Provo City Council held a truth in taxation hearing Tuesday with an in-person group that didn’t even fill up one side of the council chambers.

The council was hoping residents would speak up on the proposed city property tax increase of 2.9%, or just under $4 a year.

However, the majority of the nine people that went to the podium during public hearing time were senior citizens confused about why their property taxes were so high and not understanding who gets what portion of their money.

On June 7, the council gave notice that it intended to raise city proper taxes in the general operations portion. Until next Tuesday, when the vote to approve or reject the increase, the city is functioning on an unofficial but tentatively approved budget.

Many of those coming to the microphone had their property tax assessments from the county in hand and noted they had increases between $400 and $700 a year.

Council Chairman Travis Hoban tried to explain the various taxing entities on the assessment, but in the end, council members and the city attorney took time after the meeting to help individuals understand.

The proposed city increase would bring in about $147,000 which would be used to fund specific items for the police department.

Hoban noted that residents concerned about the increases should attend next Tuesday’s Provo School District truth in taxation hearing. The district seeking somewhere between a 30% and 43% increase while the Central Utah Water Conservancy District is asking for an almost 30% increase.

One resident noted her taxes jumped up $704. “Seniors need some help. I can’t afford this kind of increase,” she said.

Provo resident Pam Jones told the council, “This is frustrating, we feel like when have no place to go for relief.”

Karen Tapahe, community outreach and public information officer for the council, took time to explain how the taxes work and showed a video on the matter.

“At last night’s hearing, it was evident that many people are confused by the property tax assessments they recently received and how their tax bill is calculated,” Tapahe said. “The State of Utah has established the process that is administered by each of the counties and must be followed by the various taxing entities.”

County assessors appraise each residential property at its “fair market value.” For someone’s primary residence, only 55% of that amount is considered the taxable value, Tapahe noted. The certified tax rate is calculated by taking the budget of the taxing entity and dividing it by the taxable value of all the properties within their boundaries.

For example, if Provo City had established a budget of $100,000 from property taxes, and the total taxable value of all properties in Provo was $100 million, the tax rate would end up being 0.1%.

When the tax rate is calculated the next year the city’s budget would remain the same, but the total of the taxable values will have changed and the tax rate could go lower or higher. Using the same example, but with total taxable values increasing to $110 million, the tax rate would decrease to 0.0909%. Provo City would receive the same $100,000 budget, Tapahe explained.

“The challenge when a resident receives their tax assessment in the mail is when you have a year like this where property values have dramatically increased and multiple entities are proposing rate increases,” Tapahe said. “My own property’s value jumped up 31% from last year and there are rate changes from Provo City (+0.88%), Central Utah Water Conservancy (+24.22%), and Provo School District (+28.9%).”

Each of those entities has its own truth in taxation hearings, with Provo City’s having been the first. Provo School District will hold theirs at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Dixon Middle School. The other hearings are listed at the bottom of the tax assessment sent by the county.

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