2021 Highland Survey


1	Comments containing the words: Tax or Fee
2	# of Comments: 167	Total Replies: 167
3	General Comments	General Replies

4	Roads are so poor. I voted to increase the tax, but still feel like I need a 4WD for a car to outlast the potholes.	We are in the 4th year of our 7-year road plan. We fixed a number of roads, 6000 W, Highland Blvd, 11800 N, 9600 N, 6400 W but still have some to do. Among other roads this year we will be fixing 6800 W south of 9600 N (assumig we can finalize property acquisitions).
5	Open space tax is unfair now that we have so many high density housing complexes that have minimal green space and parking.	There are differing points of view for the open space fee. Our higher density housing numbers are so low that I don't believe are a meaningful factor in the discussion of this issue.
6	Is there a reason why businesses in Highland are not allowed to stay open on Sunday? It seems like we would have a lot lower property taxes if we had more businesses in Highland. But I don't think businesses can afford to stay open in Highland if they aren't allowed to run their businesses on Sunday. Why does the city feel like they have to control that? Let them decide if they want to be open on Sunday and we will generate more taxes from businesses instead of asking the residents to pay for it.	Sunday closing does have a modest negative effect on new businesses. However, businesses in Highland generally do well. My understanding is that they perform above average when compared to their peers. Businesses do include a cost. For example, increased traffic and for some businesses increased trucks (did you know that a fully loaded semi has 20,000 times the impact on a road as a sedan). Our community currently has the lowest crime rate of any city with a population over 10,000. That is worth something as well. Also, the impact or potential impact of adding a retail/service business to HIghland is not as high as some image. You can figure about $1.00 per sq ft per year of value in terms of the 0.5% sales tax that comes directly to us (Macey's is 43,000 sq ft). While every dollar helps, on a $10M dollar general fund budget and $10M enterprise fund (sewer, water, pressurized irrigation, storm sewer) I think the impact of changing to Sunday open and perhaps having a couple of business parcel filling up sooner is overstated. For me the benefits of having a common day of rest vastly exceed any costs. For example, did you know that a Sunday closed policy helps small business. See https://mannkindperspectives.blogspot.com/2012/08/can-cities-enact-sunday-closing.html
7	Please, please, please start maintaining the rural feel of Highland. Keep lot sizes an acre and consider the impact on existing residents as a first priority when approving new developments	The average lot size in Highland is 0.56 acres while the median is 0.46 acres. There are parcels of land in Highland designed mixed use such as the land south of Lone Peak High School or Town Center. In these cases higher density residential is allowed along with commercial development. The city has a legal obligation to approve developments that conform to city code. Most of the undeveloped land in Highland is zoned R-1-40 (residential with a number of lots limited to the sq ft of the undeveloped land divided by 40,000).
8	I do not support Highland City helping a private developer to purchase a portion of a public park like Equestrian Park. This is a residential area. If we are going to have a private recreation center that's owned and operated by a private company, they need to put it in a commercial or business zone. Highland should not have to sign a non-compete agreement with them, nor waive impact fees unless they are doing the same for other companies. I would prefer Highland City to have at least part ownership in any recreation center, even if it means donating land and providing part of the funds, giving residents some say in the operation of the center.	Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this issue. In the end the council did not support the Rec Center project at the equestrian center.
9	We love the open feel and large lots in Highland. Please keep it that way.	:)
10	The road to Costco is horrible. So narrow and a million pot holes. I also feel like we need more businesses in Highland so we get the tax money instead of Lehi/American Fork having all the businesses and benefits from it. It would also be nice to have our own post office.	While the Costo road is scheduled to be improved this summer it may be delayed 1 year due to right of way acquisition issues. We still have a couple of pieces of property to acquire which could delay it one more year but hopefully they will be closed in time to do the work this summer. We likely won't have our own post office, other than the one in Macey's. I don't see Highland ever having a much commercial business as either Lehi or AF in part due to their close proximity to I15. Another factor is the lower density in Highland and Alpine which results in fewer roof tops.
11	I feel like highland is a great place to live! I do think it is missing a community gym and fields and things for recreation sports. Though we can and do go to Draper, American Fork, & Lehi for those sports, it's just interesting Highland doesn't offer them.	We do have fields for soccer, lacrosse, and football (e.g. the ones north of Lone Peak are ours). In fact one of the reasons Cedar Hills works with us on recreation is because they want to use our fields. We will have 3 additional soccer fields once the Mountain Ridge Park is developed (my guess would be sometime in the next 18 months).
