Ogden staff: certified tax rate arrived late and came in lower; council urged to adopt budget now and revisit allocations

Ogden City staff told the Ogden City Council on June 17 that the county-certified tax rate arrived late and was slightly lower than the numbers used in the draft budget, producing an estimated shortfall of roughly $900,000 and prompting a recommendation to adopt the budget now and adjust later.

City finance presenter Glenn (City staff, finance) said, “we did get the certified tax rate this morning. It came to the city late last week. We didn't see it in our office until this morning,” and added that the rate “came in a little bit lower than they had anticipated.” He gave the council the specific rates used: last year’s adopted rate of 0.002239 compared with the new certified rate of 0.002189 and said the change “ticked down just a little bit.”

Why it matters: the certified tax rate affects the city’s property tax revenue estimates that underlie the fiscal-year…