The last couple of months have been busy for the Harrisville City Council. They opened the Harrisville splash pad, organized Heritage Days, and applied for Truth in Taxation, which is the legal process a city must undertake to increase taxes. Due to an unbalanced budget and the need for public-service raises, the Council started researching several different options that would bring the city the funds they needed.
One such option was incorporating the Harrisville police department with the Weber County Sheriff’s office. This option meant that officers would get the raises they need, but they would also be spread over Marriott-Slaterville, Farr West, and other surrounding cities involved in the program. However, public opinion was largely against this merger. Mr. Hill of Harrisville said, “Please reconsider contracting out our police department. You have one of the finest police departments I’ve ever seen.”
Another option was increasing property taxes. Although the Council didn’t like the option, they took the first steps required, which were to make announcements and hold public hearings. Mayor Hendrix said, “This Truth in Taxation isn’t easy for me, too. Every person sitting here [on the Council] pays taxes.”
After many, many meetings and two public hearings, Harrisville decided not to raise taxes and not to contract out their police department. Because of Truth in Taxation they were able to look at itemized costs in the budget and see where they were able to cut costs, which included having to lose two public workers. City employees were also told not to expect raises for at least five years.
The Council agreed to the new budget at a public hearing on August 7th. Council Member Chad Allen was the only member to vote Nay, stating, “I don’t agree with it and I don’t think it’s right,” due to two public service employees getting a 20% raise while the rest got a 2% raise. All other members of the Council voted Yes.
