Despite increased costs, a new budget for 2014-2015 would recommend no property tax increase.

When American Fork city administrator Craig Whitehead releases the 2014-2015 budget proposal to the City Council for review Tuesday evening, he will recommend that the property tax rate will be left untouched.

Property taxes always play an important role in municipal government because it affects its cash-flow. Leaving the property tax at the current level means that as costs rise, the city’s ability to pay its bills is essentially reduced.

In American Fork, property tax revenue has not kept pace with inflation. The amount raised by the city has been decreasing, in constant dollars, since 2009, while its cost to provide services keeps rising. Its hardly news that the city continues to wrestle with increase in healthcare costs for its employees and aging equipment and infrastructure. A plan to revamp the city’s website alone, which is expected to be green-lighted by the Council this week, would cost over $35,000.

Meanwhile, a projection from the city’s health insurance agents — after surveying the current market — will set the city back another six percent, or $132,000, for healthcare premiums. “Significant concerns remain about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act,” wrote Mr. Whitehead in a letter to the City Council. “[It] has greatly affected the personnel costs for our Fire/Rescue Department.” Under the Act, employees who work at least 30 hours, including a firefighter carrying a pager, are entitled to health insurance benefits.

For American Fork, the noose of municipal budgeting continues to tighten as the Utah State Retirement System just announced that the current pension contribution will increase 1.18 percent over amounts assessed last year for the regular employee plan and 1.90 percent for police employees. American Fork, which participates in the State-mandated pension program, will see its costs increase by over $90,000.

American Fork also competes with neighboring cities to attract and keep its work force, a dispiriting challenge having earned AFPD the undesired reputation of “training ground” for rookies. Once the police officers were hired and trained by the department, they would leave for higher pay at other cities. American Fork was forced to take stock of its promotion and compensation strategies in order to retain experienced workers. The new budget includes a three percent merit increase for wages and benefits.

But in American Fork City Hall, the view is growing that the future is bright. While facing a heap of challenges, the current economic climate provides strong sales tax revenue for the city, as well as revenue from building permits. Both have grown significantly, which are indicators of a promising future.

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