12	City staff are great to work with. Get more commercial development to offset tax burden.	We are approaching the saturation limit for commercial development based on a relatively recent market study.
13	I am still very frustrated with the road that is going to change my neighborhood, it won't be the quiet area that it once was and one of the reasons I bought my house 8 years ago. I feel that the city could care less about those that will be dealing with the increased traffic and the proposed speed limit on our residential street. Also the fact that you wouldn't even budge to look to put the street elsewhere. I would really like to leave this city, but unfortunately it's not the best time to buy a house elsewhere. I am very very disappointed and frustrated with the city for not caring about us that will be most affected by this road. Caring more about the relationship with other cities rather than their own residents.	The Canal Blvd extention has been planned for many years. It is what is best for the city overall as well as the region as a whole. Unfortunately, it does have a negative impact on some residents.
14	I didn't realize I paid an Open Space fee until today. I was surprised because it stated "smaller lots in exchange for parks/open space" and my lot size is .32 acres. I wouldn't consider that small and there aren't any parks close by at all, so I don't really understand why I am paying that Open Space fee.	There are 18 open space developments in Highland. They were created in the early 2000s when the city allowed developers higher density if they added parks, trails and or open space to a subdivision. These developments were put into a special service district rather than an HOA to be able to implement a fee to fun the maintenance of these parks and trails. The average lot size in your development would have been 0.78 acres with no lots smaller and 0.46 acres (20,000 sq. ft.). Near where you live is a large park (south east), a conservancy area with a dirt trail that runs through it to the east, and a bit further east a play ground. The developer had the obligation to let you know you are in an open space development.
15	Unhappy and disappointed with a subdivision builder and the city officials not being held to the decision of the city on the amount a feet from the property line and next house it is building. The distance was presented and approved for 25 feet. The builder put it 10 feet from the property line and the city isn't doing anything about it and the house is being build as is. Thanks a lot!	One of the standards for side yard set backs is 15 ft. I looked it appears that your home has a 15 ft setback while your neighbors is over 15 ft.
16	I would have my taxes raised for a very large community pool and park. I'd rather spend my admission fees in Highland.	Most residents would prefer not to have their taxes raised to fund a rec center/pool.
17	Don't raise taxes or do any special projects. Do everything you can to get out of the way of small business. Minimize the budget as much as possible for coming economic fallout from our response to COVID. Borrowing costs are low but prices are sky high and going up. It's a horrible time to consider special projects or raising taxes.	We will need to raise property taxes at some point in time. It won't be the year. The property tax the city recieves does not increase as property value increases therefore it does need to be raised periodically to keep up with inflation. Sales tax revenue increases can mitigate the need to raise property tax but it does not eliminate it.
18	Thanks for sending this survey and soliciting our feedback. The ultra right wing nature of many in our community is dispiriting and contradictory. People tend to despise government and taxes but want all the best services. Rhetoric from Mike Lee and others perpetuates this concept. I believe the Highland city government officials and employees are working hard to do the best they can with what they've been given by the citizens. As community members, we need to be willing to pay for what we use. It's sad to read the city council meeting agendas and minutes where city staff has to basically beg to get new equipment, or hear that many of our snow plows are 20+ years old. It will become increasingly difficult to hire and retain good city employees if their systems and equipment are poor and outdated, their work ethic is constantly questioned, pay is subpar, etc. We can to better. On a more positive note, I really appreciate the transparency that we see from the mayor and city council with the meeting agenda texts and emails, the newsletters, etc. Really good communication and the effort is noticed and appreciated. Additionally, we need to loosen up the provincial Sunday shopping restrictions and encourage more businesses and tax revenue. I'm an active member of the LDS Church but others aren't and I believe we should be more accommodating to those of other beliefs. Imagine if most people living here were Orthodox Jews and everything was closed on Saturday. It would be seen as repressive by the non-Jews. Lastly, thanks to the men and women working for Highland City who are doing their best to make our community a good place to live. Please tell them thanks for their efforts.	You are welcome. City government by nature is not partisan. Residents have demonstrated a willingness to "pay for what they use" when city staff and elected officials are transparent in their presenation of needs and tie those into actionable plans. With respect to Sunday closing the city voted on this in 2012. At the time Sunday closing was a policy valued by members of multiple faiths and those who were non-religious. There are benefits to this policy that affect everyone. There are still many cities and counties throughout country that have Sunday restrictions. See: https://mannkindperspectives.blogspot.com/2012/08/can-cities-enact-sunday-closing.html
