Bluffdale raises its public safety fee to $16.20 a month on a 4-1 vote

Bluffdale's monthly public safety fee for residences is $16.20 under a fee schedule the City Council approved in June to pay for added fire and police staffing. ^[1][4][6]

On June 10, Council Member Wendy Aston moved to approve Ordinance 2026-09, the city's amended consolidated fee schedule, "as amended to increase the residential Public Safety Fee to $16.20 per month and apply the same percentage increase to commercial and multi-family residential." Council members Aston, Greg Wilding, Mackey Smith and Alan Lord voted yes. Council Member Steve Austin voted no. ^[1][10]

Before the vote, Finance Director Stephanie Thayer reported that the same percentage increase was applied to residential, commercial and apartment properties, "so the overall increase was 43%," according to the minutes. ^[1]

How the amount was set

A staff spreadsheet presented that night showed fee options based on different hire dates for a fire battalion chief, the minutes say. City Manager Bruce Kartchner told the council that the lieutenant for the police transition would be hired in October 2026 and the sergeants in January 2027. ^[3]

Mayor Natalie Hall asked the council to address a $200,000 transfer from the general fund, which she said would deplete reserves by that amount. ^[9]

Kartchner said each month the battalion chief's hiring moved added or subtracted $0.20 from the monthly fee, and he proposed $16.20 in anticipation of a September start. Lord said he preferred $16.00. ^[2]

Smith then moved to adopt the fiscal 2027 budget "as amended to hire a Battalion Chief by September 1, 2026." That motion passed 4-1, with Austin voting no. ^[2]

The rates

The consolidated fee schedule dated July 22, 2026 lists monthly public safety fees of $16.20 for residential, $40.30 for commercial and $1,329.75 for apartments, with the note "Determination based on independent fee study." ^[4]

As of Oct. 16, the city's rates web page listed residential at $9.25 a month, commercial at $23.00 and apartments at $759.25, under the heading "New Fee effective September 1, 2024." The records reviewed do not show whether a different rate took effect between September 2024 and the June 2026 vote. ^[5]

The city created the fee for fiscal 2025. The fiscal 2025 audit says, "In order to pay for needed increases in public safety costs, the City instituted a new Public Safety Fee." ^[8]

Where the money goes

Fee revenue goes to the Fire and Police Protection Fund, which the budget says is restricted to public safety. The fund collected $555,943 from the fee in fiscal 2025, budgeted $750,000 for fiscal 2026 and projects $1,224,000 for fiscal 2027. ^[6][7]

The fund's fiscal 2027 budget is $8,214,100: $3,782,100 for fire and $4,432,000 for police. The general fund contributes $6,461,600 of that, including a $3,500,000 transfer labeled property taxes. ^[6][7]

The budget says the increases pay for three additional officers under the city's contract with Saratoga Springs, a full-time battalion chief and a part-time firefighter added in the middle of fiscal 2026. It says the city could pay for the higher service level "either" by raising the fee or by raising the property tax rate, "since 100% of city property tax goes to public safety." ^[6]