Today, we cover…
- A preview of what the County Council’s schedule looks like for the rest of the year. There are some important budget and tax related discussions coming up we think our listeners will want to tune into.
- Republic Services Winter Operations Plan
- Short-Term Nightly Rentals
- Regional Housing Authority
COUNCIL SCHEDULE PREVIEW
As we near the end of 2023, the County Council’s schedule is chock full and looks a little different than just the regularly scheduled weekly Wednesday meetings.
We want to make sure our listeners are aware of what’s to come now through December because some really important discussions will be taking place related to the 2024 tentative county budget, the proposed truth in taxation process, and more. All of these dates and meeting topics will be linked in our show notes and on the county website’s homepage, so no need to pull over if you’re listening to this episode while driving–we’ve got you covered!
There are no council meetings next week which is the week of Thanksgiving. We hope our listeners have a wonderful holiday. A quick reminder that County offices are closed Thursday the 23rd and Friday the 24th in observance of the holiday.
On Wednesday, November 29, the Council will meet to continue general discussions on the proposed 2024 county budget, among other topics. At this meeting, there will also be two public hearings scheduled. The first hearing is related to project funding under the Community Development Block Grant Small Cities Program. The second is a hearing on the Impact Fee Facilities Plan for Park City Fire District.
On Monday, December 4, the Council will meet again solely to continue general discussions on the proposed 2024 county budget. It’s important that county taxpayers tune into these conversations because they provide really awesome insight into how the council is stewarding their tax dollars for 2024.
On Wednesday, December 6, the Council has a jam packed meeting on the books. On the 6th, they’ll kick things off with a discussion regarding the 910 Cattle Ranch, a large property north of Jeremy Ranch that the Summity County acquired earlier this year.
They’ll also discuss and possibly adopt a resolution that increases the limit for tax relief income AND listen to a final presentation of the Our Summit Visioning project and next steps from the Our Summit project team.
Finally, there are ten…you heard us right…TEN public hearings scheduled for the December 6 meeting.
To preview those public hearings as quick as we can…
- There will be public hearings and possible adoption of the 2023 Budget Amendments and 2024 Budgets for Park City Fire Service District, Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District, and Mountain Regional Water Special Service District.
- There will also be a Truth in Taxation public hearing and possible adoption of North Summit Special Recreation District’s Proposed Property Tax Rate Increase AND a Public hearing and possible adoption of North Summit Rec’s 2023 Budget Amendments and 2024 Budget.
- Finally, the Council will move into several County Truth in Taxation public hearings. Truth in Taxation is a public hearing process that allows residents to learn about and comment on the County’s proposal to increase property tax revenues. With the exception of new growth, a taxing authority may not receive more property tax revenues than what was received the prior year. The property tax calculation does not consider inflation or other increases in providing services. The Utah Taxpayers Association recommends that taxing entities address inflation by going through this process every five to eight years. Summit County last went through the Truth in Taxation process in 2017. Other special service districts in the County, such as Service Area #6 have not gone through the process since 2013.
- There will be separate public hearings for the county’s general fund, municipal services fund, assessing and collecting fund and one for Service Area No. 6. The proposed tax rate increase affects each of these funds differently.
- For example, if the proposed increase is approved the county’s general fund would increase its property tax budgeted revenue by 15.64%. This could equate to approximately $45.36 more on this line item of your property tax bill for a primary residence valued at $1.3M.
- The county’s municipal services fund, if the proposed increase is approved, would increase its property tax budgeted revenue by 5.94%. This could equate to approximately $11.86 more on this line item of your property tax bill for a primary residence valued at $1.2M.
- The county’s assessing and collecting fund would increase its property tax budgeted revenue by 37.52% if the proposed increase is approved. This could equate to approximately $23.05 more on this line item of your property tax bill for a primary residence valued at roughly $1.3M.
- And, finally, Service Area #6 would increase its property tax budgeted revenue by 69.37% if the proposed increase is approved. This could equate to $91.63 more on this line item of your property tax bill for a primary residence valued at $1.2M.
Taxpayers can learn about the proposed increase at summitcounty.info/truthintaxation.
Additionally, you should have received a Truth in Taxation document in the mail from the County Treasurer. This document will have your individual potential impact should the county proceed with the proposed tax increase. This is important because everyone will be impacted differently!