19	We still can't even keep our roads up - after raising taxes. The city should not be considering adding new services until it can do the basic ones well. Roads are abysmal, despite the city taking more money to make them better. For example, the road up from Costco, after you entered Highland, can't even be painted right where its not a hazard at night. There are potholes everywhere throughout the city too. Something like a rec center will benefit maybe 10% of the city who will actually leave their homes and use it, yet the other 90% will pay for it. Even if your polls show there will be great use - look at other small cities - people just don't end up finding the time to use the space. We just aren't a big city (with retail tax revenue do to our Sunday law) that can support these type of measures. Let's be content having the city focus on the basics and a few community-building events during the year. Also, will admittedly (and vocally) opposed shifting the open space fee to those of us who don't enjoy the benefit of our backyards opening onto a giant park. Those home owners opted to receive that benefit in exchange for the fee. They knew what they were buying and shouldn't now ask the rest of us to pay for it.	There are a number of residents that would like a rec center. I just don't see that happening for a while. A significant majority of residents do not want to increase taxes of fees to pay for one when there are others in the area. Rec Centers cover about 70% of their operating costs. The road to Costco is a regional project that has been funded by the county and was scheduled to be completed this year. Unfortunately, we have a couple right of way acquisition issues that will likely push this project into next year. We are starting the 4th year of our 7-year road rehabilitation project so although we have made progress we still have more the 50% of the work left to do. When you see potholes please report them on our website. https://www.highlandcity.org/requesttracker.aspx
20	City Fees and taxes are too high	Our property tax rate is the 2nd lowest in North Utah County and our total fees are slightly below average.
21	Please lower city fees and property taxes	The city actually runs a lean budget. I don't know where we could reduce services that would result in meaningful reducation in fees or taxes. We can of course always improve but there are also a number of things that we should do better at that add costs. And of course there is always inflation that impacts us just like everyone else. If you have specific suggestions they are always welcome.
22	Need focus on bring more businesses to Highland ( and providing land for) to offset what I see as a continued need to raise taxes.	Businesses will continue to come to Highland that serve our residents. We are a low density residential community located 6 miles off the freeway so I don't see us as being a major business center. Also, with the pressure on merchants with a physical presence being put on by online retailers the market for brick and motar stores is not that strong.
23	I would like to see the city make do with the taxes they currently get from me. As the cost of goods go up and as my property increases, you get more money from the public. Please find a way to live within the budget.	When property values go up your tax rate goes down. The city get no direct benefit in terms of tax when property values go up. The city is subject to inflation just like its residents. Over time tax increases are needed to keep up with inflation. Sales tax makes up about 30% of our revenue and is the only inflation adjusted revenue source.
24	Reduce my taxes by reducing public services.	Which services would you like the city to reduce?
25	Home owners in open space subdivisions should be aware of the $20 maintenance fee before purchasing their home. Landscaping and maintenance of smaller lots costs less and require less work than for larger lots. It would be unfair to owners of larger lots to have them pay for maintenance of open spaces that residents of open space subdivisions primarily enjoy. The fact that 1/3 of the maintenance cost is paid from general city funds is what makes the open space parks and trails public property and not private property, and compensates for subdivisions that do not have the open rural appearance of homes on larger lots. If anything, there should be a provision for periodically increasing the $20 fee to take into account increasing costs from inflation. Yes, much of that open space is left unlandscaped as a native vegetation area, a decision made by the property developer to qualify for even higher density on smaller lots. If native vegetation is not what we want in Highland (I personally do not consider it attractive or beneficial, and many of the plants are actually invasive species) then the ordinances or laws that allow for higher density subdivisions in exchange for preserving native vegetation needs to be changed. And again the $20 monthly fee may need to be increased to reflect increased landscaping and maintenance costs. Alternatively it might be possible for some, but not all, land next to trails and parks in open space subdivisions to be purchased by the adjacent homeowners and then be landscaped and maintained by the homeowner.	Thanks for the well articulated view on the issue. I've looked into the issue a lot. If we treat the large parks that can be reserved for sports and the trails as public and the native open space and neighborhood parks as part of the subdivisions it imay be possible that a modest fee decrease would be in order.
