Cedar Hills raised its operating tax and cut its golf bond levy; city records give different figures

Cedar Hills raised its property tax this year to pay for rising public safety contract costs and paired it with a cut in the levy that repays its 2012 golf course bonds, according to city records. The records do not agree on the size of the increase. ^[2][3]

The plan in May

On May 5, 2026, the council adopted a tentative fiscal 2027 budget that included a proposed property tax increase. A statement listed in the minutes describes approximately $150,000 in added revenue, a 20% increase in ad valorem revenue, to cover rising public safety costs. ^[1]

The tentative budget also proposed raising the monthly public safety fee by $4 from its $12.30 level. Finance Director Charl Louw said that if the property tax increase were adopted, "the $4 public safety fee would be credited back to residents," according to the minutes. ^[1]

Louw said the proposal would lower the golf debt levy by 26%, about $80,000, and that a $30,000 transfer from the golf fund "would be moved to reduce the property tax debt levy." ^[1]

The August adoption

The budget book posted for the Aug. 18 final adoption lists among its highlights a "$150,000 increase above the certified property tax levy amount to offset American Fork public safety contract increases" and a Golf Fund transfer of $30,000 to the Golf Debt Service Fund to help reduce the bond levy by $75,000 from the prior year. ^[3]

The budget lists $231,000 in 2012 golf bond property tax for fiscal 2027, compared with $306,000 projected for fiscal 2026, and $918,237 in General Fund property tax, compared with $764,000. ^[3]

The approved minutes of the Aug. 18 meeting record Louw describing a $350,000 increase with a general operations rate of 0.000880 and a total rate, including the debt levy, of 0.001110. They say the debt levy was reduced by $75,000 and describe a net increase of $75,000, about $13 for an average home. ^[2]

The council voted 5–0 to adopt Resolution 08-18-2026A setting the final levy and then 5–0 to adopt the final budget. Louw said the city had absorbed $565,000 in increased public safety costs, according to the minutes. ^[2]

The public safety fee

In March, the council raised the monthly public safety fee from $10.00 to $12.30, according to the minutes. ^[4]

On Aug. 18, Goodwin said the fee had been raised from $12.50 to $16.50 in June as part of the interim budget, to be collected in July and credited back if the property tax failed. He said it was never collected, so there was nothing to credit back, and the city wanted to formally return it to $12.50, according to the minutes. The council approved the fee schedule resolution 3–0, with two members absent. ^[2][4]