There will be no tax increase by Davis County next year, but the commissioners are forecasting property tax revenue will be up around 3 percent, the result of the county's booming growth.
Total revenue will jump almost 10 percent The county expects to take in $18.6 million in general fund revenue in 1995, $8.1 million of that in property taxes, according to the proposed 1995 budget unveiled in a public hearing Monday."The main message we have here today is there is no property tax increase next year," Commission Chairman Gayle Stevenson said Monday. "It's a tight budget.
"We feel as a commission that the county is in good financial condition," Stevenson said. "We're trying to meet the growing needs of the county for services that the county government provides and stay in a strong position financially."
Total spending in 1995 by the county, including the general fund, golf courses and various other county agencies, will be $40.2 million - up from this year's $39.9 million.
Total county revenue is projected to increase around 10.7 percent, including grant and contract revenue, according to Clerk/-Auditor Margene Isom. Spending is projected to rise 9.2 percent, she reported.
The budget includes $250,000 promised as the county's share of the $1 million visitors center to be built at Antelope Island. Stevenson said the county's pledge to help pay for the building is what prompted the Legislature last year to appropriate the remaining $750,000.
That county-state partnership is unique in a state park environment, Stevenson said, and could set an example for other tourism-related projects in the state.
Public works crews have already started clearing dirt and preparing the site for a $1.5 million 5,000-seat indoor rodeo and riding arena at the county fairgrounds. There is $584,000 set aside for the project's first phase in the 1995 budget, Stevenson said, projecting a three-year phased completion.
The arena joins another $100,000 exhibit building planned for the fairgrounds and a $130,000 storage building to be built at the jail complex in west Farmington, allowing the county to order and store bulk food items from the state to feed jail inmates, saving money in the long run, Stevenson said.
The county will add the equivalent of 25.5 employees, some full-time and some part-time, including a new full-time building and grounds supervisor, a full-time fairgrounds manager and a full-time food bank manager in the human services department this summer. Animal control requested three additional full-time officers but was given two.
That will boost the county's employment total to 735.5 workers, who will also receive a raise. The budget includes a 3 percent cost-of-living increase and another 1.5 percent merit increase.
That is the largest salary increase in several years, Stevenson said, reflecting the value the county places on its employees.
"We recognize the value we put on our employees, and the best way to recognize that is to reward them," Stevenson said.
Increases in department budgets this year include the sheriff's office, from $8.4 million to $9.2 million; the health department, up to $5.9 million from $5.5 million; tourism and economic development, from $1.7 million to $3.7 million; public works, up $600,000 from $1.9 million to $2.5 million; and the county library system, up to $2.3 million from $2.1 million.
Other than a few department heads and other county employees, no one attended Monday's public hearing on the budget. The commission plans to adopt its final budget at a 10 a.m. meeting Thursday, Dec. 15.