Also…and were still on the December 6 meeting…there will be a Public hearing on the Summit County Council’s 2023 Budget Amendments. And, finally, a Public hearing on the Summit County Council 2024 Budget.
Next, on Monday, December 11, the Council will meet again solely to continue general discussions on the proposed 2024 county budget. Like we mentioned earlier, county taxpayers might want to tune into these conversations because they show you how decisions are made about how the county uses your tax dollars!
On Monday, December 13, there will be several more public hearings held. First, the Council will convene as the Governing Board of North Summit Fire Service District and hold a Public hearing and possibly adopt North Summit Fire’s 2023 Budget Amendments and their 2024 Budget.
Then, the Council will hold a public hearing and possibly adopt the County Wide Fee Schedule. The county wide fee schedule basically establishes the cost for services provided by the county. For example, it establishes how much it would cost if you used our notary services or what the fine would be if you park on a county road during the winter season (which is not allowed unless otherwise marked from November 15 – April 15 every year).
Finally, the Council will continue the County Truth in Taxation public hearings from December 6 on Wednesday, December 13. So, if you didn’t get a chance to participate the week prior, that December 13 meeting is your chance to comment on the county’s proposed tax increase.
If you want more information on any of these meetings, please visit summitcounty.org/agendacenter. There you can find the meeting date you’re interested in learning more about, click on the agenda, and read through the staff reports related to each item.
Then, you can either attend each meeting in person or participate online! Each agenda in the County’s Agenda Center has a meeting location and Zoom Link linked at the very top.
REPUBLIC SERVICES
At last week’s County Council meeting, which occurred on November 8, Republic Services presented to the Council about their Winter 2023 – 2024 Operations Plan.
The Republic Services Team shared that this winter they have an updated Fleet, with three new residential and two front load trucks with an additional Container Delivery truck coming online in December! They also shared that they are currently fully staffed with additional winter assistance coming locally from Republic Services’ Salt Lake, Pleasant Grove, and Ogden divisions.
In terms of communication with the public, Republic Services encourages all county residents to sign up for notifications to receive targeted phone messages and/or text messages from Republic Services when service is delayed due to weather. Residents can learn how to sign up for those notifications at summitcounty.info/trashdash.
On the Trash Dash, Republic Services’ Winter Weather Delay policy is also listed. It basically states that if your service is missed due to weather this winter, bring your cans in overnight and have them back out by 7 am the next day for pick up. If containers are still unable to be serviced, Republic Services will not return until the next regularly scheduled service day (so that’s the following week for trash or two weeks for recycling service).
I think if we leave our listeners with anything from this segment, it’s that you should sign up to receive phone notifications from Republic Services about your waste collection service and that you can do that at summitcounty.info/trashdash.
SHORT TERM RENTALS
During the council meeting on November 8th, Summit County voted 4-1 to make amendments to Eastern Summit County and Snyderville Basin Development Codes that requires a minimum rental period of 30 days for Accessory Dwelling Units (aka ADUs). This action brings Summit County into compliance with pre-existing state code that passed in May 2023 and helps decrease the number of nightly rentals in our area that have been contributing to the shortage of long-term workforce housing. The state ’s code has an overarching goal to be part of a solution to the state’s housing crisis: opening up more spaces for people to live in for the long term.
REGIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY
At the joint Summit County – Park City council meeting on November 14 the Regional Housing Authority Exploratory Committee delivered an update and provided policy directions on any potential next steps towards the creation of a Regional Housing Authority.
First off, let’s go over what a Housing Authority is…It’s a governmental body that governs aspects of housing and provides low rent housing options to qualified residents.
As some background, Summit County and Park City have been in serious discussion since April 2023 about the creation of Regional Housing Authority. Since April, the two councils created a working committee (with one council member from Summit County and one from Park City) and that committee has since provided information about a potential implementation timeline for and the benefits of creating a regional housing authority.
The committee determined that the benefits of creating a regional housing authority include:
- Increasing efficiency in the development of affordable housing
- Creating a “centralized clearing house” for all housing-related issues
- Providing separation from political pressure and competing interests that can be found in local government
- Allowing access to funding sources that might not be available to other governmental agencies and non-profit organizations
- The state of Utah has mandated increasing regional collaboration among government agencies
All in all: council members from Park City and Summit County agreed during their meeting that they will move forward with working together on this regional housing authority, but no final vote was made and the next joint meeting is in January.
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