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Midvale council sets proposed public safety property tax, sends measure to truth-in-taxation process
Summary
The Midvale City Council adopted its certified tax rate and voted to place a new public safety property tax on the truth-in-taxation schedule. Council also set related budget and rate items and scheduled a public hearing for Aug. 19.
The Midvale City Council on June 17 adopted the city’s certified property tax rate for calendar year 2025 and approved an ordinance proposing a new Midvale public safety property tax, moving the measure into the state’s truth-in-taxation process.
City finance staff said the certified tax rate — the rate the county auditor uses to compute bills — reflects rising property values and is unchanged in city revenue. Mariah Hill, Midvale’s finance director, presented the proposal and a plan to create a new special revenue fund that would collect revenues from the new tax and pay public-safety expenses.
Hill told the council the proposed public safety tax would generate about $940,000 in fiscal 2026 and would pay for a portion of Unified Police Department costs and related public-safety items. Hill said the average Midvale home — a taxable value of about $492,000 — would see an increase of about $67 a year if the tax is ultimately adopted after the truth-in-taxation hearing.
“This will be a separate line on their tax notice,” Hill said, noting Utah Code authorizes municipalities to levy a public-safety property tax and that the council must follow required notice and hearing steps.
Mayor Dustin Gettle and council members emphasized public education before the August hearing. Hill said the council must adopt a proposed tax rate now to trigger the truth-in-taxation schedule; if the tax is rejected after the required hearing, the general fund would absorb the UPD increase and require offsetting cuts or transfers.
The council’s votes on the financial measures were unanimous. The council adopted Resolution 2025-R-41 (certified property tax rate) and passed Ordinance 2025-012 proposing the Midvale public safety property tax; both actions start the formal notice and hearing sequence with a public hearing scheduled for Aug. 19.
Next steps include finalizing statutory notice language, a public notice campaign and the Aug. 19 public hearing where residents may comment on the tax, the public-safety budget, and the pay plan. If the council proceeds after that hearing, the tax would appear as a separate line on property tax notices and be restricted to the public-safety purposes specified in the ordinance.
