Write your article here...While several municipalities are proposing property tax increases for the next fiscal year, including a 14.65% hike from Salt Lake County, Holladay does not plan to raise taxes this year.

In May, the Holladay City Council approved a resolution to adopt the city’s tentative budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Submitted by City Manager Gina Chamness, the budget prioritizes city employees, providing a 2.7% cost-of-living adjustment to ensure Holladay attracts and retains high quality staff.

While a property tax increase is off the table for now, current sales tax growth is not expected to cover rising costs for public safety and public works services. 

“Without a significant change in sales tax patterns, we can anticipate the necessity of a property tax increase in the next cycle,” Chamness said.

At just over $25 million (about $1 million higher than last year), the 2026-27 budget is based on priorities identified by the city council. Those areas are: a safe community with excellent public assets and infrastructure; a responsible, efficient and sustainable city government; responsible development that enhances the community; and making Holladay a great place to live. 

The city’s personnel budget will total $4,375,352. That includes the conversion of two existing part-time positions to full-time roles. With a nearly 18% increase in caseloads in the last fiscal year, the part-time court administrator will move to full-time. The additional cost of $33,891 will be shared with cities contracted with the Holladay Justice Court. 

Additionally, the city’s part-time inspector will also become full-time because it’s been hard for the city to find a qualified inspector willing to work part-time hours. The increase will add $44,920 to the budget. 

“This tentative budget does reflect some inflationary increases for the city, as well as changes in the cost of our contracts that provide our key municipal services,” Chamness said. “Two of those contracts, both police services and public work services, are increasing by about $310,000 each.”

Two large projects are included in the budget. The seismic retrofit of Holladay City Hall and the opportunity to convert the site of Spring Lane Elementary into a city park. The Local Building Authority Fund was established to facilitate these projects that are budgeted for $15.4 million this year. 

“Those projects continue to be reflected in this budget, and we do anticipate some changes to the tentative budget as [the council] makes further decisions,” Chamness said. “I remain grateful for the guidance, support and temperament of this council and look forward to your careful review and consideration of this budget.”

The city’s biggest revenue sources for the budget are property taxes at $8.7 million and sales tax coming in at $7.8 million. Other revenue sources include franchise fees, licenses and permits, service fees, contributions and justice court revenue.

A public hearing to consider the proposed city and LBA budgets is scheduled for Thursday, June 4, at 6 p.m. at the temporary city offices (3330 S. 1300 East). Once approved by the council, the budget will be effective July 1, 2026. A copy of the tentative budget can be found at holladayut.gov.

“I was pleasantly surprised at how well the budget came together without the need for a property tax adjustment, primarily because of the two big projects,” said Holladay Mayor Paul Fotheringham. “The fact that we’re able to handle that additional load without requiring a property tax adjustment is really surprising, and it speaks to the great health of our city financially.”