26	It feels wrong to me to overturn a decision of a previous city council just because you don't agree with their decision. Also, I'm not sure if the wording in the survey is fair to those of the Wimbledon division. They went through a lot of effort to get approval for that and to overturn it now seems very overbearing of the new city council.	The council overturns the decisions of previous councils regularly - everytime a ordinance is updated or a zoning change is made. There would be nothing unfair or wrong with the council overturning the decision to eliminate the trails and sell open space in S. Wimbelton. That said, going to a vote is OK as well.
27	Stop trying to add/increase taxes and fees for everything.	Most of the city's revenue does not increase with inflation (property tax and fees). In order to maintain current service levels tax/fee increases are needed from time to time. The last property tax increase was about 12 years ago.
28	Our city does not need to provide recreation facilities. We are still so small. Don't be so eager to raise property taxes. Fix the roads and keep us safe. That's what is important. Thanks!	No one is eageer to raise taxes. We do get regular requests for recreational facilities so it is appropriate in my view to ask about them on a survey.
29	Our family pays a $50.00 dollar fee for our HOA park it would be unfair for us to have to pay extra fees for parks that we never use.	Fair point.
30	Highland needs to allow business to open on Sunday. We're getting killed by neighboring cities who are generating so much revenue from sales tax.	Actually, we are not getting "killed." We have the 2nd lowest property tax rate in N. Utah County and our fees are below average. Businesses in Highland are typically successful when compared with their peers. The biggest money maker for cities with respect to businesses are car dealerships. These tend to be located adjacent to freeways. Sunday closing has an overall positive affect on the community from my perspective. Did you know Sunday closing helps small business? See https://mannkindperspectives.blogspot.com/2012/08/can-cities-enact-sunday-closing.html
31	Ensure Highland obtains full share of online sales with own zip code or more equitable division of existing tax revenues from retail sales	We have met with the regional head of the postal service in Salt Lake. Highland will never get its own zip code. In time we will most likely share Alpine's zip code. That won't happen until American Fork grows to the point where they need to do a split. In that case we will be moved to Alpine's. We asked to accerlate that process but were turned down.
32	I am willing to pay more taxes for a recreation center ONLY if the recreation center has a pool. That would be SO amazing!	Most Highland residents are unwilling to pay more taxes for a rec center according to a recent survey.
33	The city roads need better maintenance. I also feel that the landscaping and maintenance of islands, etc are really bad. I know - there's one right outside my front door.	We are making progress on the roads. We have a 7-year road rehabiliitatoin plan which you can find on our website. We are starting the 4th year. We are slowing working on the islands as well.
34	Don't keep adding special fees for those of us on fixed incomes.	Unfortunately, the city like everyone else is subject to inflationary pressure. In order to provide services at the level the public expects fees or taxes need to increase occassionally as they do not account for inflation.
35	We want a recreation center WITH a pool. We would happily pay more taxes for a community pool in which Highland city residents get priority usage.	Most residents do not want to pay additonal taxes for a community rec center/pool.
36	The lack of planning for a sustainable tax base is a major problem for highland. Also, you've pushed high density housing into neighborhoods instead of planning for it within city limits. The city's only viable tax base is on the backs of homeowners instead of planned business, high density housing and other corporate or business growth. Poor planning and shortsighted in my opinion. I wish we could annex into American Fork, annex my area back into Lehi, or combine with Cedar Hills and try to widen our resources.	We can always to do better but have had and will continue to have business growth. We are not near a freeway which is where most major car dealerships are located (they are by far the biggest money makers of any business from a city perspective). By design, Highland is a low densitty bedroom community it is why many residents moved here. Low density bedroom communities do not support a large retail presence. I would be interested to know where we are putting high density housing into neighorhoods. Personally, I do believe we need a mix of housing types to serve our residents better. I regularly hear from residents who would like senior oriented housing (smaller HOA maintained lots with main floor living).
