Over the last few weeks, many property owners have received their property tax notices projecting what they will pay in property taxes next year. What these notices do not reflect, however, is the total cost of living in a particular city, and all the money the city collects from its residents. Our Cost of City Government aims to shed light on some of the less obvious sources of city revenue and calculate the overall amounts paid by residents to the city.
The report shows how much revenue is collected in the form of property taxes, sales taxes, fines, fees, charges for services, impact fees and licenses and permits as reported in the city’s financial statements and divides it by the total resident population.
The report also shows which cities participate in additional districts which provide services to the city but whose revenues are not accounted for in the report. Cities which participate in many districts should be able to operate with lower revenues since some services are outsourced, although our report shows little relationship. Additionally, the report illustrates the relationship between sales tax revenues and the resident population to add some nuance to the sales tax revenues collected. In cities with lots of retail and recreation opportunities, the sales tax revenue is strongly supplemented by out-of-city visitors, meaning a simple calculation of sales tax divided by population unfairly attributes revenues (and costs) to residents when they are paid by a wider population.
The 2024 Cost of City Government report showed few changes from previous years. Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake continue to be the most expensive cities per capita; Clinton, Taylorsville and North Ogden remain lower in the table. Our full report is available for review here.