West Point council sets 2026 tax rate below its advertised maximum
After advertising a maximum city rate of 0.000780 against a certified rate of 0.000711, the West Point council voted 4–1 on Aug. 18 for 0.000750, draft minutes show. The final budget raises police services to $900,000.
Continuing story: Auditing West Point
The West Point City Council set the city's 2026 property tax rate at 0.000750 on Aug. 18, below the 0.000780 maximum it had advertised for the truth-in-taxation process, according to draft minutes in the council's Sept. 1 packet. [1]
The vote
June 16 minutes in the same packet record the certified rate as 0.000711 and a proposed rate of 0.000780, and a staff explanation that the final rate could be set anywhere between the two. [1]
At the Aug. 18 hearing, the council adopted Resolution No. 08-18-2026A setting a rate of 0.000750. Councilmember Jerry Chatterton moved and Councilmember Annette Judd seconded. Chatterton, Judd, Trent Yarbrough and Michele Swenson voted yes; Jeremy Strong voted no. [1]
The council then adopted the fiscal 2027 final budget, Ordinance No. 08-18-2026A, by a 5–0 roll call. Strong moved, and amended his motion to specify the 0.000750 rate; the minutes say the capital projects transfer was reduced by the difference in property tax revenue between the two rates. [1]
The approval block on the draft minutes is blank. [1]
The Utah State Tax Commission's 2026 table of approved rates lists a final rate of 0.00075 for West Point's general operations, with final budgeted revenue of $936,581. [3]
The budget
The state-filed final budget lists $936,581 in general fund property taxes for fiscal 2027, compared with $858,074.09 collected in fiscal 2025. [2]
It budgets $900,000 for police services, up from $755,248 in the fiscal 2026 original and amended budgets. The city's fiscal 2025 actual for the line was $606,030.36. [2]
The general fund transfer to the capital projects fund is $55,014 in the final budget, down from $265,818 in the fiscal 2026 amended budget. [2]
The tax rates are the city's portion of the property tax levy only. A higher city rate is not the same percentage increase in a resident's total property tax bill. Budget amounts are appropriations, not payments.
Sources
- West Point City Council · Sept. 1, 2026 packet, with draft Aug. 18 and June 16, 2026 minutes
- West Point City · FY2027 final budget (state-filed)
- Utah State Tax Commission · 2026 approved tax rates and budgets
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.