37	We need better plowing on the upper west side. The benches get hit harder than the valley and should probably have some priority, especially around Ridgeline. Traffic up here is getting really bad. Road conditions are improving though. Rescind the Dec 3rd trail decision and avoid further divide between residents, and an onslaught of misleading mailers. That neighborhood has finally started to heal from the referendum battle. It was wrong to pit neighbors against each other over public property. In every instance that it happened. Thank you for putting an end to it. Thanks to the council for looking out for residents and protecting our quality of life. I'm biased, but I sleep much better with the current council than I have in years... since the Skye development started a crazy development boom of R120's all over town. Rentable pavilions and bathrooms would be a great addition to many existing parks. I would kind of like to see improvements on existing parks before starting new park projects. I'm on the fence about a rec center. If it becomes a reality, then pricing should be different for members/guests from our neighboring cities. It seems like the splash pad hasn't really been for the residents of Highland, with the exception of the Toscana and Blackstone residents. Maybe they should pay an open space fee toward it? But I'm one of the people that thinks the monthly open space fee is a real bargain compared to upkeep on a large lot.	We dedicate one of our snow plows to the upper west. At the moment this is the best we can do. Traffic will continue to be an issue as we and our neighbors grow. One of the best things that can be done to mitigate traffic is improve road connectivity, which we do work on. The sale of the trail and open space will most likely be voted on in the fall. The survey responses did not support the council overturning the decision. We will start making improvements to existing parks this year. We've already added a bathroom to Beacon Hills and upgraded several existing bathrooms.
38	I would like to see the option of fiber internet coming to Highland. I remember awhile ago the topic was discussed by the City Council but tabled with very little discussion. In this time of increased internet usage since Covid I feel many residents would be very interested in this!!	Actually, the council invested quite a bit of time on UTOPIA but in the end decided that there was too much risk associated with the project.
39	Rather than raise property taxes to fund suggested programs, I'd like to see more commercial businesses in Highland and increase the tax revenue to the city that way while giving the resident more commercial options rather than us spending so much money in other cities	We have and are experiencing commercial growth. Highland will never have as large a commercial sector as Lehi or AF because of our low density and distance from the freeway.
40	When developers are building their projects, I do not feel they are respectful enough and the roads are often very dirty around their entrances, litter is blowing around and it does not seem like they pay for the infrastructure costs to be part of the city. It seems there should be fines if they do not keep the city clean and they should have to bear the costs of making their project fit into our city. Before we moved here this is what the developers had to do and was one way to keep the taxes down.	While development occurs there will always be negative impacts to the surrounding area. There are standards with which they need to adhere to with respect to debris so please contact the city if you believe there is an issue. Note, the high winds in our community mean that litter whether left by residents, developers, or visitors will be an issue. There are impact fees which developers must pay to mitigate issues but these are highly regulated by the state.
41	I hope residents will be open to a RAP tax. I think highland is an amazing place to live, but i would love to see more parks especially with all abilities playgrounds/pickleball courts/volleyball/soccer fields. Most of the parks just have small playgrounds for the kids. I also would be so excited to see a recreation center. I feel like these amenities would help contribute to the overall health and well being of highland residents. I would definitely support a RAP tax.	Thanks for your input. There is moderate support for a RAP tax which I believe is a good way to collect funds for our parks as it captures revenue from non-residents who shop in our city.
42	We love living in the Highland, but I am regularly disappointed in the upkeep, maintenance, and general appearance of many of the green spaces and parks in the city. Island has a real opportunity to increase the beauty of the city with better parks, better trails, more open spaces, and even the dog park would be wonderful. We recognize that these would come at a cost, likely taxes. But we believe that residence would see a huge value and would likely pay those minimal taxes if we were presented with viable options. The property north of Timpanogus highway, across from the cemetery, should seriously be considered for retail or other commercial uses. (Not a museum.) Additionally, highland should strongly reconsider its policy on business is being open on Sundays. It would absolutely increase the level of businesses that would want to come to Highland â€“ some of which would greatly increase the tax base.	The property is privately owned and is currently zoned residential. The owner has come to the city twice that I am aware of with a mixed use plan for the land (residential and commerical). Each time there was significant residential pushback on having commercial or higher density homes. Sunday closing was approved by residents a few years ago. I personally support it and believe the city benefits from the policy in a number of ways. For example, we are consistantly on the bottom 3 cities for crime rate. For the most recent year we had the lowest crime rate for any city with a population base of voer 10,000. Also, our sales tax revenue went up over 20% during COVID which exceeds that increase of neighboring cities. Also, the plan for the land the west of the Blue Lemon was recently updated. The owners included a 43,000 sq ft grocery store in the mix and let us know that there were two national and one local chain that were interested in the property. They were all aware of our Sunday policy.
