Citizens group, city leaders duke it out over proposed Kaysville tax hike

May 05--KAYSVILLE -- The gloves have come off in a proposed 102 percent tax hike fight between city leaders and a Kaysville citizen's group who are alleging "fiscal mismanagement" by city leaders.

"The proposed increase of 102 percent in property tax for Kaysville city is not a result of the initiative's passage," said KCRG member Margaret Brough. "Rather, these proposed tax increases are necessary to correct the decades-long poor management of the city's finances."

Mayor Steve Hiatt says the group's claims are "disappointing" and a way to deflect the attention away from other misinformation regarding savings the citizen's group earlier shared in its effort to get voters to approve Proposition 5.

Proposition 5 was approved by a 56 to 44 percent margin in November. The proposition restricts city leaders from using power funds from the city-owned electric company for anything other than to maintain and operate the power plant operation.

On Tuesday, at 7 p.m., the Kaysville City Council is scheduled to discuss the city's tentative 2014-15 budget, which currently includes the triple-digit tax increase. The meeting will be held at City Hall, 23 E. Center Street.

The proposed tax increase if approved will raise the taxes on a $250,000 assessed home from $137 annually, to $277 annually, for an increase of $140 more a year, according to city officials.

A portion of the tax hike, about $395,000 a year, is in response to Proposition 5 which restricts the use of power funds, Hiatt said.

Previously, the city was using $265,000 of power fund revenues to pay for three police officers. The other $130,000 increase city leaders attribute to the proposition is to reimburse the power fund for the electricity it uses in fairness to the rate payers.

The remaining portion of the tax increase is to pay $425,000 a year, for 17 years, on the police station construction debt, while another $455,000 is needed for adding two additional police officers and two additional firefighters to the staff, Hiatt said.

"We're in a tough position," Hiatt said.

The $5.8 million new police station being paid for with revenue bonds is already under construction at 80 N. Main Street.

Hiatt said even with the additional police staffing the city will be five officers short of where it needs to be in meeting the public safety recommendations of one officer per 1,000 residents formula. He said the two additional firefighters are also needed where it takes staff from two firefighters to four firefighters, the number needed to roll-out on a house fire without having to wait for volunteers to arrive.

"The honorable thing to do is speak the truth and present the facts," Hiatt said on how he intends to respond when asked about the tax increase.

But if city leaders refuse to show a willingness to hear resident's concerns over such a tax hike, KCRG Chairman Orwin Draney told the Standard-Examiner that they may consider moving the proposed tax increase to the ballot for a referendum vote.

The group would roughly need 12 1/2 percent of all registered voters in the city agree to sign the referendum initiative, about 2,000 signatures, within a 30-day period, Davis County election manager Brian McKenzie said.

Should the tax issue go to a referendum vote it would only cost both sides more money, Hiatt said.

Attorney Lisa Watts Baskin, who has been retained by the KCRG, said she has admiration for the vigilance and intelligence shown by this local band of citizens.

"With limited funding and no insurance coverage to cover legal fees and litigation expenses like cities hold, these folks have done a great service for Kaysville residents," Baskin stated in a press release.

Contact reporter Bryon Saxton at 801-625-4244 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @BryonSaxton.

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