Residents speak out about proposed Cache County property tax increase

LOGAN, Utah — Cache County residents pushed back this week on a proposed 20% property tax increase.

A notice from the Cache County Council said the increase is meant “to meet competitive wage increases, additional staffing needs, infrastructure projects, and inflationary costs of goods.”

The council also noted that the last time it raised property taxes was in 2020.

Cache County Executive David Zook said costs have gone way up, and at least some form of tax increase is necessary. 

“The cost of everything has increased, from asphalt to ambulances, and snow plows to sheriff deputies,” Zook said.

But at a public hearing about the proposal on Tuesday, residents said that they were struggling with inflation, too.

Several residents also expressed concern about where the money would be going. Some said they weren’t seeing many benefits from county services from the taxes they were already paying.

Zook said the county has been trying to cut costs for the past year. According to Zook, they asked every department in the county to cut their budgets a year ago because they knew this was coming.

But with increasing costs and new state mandates, it wasn’t enough in the end.

“We have new expenses that we had no choice about, like new school safety staff that the state Legislature mandated.”

Zook said the budget isn’t complete yet and feels confident that the council will make some changes as they consider the public’s concerns.

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