The Carbon County Commissioners concluded their regularly-scheduled Wednesday evening meeting by informing the community that there will be a possible certified tax rate increase for 2020.
The commissioners spent nine months addressing the budget, income to the county, and what it is taking to operate and take care of the services that have been provided to the community. Some of those services are mandated while others are not. However, they have become a part of the quality of life enjoyed in the area from youth sports to plowed roads and beyond.
Over the last 20+ years, a large amount of mineral lease monies have been utilized for the county for normal operations. Other ways those monies have been utilized is the buildings that have been constructed, roads that have been improved and more.
In 2018, for the first year, the Carbon County Transportation Special Service District, where the mineral lease funds funnel through, were unable to pay the minimum amount that the county needs to operate. Last year, $800,000 was taken out of the reserves to add the money that came in to assist the county with day-to-day operations. Funds are still low now, prompting the county to be forced to once again extract funds out of reserves as well as the Special Transportation District.
Commission Chair Larry Jensen has worked with departments heads to look in depth at where the money is spent and found certain areas to reduce. However, it has not amounted to a large sum and it appears that the cuts made over the last few years have put the county at a point where it is a bit below where it should be in the budget.
Commissioner Jensen continued by stating that it appears that there is only one way out without continuing to deplete reserves, which would be to raise taxes.
The discussion on the proposed tax rate officially began at the meeting, with critical public hearings to occur between this time and the final decision in December. Different numbers have been discussed, from raising one million dollars in tax income to the full 1.6 million needed.
Helper, Price, Wellington and East Carbon will not be a part of the tax increase; it is an increase in the municipal fund collected from those residents in the unincorporated parts of the county who, up to this point, have paid a small amount toward the fund, which is supposed to take care of a number of items. The cities have a much higher rate than the citizens pay in that area compared to the county.
Commissioner Tony Martines stressed that this is not an overall tax burden; rather, it is one line item out of 10 for people that reside in the county. Compared to last year, there is more security in knowing where the county is at and where they are heading. Commissioner Casey Hopes stated that he is grateful to have his fellow commissioners to go over the budget with and commended them for helping him to see the necessity of proposing the increase.
The increase was broken down simply: if one owns a $100,000 home, the taxes would increase to about $87 per year, if the commissioners choose to make up the entire 1.6 million shortfall. Those that own a house worth $200,000 they would have a pay increase of just over $14 per month.
“It’s significant, but I think it’s manageable,” stated Commissioner Jensen.
A notice will be mailed out to those that the increase may effect and the public hearing date will be published for two weeks beforehand. The public hearing for both the budget for 2020 and the proposed tax increase are set for Nov. 20. The tentative 2020 budget will be turned into the commissioners on Nov 1. and released to the public on Nov. 7.