(The Center Square) – Salt Lake Count Mayor Jenny Wilson’s budget proposal has been met with criticism for including a 20% property tax increase in order to raise the salaries of county employees, while the mayor’s office denies the hike is for raises.
Political consultant Michael Jolley told The Center Square that the property tax increase is not a responsible action.
“They already raised the sales tax earlier this year,” Jolley said. “They should reduce spending instead of taking more money from taxpayers.”
Jolley told The Center Square that “the Salt Lake County mayor and council should find ways to free up money in the general fund so they don’t need to raise property taxes.”
“This can be done by moving spending from the general fund that can be paid for by other funds that don’t have as much flexibility,” Jolley explained.
“They should also be lobbying the state legislature to allow them to expand the use of [Tourism, Recreation, Culture, and Convention Support Program] funds for more services,” Jolley said. “Other counties have done this and it allows for the county government to better serve constituents and keep taxes low.”
Jolley told The Center Square that “the number of residents living in unincorporated areas in Salt Lake County has decreased from around 130,000 to about 11,000 in the past decade.”
“This means the county is no longer providing the kinds of services normally provided by city governments to nearly 120,000 people,” Jolley said.
“The county plays less of a role in essential services, yet they have continued to raise taxes,” Jolley pointed out.
According to a Wall Street Apes X post, three different deputy mayors in Wilson’s office each respectively make $251,000, $203,000, and $198,000.
“Almost all of the top 100 employees of the County make at least $140,000 a year,” the post said.
According to the post, Wilson proposed the 20% property tax increase “to give county employees a raise.”
Wilson Communications Director Liz Sollis told the Center Square that “the proposed 19.63% tax increase on Salt Lake County’s portion of the annual property tax notice … is intended to address long-term inflation and public safety needs, NOT to give county employees a raise.”
“A 3.25% cost of living adjustment for employees is included in the 2026 budget proposal,” Sollis said.
“For years, Salt Lake County has absorbed rising costs – including health care, utilities, technology, and infrastructure – without raising taxes,” Sollis said. “Those costs have now outpaced revenue growth for too long, creating a structural gap we can no longer ignore.”
“Salt Lake County is at a point where we have no responsible alternative,” Sollis said.
Sollis stated that between 2010 and 2022, Salt Lake County’s population “grew by an average of 1.2% per year.”
However, Cato Institute’s senior fellow Stephen Slivinski told The Center Square that Salt Lake County’s budget’s growth rate “is far above the county population growth.”
“The Salt Lake County general fund budget has grown by about 6% each year over the past few years and the mayor’s new budget is no exception,” Slivinski said.
“As a general rule, prudent budget management should hold government growth to no greater than population growth plus inflation,” Slivinski said.
“County officials should look to get their spending under control first before they ask taxpayers to send more money to the county coffers,” Slivinski said.
Slivinski informed The Center Square that “total budget spending (general fund plus everything else) has actually grown by over 30% during the same period – massively faster than population growth in the county,” but this number includes “all funds, including state transfers to local governments, special bond funds, etc.”
Slivinski “stuck to the general fund calculation in this case” because from what he can tell based off Mayor Wilson’s budget documents, it includes most of the things “that the mayor and council have the most direct control over,” as well as “the salaries of the government employees that she seeks to award raises to.”
“However, even if those employees were spread over non-general fund budget lines, the overall spending increases are still alarming and should be controlled first before tax increases are even considered,” Slivinski said.
