'Fervor on both sides': Proposed 54.9% tax hike in Roy prompting strong debate

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Roy leaders are mulling a tax hike of as much as 54.9%, which has sparked a loud outcry from some.
City officials argue it's needed to keep city workers' wages competitive while opponents are pressing for a smaller increase.
One foe says some are readying for a possible petition drive to challenge any increase, if too steep.

ROY — The intense debate about boosting property taxes in Roy reaches a head next Tuesday, when the formal public hearing on the proposed hike of up to 54.9% will be held.

"This has been quite the issue. It's been emotional. It's been full fervor on both sides," said Roy City Councilman Bryon Saxton, who cast the sole "no" vote in June on the measure preliminarily boosting taxes subject to the coming hearing.

At any rate, the tax hike — one of the largest proposals in the state in terms of the funds it would generate — isn't a done deal. City officials say the increase, which would generate an extra $2.81 million, is needed to keep city workers' wages competitive while foes think it's too much and that the city can make do with a smaller hike.

Roy resident Ty Chaston, who's been following the debate, suspects city officials may lower the proposed increase to somewhere between 28% to 30%. He also said there's talk of launching a formal challenge to any tax hike city leaders ultimately approve, depending on how big it is. Efforts are already underway to recruit residents to aid in any initiative, should it come to that.

"There is definitely a group that is getting organized already," he said. Chaston was involved in efforts last year to challenge the Weber County city's 28% tax hike proposal, which was ultimately denied by state officials.

According to the Utah Taxpayers Association, a watchdog group, 67 cities, towns, school districts and other taxing entities around the state have proposed property tax hikes to generate new revenue, with hearings occurring throughout August on the varied proposals. Discussions are undoubtedly unfolding in many locales, echoing some of the issues at play in the Roy tax debate.

Keeping workers' wages competitive

Roy officials approved a 27.96% tax hike last year, also to boost city workers' wages, but the Utah State Tax Commission subsequently denied it and tax hike proposals pursued by 34 other entities because they didn't follow proper procedures in the noticing process. That increase would have generated an extra $1.42 million.

Now city officials are taking another stab at the issue. Roy City Manager Matt Andrews understands the concerns about the tax hike proposal, but also noted the desire to support city workers and maintain city services.

"Like many cities, Roy has had increasing difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified employees as neighboring jurisdictions have raised wages. The proposal is intended to help the city remain competitive, retain experienced employees and continue providing the level of service our residents expect," he said.

At the same time, he said city officials are still gathering input and acknowledged the possibility that the proposed increase could change. At this stage, leaders of entities proposing tax hikes may adjust their proposals downward, but not upward.

"The City Council will continue reviewing public input, financial information and staff recommendations before making a final decision. No final action has been taken, and the proposal could still be adjusted as part of the public hearing process on Aug. 11," Andrews said. Next Tuesday's hearing starts at 6 p.m. and will be held at the Roy municipal building, 5051 S. 1900 West.

Bob Dandoy, who served as Roy mayor for two terms through last January, opposes the proposed increase. In his final years in office, he had proposed reducing the number of city employees through attrition to temper the need for new taxes to cover their wage hikes.

"I'm not against property taxes, if moderate. I've recommended 3%-5% increases each year. I think that is a reasonable approach, but this 55% is completely off the charts," he said.

Andrews, the city manager, said city officials are constantly looking for "ways to operate more efficiently," but warned against reducing city staffing. "At this point, we believe our staffing levels are already lean, and reducing positions would likely impact the services we provide to the community," he said.

Saxton, the City Council member, said he'd be OK with a tax hike of around 20%. The proposed 55% hike, though, is too steep, and he fears it would hurt taxpayers. The increase would boost the annual taxes on a home worth $439,000, the average, from $388.25 to $601.69.

Chaston, the Roy resident and a former Roy City Council candidate, says he has yet to see documentation from city officials supporting a 54.9% tax hike versus spending cuts, though he's tried to get it.

Nevertheless, the word Chaston is hearing is that the City Council will eventually trim the proposed increase to 28%-30%. That's still too high for him, though. He thinks an increase of 8% to 9% would be sufficient.

Accordingly, people are starting to organize for the possibility of a petition drive if too steep of a tax hike is approved, Chaston said. If it comes to that, and the tax critics are able to gather enough signatures, whether to maintain any tax hike would be placed on the November ballot as a referendum question.

"If they can't keep it under 10%, the referendum's going to happen," Chaston said.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.