax rate increase for the Utah County portion of our community. We are one of the unique counties that or cities that sits in two counties. Um the hearing is again the opportunity for residents living in Draper City, Utah on the Utah County side of our community to make public comment on the proposed property tax increase. We are not taking action tonight on this item. We we will we will pass our budget next meeting on the 18th of August. Um so this meeting is completely and solely for the purpose of listening to citizen input on our proposed tax increase. It has no other item on the agenda. Um we also allow in this meeting, which is unique, participation via electronic means and comment via electronic means. So the Draper State Truth and Taxation Hearing is on Zoom, and there's a link on our website that is available for those that want to join us by Zoom. Typically, we do not take public comment on Zoom in a normal public or city council meeting, but in this particular hearing for a property tax truth and taxation hearing, we will allow virtual comment for people that are on the Zoom link. People on the Zoom link are also able to make chat comments that we will record as part of the meeting. So if you see chat comments, we're not gonna read the chat comments, we'll let people talk. We're not gonna do two talk, but uh we'll we'll record all of that as well. Um so if you're attending this meeting virtually, um the way that the way that when it's when we we're gonna do all of the people in the room first, and then we will go to those online that want to make comment. And so I'll I'll read how we get to that when we get to the online comment portion. All right. So John, were you gonna get up first? Um what we would like to do, um, I'm gonna have our finance director, Mr. John Vike, come up and he will make a presentation to you about this budget, which includes this property tax increase. When Mr. Vike is done, uh we will take all public comment. I have a bunch of cards that some of you have filled out, and uh I'll let everyone that wants to speak speak. So you don't have to have filled out a card, but you'll get the opportunity. Um our meeting rules, just let me go over them for you if I can as we hold to them. Um the comments are limited in time to three minutes. There's a clock to my right, your left. Um, we enforce the time limit strictly on everyone. So if you get to the end of three minutes, it'll beep, it's obnoxious, but your time will be over and it'll be time for the next person to go. Um when you when you come up to the dais, we'd like you to state your name and address that will start the timer. Um, and then make your comment uh from the podium into the microphone as best you can. Um comments should be made, of course, to the entire council. It's uh it's not a can't a question and answer session from the council, but it's an opportunity for them to listen to your comments and then um consider them. We don't do uh we don't generally respond over the dais. I don't engage people in conversation. Um we we just are here to listen to you today. We don't allow public displays, um outbursts, clapping, or any of those things. Uh we we want to keep our meeting in the good order and we are fair and we keep it that way at every meeting. So we don't allow cards or displays or any of that kind of thing. We allow comment.
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