COUNCIL BUDGET STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL of SALT LAKE CITY www.slccouncil.com/city-budget TO: City Council Members Project Timeline: FROM: Jennifer Bruno, Sylvia Richards, Sean Murphy, Lehua Weaver Budget & Policy Analyst Truth in Taxation Hearing: Aug 13 Potential Action: Aug 13 DATE: August 11, 2015 at 3:27 PM RE: Truth In Taxation Public Hearing and Final FY 2016 Budget Adoption COUNCIL ACTION OPTIONS The Council has the option of adopting a rate less than the rate proposed and advertised, but not greater than. If the Council adopts a rate less than the rate proposed, the Council would need to rebalance the City and/or Library Fund budget, as it would create a situation where expenditures exceed revenues. The following chart details the proposed and advertised rates and amount for each City fund: FY 2016 Property Tax Rates Rate Revenue General Fund 0.003861 $ 71,666,068 General Fund - Judgment Levy 0.000012 $ 222,738 GO Bonds (Int & Sinking) 0.000989 $ 18,357,353 Library 0.000747 $ 13,865,463 Library Judgment Levy 0.000002 $ 37,123 Total - All Rates 0.005611 $ 104,148,745 POTENTIAL MOTIONS I move that the Council adopt an ordinance establishing the final rate of tax levy, including the final levy for the Library Fund, upon all real and personal property within Salt Lake City, made taxable by law for fiscal year 2015-2016. Or <Reconsider FY 2016 Budget and adopt motion establishing different rates> CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY 451 SOUTH STATE STREET, ROOM 304 P.O. BOX 145476, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84114-5476 COUNCIL.SLCGOV.COM TEL 801-535-7600 FAX 801-535-7651 LUKE GARROTT DISTRICT 4 COUNCIL CHAIR JAMES ROGERS DISTRICT 1 COUNCIL VICE CHAIR KYLE LAMALFA DISTRICT 2 STAN PENFOLD DISTRICT 3 ERIN MENDENHALL DISTRICT 5 CHARLIE LUKE DISTRICT 6 LISA ADAMS DISTRICT 7
BACKGROUND PROPOSED FY 2016 PROPERTY TAX BUDGET GENERAL FUND The City Council adopted budgets in June for the City s general fund that accept the new growth revenue calculated by the Salt Lake County Auditor, as well as the judgment levy calculated by the County Auditor. A judgment levy is a mechanism authorized by state law that allows the City to recoup property taxes that it was not paid in the previous year due to properties that were judged to be of a lesser value. This is a one-time, one-year property tax increase, which means it will only reflect on property tax bills for 2016. Further, the Council included in the City budget revenue stabilization factor recommended by the Mayor that allowed the City to adjust the property tax rates to generate the amount of revenue actually received in the last fiscal year. Because both the revenue stabilization approach and enacting a judgment levy includes adjusting rates to be higher than the certified tax rate, it triggers the need for the City to hold a Truth-In-Taxation hearing. By way or reminder, the Council adopted the following changes to the original Mayor s Recommended FY 2016 budget: Adjustments to property tax revenue based on final information from the County this resulted in nearly $1 million in additional new growth revenue, but $93,000 less of a judgment levy than was expected. New funding items: o Five new patrol officers, four will join four other officers for bike patrol throughout the City, plus eight new case worker positions in the Police Department. This was a total increase to the budget of $1.2 million, including salaries, equipment, vehicles. o $840,218 additional funding for capital improvement projects (CIP) o $200,000 for equipment replacements for SLC-TV o $62,500 adding to the funding for tree replacement o $57,100 increase to the outdoor retailers convention o $50,000 for an improved program for residents to access crime data o $50,000 for additional cost estimation services for capital projects. o $25,000 to enhance sexual harassment training in the Fire and Police Departments. o $25,000 toward studies of the building permit and capital improvement processes, to include a secret shopper or testing component o $20,000 for a Downtown parks festival o $15,000 to support the Sugar House fireworks event o $14,000 additional funding for the Clean Team program in the Downtown o $10,500 for pilot dog off-leash areas o $6,250 for an outside hotline to receive fraud, waste & abuse calls. Some reductions included: o ($215,764) in one-time savings by recognizing a later hire date for some new positions. o Eliminated the $50,000 increase to funding for ground transportation secret shopper efforts this leaves the existing $50,000 in funding o $50,000 shifted back to the Water Fund for Mountain Accord participation o ($450,000) reduction to the proposed structural safety program, which leaves $50,000 for its first year start o ($200,000) reduction to reflect the contractual amount due for streetcar operations Page 2
Use of $687,500 from fund balance to fund one time expenses relating to some of these initiatives. PROPOSED FY 2016 PROPERTY TAX BUDGET LIBRARY FUND Similar to the General Fund, the Library Fund also has a small amount of additional new growth revenue credited to the Fund by the County Auditor. The Council has proposed to enact a one-time judgment levy for the Library Fund of $37,123. Just like for the General Fund, a judgment levy is a mechanism authorized by state law that allows the City Library Fund to recoup property taxes that it was not paid in the previous year due to properties that were judged to be of a lesser value. This is a one-time, one-year property tax increase. Page 3