IVINS — The Ivins City Council is informing the Utah State Tax Commission of its intent to hold a “truth in taxation” hearing in August, with most council members and the mayor saying that 14 years without a previous increase has put the city “in a crisis.”
The move to inform the commission was required by June 1, and city officials caution that doesn’t mean such a hearing will actually take place as the council will debate in the coming weeks whether such an increase is needed.
But Mayor Chris Hart and three of the four council members at Thursday night’s City Council meeting at Ivins City Hall expressed that this city has no means of securing the revenue it needs for infrastructure repairs and improvements in the coming years.
The truth in taxation meeting has been slotted for Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. at Ivins City Hall, though officials note there will be discussions at the council’s two meetings in June to determine if such a meeting will be unnecessary if a revenue alternative could be found or the council ultimately agrees not to consider a rate increase.
The last time Ivins increased its property tax rates in 2010, the city had about 60% fewer people, according to the U.S. Census. It also supported a smaller police department that wasn’t merged with Santa Clara. According to the U.S. Inflation Calendar, overall prices for all materials and goods have increased 38% since then and $1 in 2010 is the equivalent of 62 cents now.
Council member Mike Scott claimed that since the Ivins property tax rate was last increased in 2010, the cost of the basic services the city needs to provide has increased 70% and the city has little to no funding for infrastructure projects after a large set of cuts to maintain the police and fire departments.
“Having not raised property taxes over the years just put ourselves in the bind,” Scott said. “We need to consider very seriously whether to incorporate a moderate tax increase.”
Scott rattled off a list of projects and needs Ivins residents have been asking for in last year’s citywide survey, from a new ladder truck for the fire department to an “overdue” renovation of the animal shelter to moving more power lines underground to an expansion of parks and pickleball courts. City officials also noted Ivins will receive land at the end of the year for a new regional park but there are no funds to actually build it.
“It’s long overdue. Nobody wants to raise taxes, but in reality, in our city and many others, the tax bill has been diminishing in this time,” Hart said. “People are paying less property tax now than they were 15 years ago. Inflation has devalued what that is. Look at the struggle we went through just to balance public safety.”
Fellow council members Sharon Gillespie and Sharon Barton joined Scott and Hart in mentioning that a property tax increase needs to be considered. But at least one voice on the Ivins Council, with council member Lance Anderson absent, said he is, at this point, against such a tax rate increase.
Council member Kevin Smith said it’s not only the city that is trying to grasp the rising prices and inflation, so are its residents.
“I’m not sure I would support the timing of this,” Smith said, referring to both uncertainty over the economy and the fall election. “If you ask most of our citizens, if you did a survey, they would say this is bad timing.”
At the same time, Smith said he was for holding a truth in taxation hearing and was “willing to learn and listen and investigate.”
Among 14 cities and towns in Washington County, Ivins has the fourth-lowest property tax rate at 0.6824%. Springdale (0.6798% property tax rate), St. George (0.6693%) and Washington City (0.6663%) are lower.
At the same time, there is a small area of Ivins that will have the largest property tax rate in all of Washington County.
Residents of the residential portion of Black Desert Resort will have a tax rate of 1.4974%. But Hart said even the revenue expected from Black Desert won’t be able to make up for more than a decade without an increase in revenue for a city that’s doubled in size both in population and fiscally.
Unlike Ivins, many other Southern Utah cities have separate tax entities and tax districts for fire and public safety and other services.
Gillespie noted that without raising revenue through incremental property tax rate hikes, local cities have turned to bonds, which she said creates an “IOU problem.”
“The result is a legacy of debt through bonds to solve problems,” Gillespie said.
Since a law was passed in 1985, Utah cities and other tax entities have been required to hold a truth in taxation hearing whenever it seeks to collect more revenue than it had the previous year.
City Councils are hesitant to have such hearings since, as Scott noted Thursday, it results in officials being called pro-tax and others have noted it can be “political suicide.”
Recent truth in taxation hearings in Southern Utah have been contentious.
A 2022 truth in taxation hearing in St. George to raise tax rates for the first time since 1987 to help fund the police resulted in a packed chamber with residents described as angry and that council ultimately voting against a rate increase.
The Washington County School District approved a rate increase after its own hearing last August, while Iron County increased its rate from 0.0008% to 0.00167% after a standing-room only truth in taxation hearing that included residents literally holding pitchforks.
According to minutes of the meeting, a truth in taxation hearing last Oct. 18 of the New Harmony Valley Special Service District, which funds the New Harmony Fire Department, had members of the board and residents accusing each other of breaking”polite decorum” before the rate increase was approved.
Scott said if there is a property tax increase, he thinks it should be on the lower side – around 3.4%. He said a household with a $750,000 house would pay an extra $12.54.
“I believe we should be maximizing our reserve,” Scott said. “That’s our safety net.”
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