43	Think about opening a few businesses willing to operate on Sundays. Lehi is open hence they have more revenue than Highland instead of relying on property tax increases	Lehi's property tax rate is actually higher than ours. If you combine fees and taxes for a $634K home on a 20K sq ft lot a home in Highland costs $175 more per year than a home in Lehi. Cities make the most money, by far, on car dealerships (they are generally closed on Sundays). Lehi, AF, Orem, Provo, Lindon, etc have a freeway running through their cities and consquently have a number of car dealerships which general revenue for them. We will most likely never have a major car dealership in Highland. We also have less traffic issues than the cities listed, no issues with bill boards, lower crime rates etc. Lehi Provo, AF, and Orem all have signficantly more higher density housing areas which also makes them more attractive for retail.
44	Sunday business closure needs to be changed. We are losing huge tax revenue to Lehi. I would like to suggest most of these proposed tax increases for parks and improvements should be postponed until we get our business tax base fixed. I know the citizens voted this down 9 years ago (2012) but I believe we are a more diverse community now and this is just broken. If a business owner has religious reasons to stay closed, more power to them its there choice. However, to mandate a business owner cannot open his business on a Sunday is wrong. If a business opens on Sunday and the community does NOT shop there, then guess what? The business will chose to stay closed. My biggest frustration is the hypocritical nature of this vote. I know many of my neighbors voted for the Sunday closure but I see than at the Lehi Smiths ALL THE TIME as I am shopping on Sunday. Are they willing to give their sales tax revenue to Lehi just to keep their consciences clean? Is this to just be able to say they live in a righteous city? If God is against it, they shouldn't be shopping in Lehi either on Sunday. Come on Highland...the Mormon church doesn't force its members to do things. I know the doctrines. Agency was Christ's plan. Forced obedience to guarantee compliance was Lucifer's. I guess we are a city that like Lucifer's plan over Christ's?	Sunday shopping restrictions exist throughout Europe, a very secular society. There are also counties in the east and southeast that have Sunday closing restrictions. Framing this as a "mormon" issue is not in fact true. There are benefits to Sunday closing. For example, Sunday closing helps small businesses. There are university studies that identify these benefits. I have several posts on my blog that cover these issues. See https://mannkindperspectives.blogspot.com/2012/08/can-cities-enact-sunday-closing.html
45	I would support allowing retail vendors (e.g., Target, since there is a Smith's in nearby Lehi and a Walmart in nearby Cedar Hills) to be open on Sunday if it meant that they would come to Highland. No one has to choose to shop on Sunday if they don't want, but having more retail would provide a source of revenue to help reduce our tax burden and would provide desired convenience of shopping.	See responses to other Sunday posts.
46	Stop allowing for high density housing. Build a nice park in Highland. Alpine has a nice park, Cedar Hills built Harvey Park, Highland has nothing. Our parks are tiny and don't offer much. Build a nice park next to Mountain Ridge with paths for bikes, pickle ball courts, play structure. I would gladly pay more in property tax for a nice park. I do not support using tax dollars to cover the neighborhood open land fee. I don't use their neighborhood land, the neighborhoods should cover the majority of that fee. I pay higher property taxes because I have more land on my house, I don't need to pay for a neighborhood's open land fee.	We allow higher density housing in a limited number of areas as defined by the city's general plan. Highland has 23 parks with about 100 acres of grass, 8 of the parks are over 5 acres, 275 acres of natural park area, over 17 miles of city trails, and 17 playground. We will be starting Mountain Ridge Park next year that will include 3 soccer fields, a pavillion, at least 4 pickleball courts and an all-abilities playground.
47	We love the small City feel & hope that future development will continue to align with that. It is the whole reason we moved here.	We are growing. Most of the undeveloped land in Highland is designated R-1-40 (average 0.78 acre lots). The biggest exception is the land south of Lone Peak High School which is being developed as mixed use. There will be some commercials (~7 acres out of about 120) and 699 residential units.
