Washington Terrace adopts interim budget, forwards proposed property tax increase to public hearing

City Manager Tom Hanson told the Washington Terrace City Council on June 16 that the city would consider raising its property tax rate from 0.001590 to 0.0016997 to generate roughly $98,100 to support police services. Hanson presented the revised "Property Tax Impact Schedule" during the meeting and said the change would fund contractual increases for services provided by the Weber County Sheriff’s Office.

The council approved Resolution 26-08, adopting an interim budget for fiscal year 2026–27 and a comprehensive fee schedule, and adopting a 2026 proposed property tax rate by a unanimous vote recorded as 3-0. "The proposed amounts described in the Property Tax Impact Schedule are set aside pending the outcome of the Truth-in-Taxation process and a final budget adoption before September 1, 2026," Hanson said.

The schedule presented by Hanson shows the city’s current property tax rate as 0.001590 and lists a proposed revenue increase from $1,458,777 to $1,556,877 (a $98,100 increase). The presentation included estimated taxpayer impacts: an owner-occupied property valued at $409,000 would see an estimated annual increase of $25.33; a business at the same value would see an estimated increase of $46.05. Hanson also noted the estimated overall increase to the city property tax rate is about 6.7 percent.

The minutes record one internal discrepancy in the figures presented: the cover of the property-tax summary lists a proposed rate of 0.0016997, while Hanson later refers to a proposed general operations tax rate of 0.001697. The council did not resolve that numeric difference on the record; the amounts adopted in Resolution 26-08 were described as the working/tentative numbers subject to the Truth-in-Taxation process.

Hanson said that if the city proceeds with the tax increase, "a public hearing will be conducted as required at which members of the public will have an opportunity to provide comments on the proposed increase." The council recorded the interim budget action and noted the final budget and any change in the tax rate will be completed following the statutorily required public process before September 1.

Next steps: the City will carry the tentative amounts through the Truth-in-Taxation process, host the public hearing(s) described by Hanson, and return for final budget adoption later this summer.