Mayor proposes 33% increase to South Salt Lake public-safety property tax in FY27 tentative budget

Mayor Cherie Wood presented the City of South Salt Lake’s tentative FY2026–27 budget on May 13, outlining deep General Fund cuts alongside targeted revenue proposals to sustain public-safety spending. The package calls for a 33% increase to the city’s Public Safety Service Special Fund, raising the PSSSF rate from 0.000995 to an estimated 0.00132335.

The mayor said the increase is needed to close a funding gap for police, fire, emergency management, homeless strategies and code enforcement. “Therefore, I am proposing a 33% tax increase to the PSSSF,” Cherie Wood said during the presentation. City materials estimate the change would generate about $1,869,588 in new revenue and increase the city’s PSSSF revenue from roughly $5.67 million to $7.54 million.

City staff provided a property-tax impact schedule showing the estimate for an average single-family home valued at $470,000 would be about $7.07 per month on the city’s portion of the property tax bill. The mayor emphasized that the PSSSF is only the city’s share and that other taxing entities (school district, county) are separate. A Truth-in-Taxation hearing was scheduled for August to meet statutory notice requirements.

The council did not take final action at the May 13 meeting; the agenda lists options for council to delay, refer to a work meeting, or adopt by ordinance after the public hearing. The tentative budget documents accompanying the presentation include line-item changes and alternative scenarios showing budget totals with and without the proposed rate change.