Rocky seeks tax hike

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson — a self-described fiscal conservative — is pushing for a $1.4 million property tax hike.

And while the increase would be the first Anderson has proposed in his five-year tenure, if adopted, it would mark the third straight year city residents and businesses have faced a property tax increase.

The hike request will be part of Anderson's 2005-06 fiscal budget presentation to the City Council tonight. The increase would fund 15 new police officers and two additional support personnel in the city's police department.

The mayor's plan would boost taxes on a $150,000 home by $9.45 yearly and boost taxes on a $1 million businesses by $114.61 annually.

Most of the new officers would be bicycle patrol cops added on both the city's east and west sides, Anderson's spokeswoman Deeda Seed said. The new officers would, among other assignments, help patrol the city's parks — a move due in part to recent acts of violence and a murder at Liberty Park.

The new officers are needed because the city's "service population" — the number of commuters, visitors and permanent residents — is growing, Seed said.

"This will allow us to offer better, more effective police service throughout the entire city," Seed said.

City Council members, who have been briefed on the mayor's tax hike plans, say the mayor is adding other positions as well. While those positions aren't being funded by the tax hike, some council members say the tax increase for police is a ruse to slip the other positions in as well.

"Are the police being used to sell a tax increase?" Councilman Dave Buhler said.

Buhler, who regularly criticizes the city's government for being too big for its current budget, said he's not ready to raise taxes.

"Public safety is my biggest priority," he said. "I'm confident we can provide the tools and positions they need without raising taxes."

Four of seven council members — Carlton Christensen, Eric Jergensen, Jill Remington Love and Dale Lambert — are up for re-election this year and may also be hesitant to boost taxes.

Lambert, probably the most fiscally conservative council member, said the election won't factor into his decision. Lambert has often said the city needs more officers, yet he has mixed feelings about a tax hike.

"Salt Lake City's taxes are already on the high end of taxes around here," he said. "There are certainly many on the City Council that are reluctant to adopt a tax increase."

Still, the City Council hasn't shied away from property tax increases in the past. Last year the council approved a $1.5 million hike to fund the city's library system. The hike boosted annual taxes on a $175,000 home by roughly $11.50, and on a $2 million business by about $230.

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