48	Sunday business closure needs to be changed. We are losing huge tax revenue to Lehi. I would like to suggest most of these proposed tax increases for parks and improvements should be postponed until we get our business tax base fixed. I know the citizens voted this down 9 years ago (2012) but I believe we are a more diverse community now and this is just broken. If a business owner has religious reasons to stay closed, more power to them its there choice. However, to mandate a business owner cannot open his business on a Sunday is wrong. If a business opens on Sunday and the community does NOT shop there, then guess what? The business will chose to stay closed. My biggest frustration is the hypocritical nature of this vote. I know many of my neighbors voted for the Sunday closure but I see than at the Lehi Smiths ALL THE TIME as I am shopping on Sunday. Are they willing to give their sales tax revenue to Lehi just to keep their consciences clean? Is this to just be able to say they live in a righteous city? If God is against it, they shouldn't be shopping in Lehi either on Sunday. Come on Highland...the Mormon church doesn't force its members to do things. I know the doctrines. Agency was Christ's plan. Forced obedience to guarantee compliance was Lucifer's. I guess we are a city that like Lucifer's plan over Christ's?	Businesses generate on average $1.00 per sq ft per year for the city in direct sales tax. For your persective Macey's is about 43K sq ft. We currently receive about $3M a year in sales tax revenue and $1.8M in property tax revenue. If we added 100,000 sq ft of retail (a bit unrealistic we would add another $100,000 in sales tax revenue. There are costs to the city associated with commercial. The highest is probably related to public safety but there is also wear and tear on our roads due to additional vehicles and trucks. Let's say conservatively that we net $80,000. The city could then lower its property tax rate by 4.4 %. For a $600,000 home this would be a tax cut of about $17 per year. I support the Sunday closure policy and believe there is a net benefit to the city. I did a lot of research on the subject in 2012. See: https://mannkindperspectives.blogspot.com/search/label/Sunday%20Closure%20Laws
49	Please stop considering anything involving raising taxes for any newservice.	The city does a good job of managing its money and the council takes a very conservative approach to the budget. I don't see anything wrong with taking the tempature of residents with respect to services. It generally validates our conservative approach and provides support for continuing it.
50	Poor maintenance of common areas and baseball fields. Not enough basketball and baseball fields. If residents have to pay $20 maintenance fee for open space, only residents in that neighborhood should get to use the open space. We shouldn't subsidize the rest of the City.	The cost of maintaining only the neighborhood parks in Open Space areas - i.e. excluding trails and reservable parks is slightly more than $20.00 per month.
51	Please resist pulling on the "tax increase" lever whenever the city needs to solve a problem or increase services. I know it's irresistible but cost of living is increasing faster than wage increases and our family budgets are increasingly being stretched thin.	The city is impacted by inflation just like the rest of us. Fees and property tax do not adjust for inflation. With respect to property tax if your property value goes us the tax rate goes down.Property increases occur when a taxing entity (e.g. city, county, state, special service district) raises their tax.
52	Stop raising taxes for new services. We don't need anymore added. Keep Highland a bedroom community.	I am not sure what new services or taxes to which you are referring. Can you be specific. I am genuinely interested in what you might be referring to.
53	As an adult I have lived in 4 neighboring towns. We never experienced the budget stress and changes that Highland City has created. I know a lot of the budget problems have been created by decisions made years ago and we are trying to catch up and get funding to maintain everything we have already in Highland. (Which makes me super frustrated! It is idiotic that we are even experiencing these budget problems.) However, I feel by setting up a better city infrastructure the budget problems can be fixed without needing to nickel and dime the residence year after year on different items. In short do what we are trying to do as residence. Live within your budget. If there isn't money to build parks, don't build them. If there isn't money to maintain open space, then turn it over to the neighborhoods, if there isn't money to build a fitness center, then don't build a fitness center, if there isn't money to maintain trails then don't build more trails, etc.etc. Stop trying to expand and improve and get the budget and city maintenance in order first. Second, when we moved here 10 years ago we searched for a neighborhood that didn't have the $20 maintenance fee because we didn't want that bill. I will not pay that bill so don't give it to me.	The city runs a lean budget. We did create a road fee, based in resident input, to put our roads back in order. This will cost us much less in the long run. Trails are one of the most valued assets in the city and we need to maintain them. We have a plan to do so. The city is subject to inflation just likely everyone else and so the expenses related to provided needed services do rise. Unlike those on "fixed incomes" 70% of our income is truly fixed in that there is no inflationary or cost of living adjustment.
