Riverton's city tax rate is zero. Its police and fire service areas collect $14.3 million

Riverton's basic city property tax rate has been 0.000000 since Jan. 1, 2012, when the city annexed into the Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Service Area, according to its fiscal 2025 audit. For police and fire, Riverton property owners are taxed instead by two service areas the city created. ^[1][2]

Two taxing districts

The Riverton Law Enforcement Service Area was created to collect property taxes for law enforcement and became active Jan. 1, 2018. The audit says the city created it in part to mitigate a 2018 property tax increase already approved by the Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Service Area. ^[3]

The Riverton Fire Service Area was created Oct. 13, 2020, and became active Jan. 1, 2021. The audit says the city created it in part to mitigate the Unified Fire Service Area's intent to raise property taxes for 2021. Unified Fire Authority continues to provide fire suppression in Riverton. ^[3]

Both are governed by the mayor and City Council and are reported as special revenue funds within the city's statements. ^[3][10]

What they collected

In fiscal 2025, the law enforcement service area's actual property tax revenue was $6,954,505, and the fire service area's was $7,358,563. Together they equal the $14,313,068 in property tax reported for the city's governmental activities. The General Fund's budget-and-actual statement lists no property tax revenue. ^{[4][5][6][11]}

For tax year 2024, the audit lists a law enforcement rate of 0.001105 and a fire rate of 0.001191, a total direct rate of 0.002296. In tax year 2017, before Riverton left, the Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Service Area rate was 0.002033. In tax year 2020, before Riverton left, the Unified Fire Service Area rate was 0.001717. ^[1]

Where the money went

The law enforcement service area transferred $8,013,750 to the General Fund in fiscal 2025 to pay for law enforcement, and ended the year with a fund balance of $2,376,124. ^[4][3]

The fire service area spent $6,793,190, including $6,328,955 in fire service fees and $316,133 in principal and interest on its share of a Unified Fire Service Area debt. It ended the year with $2,404,033. ^[5]

On June 2, 2026, each service area's board, made up of the mayor and council, held a public hearing with no public comment and unanimously adopted a final fiscal 2026-27 budget. On June 16, the City Council unanimously adopted Resolution 26-33, the 2026 tax rate. ^[7][8][9]