54	Save the trees in the median on Country Club Drive as you turn off Alpine Highway! They are one of the reasons I love the neighborhood. The trees make it feel like an established neighborhood and add some curb appeal.	Thanks for sharing your input.
55	We would not have purchased our current home without the open space areas that we were promised would be maintained by Highland City because of the small lots. We pay a fee monthly (and have done so for 14 years) and maintenance and upkeep has been poor for 14 years. Half the common area trees are dead, grass is frequently flooded or dead. The hill above the City Maintainence Shop was promised to be planted in natural grasses and the bond was released yet nothing ever grew on the steep rocky slope where no topsoil was ever brought in. It is illegal for Highland City to sell common areas that were dedicated to subdivisions approved by the City and with the City's approval, we're marketed as a part of the subdivision. We pay the fee but numerous people from Highland and Alpine use our trails and facilities yet pay nothing. Either restrict use to those that pay the fee or assess the fee to everyone in Highland City. If Highland City continues to try to sell our open space I plan to discuss a class action law suit by the residents of our subdivision as we believe such a sale, based on the City's prior approval of the View Pointe Subdivision and the promises made by the developers (with the concurrence of Highland City) is a classic 4th Amendment taking. Highland needs some baseball fields and a multipurpose Recreation Center not 20 pickle ball courts. We have to do most of our sports activities in Lehi, Alpine, Cedar Hills, etc because Highland has so few facilities. The gravel pit at the mouth of the canyon is a disaster and the City does nothing about it. Gravel, sand and mud in the road daily and breaks windshields. Big trucks pull right out in front of traffic rather than wait for an opening. This area should be made into a large City park as the sides ar too steep to have lateral support to build homes in this area.	Agreed. The maintenance could have been better. Staff and council have put efforts into improving the maintenance over the last two years. Hopefully you've noticed. I have done a significant amount of research over the last 3 years on open space maintenance and here's where I've landed. If we remove the trails and reservable/larger parks from the cost to the open space subdivisions then the $20 fee does quite not cover the cost of what we are spending today to maintain the neighborhood parks and other open space areas. Fair point on selling Open Space. The gravel pit is here and will operate for as long as the owners wish - the city cannot stop operations. Citations can be issued when trucks do not follow the rules but it is unfortunately it is not possible to park a police car by the pit 7x24.
56	Stop raising my taxes. It feels like it is happening every other year.	We haven't raised city property taxes in 12 years. We have adjusted fees to keep up with inflation and cover the cost of capital improvements.
57	We love the Highland Fling and city events. We are interested in maintaining and improving city cultural events. I question one main event in Highland, the fireworks show. I'm not sure how much it costs us in taxes, but it is an annoyance (not to mention PTSD), harmful to animals and the environment, and appreciated by a small percentage of the city (I'm just guessing). What if we came together with the surrounding cities to have 1 larger event. We could save money, not have 3 or 4 shows that do damage (just 1), and focus on those who are truly interested in the event. I would be interested in seeing a survey about this specifically to get citizen input, and to know how many actually watch the show. Thanks for listening.	Interesting suggestion. I spoke with Alpine about combining fireworks since their celebration immmediately follows ours and they were not interested. Cedar Hills' city celebration is in June so I didn't think that would even be an option.
58	Sunday business closure needs to be changed. We are losing huge tax revenue to Lehi. I would like to suggest most of these proposed tax increases for parks and improvements should be postponed until we get our business tax base fixed. I know the citizens voted this down 9 years ago (2012) but I believe we are a more diverse community now and this is just broken. If a business owner has religious reasons to stay closed, more power to them its there choice. However, to mandate a business owner cannot open his business on a Sunday is wrong. If a business opens on Sunday and the community does NOT shop there, then guess what? The business will chose to stay closed. My biggest frustration is the hypocritical nature of this vote. I know many of my neighbors voted for the Sunday closure but I see than at the Lehi Smiths ALL THE TIME as I am shopping on Sunday. Are they willing to give their sales tax revenue to Lehi just to keep their consciences clean? Is this to just be able to say they live in a righteous city? If God is against it, they shouldn't be shopping in Lehi either on Sunday. Come on Highland...the Mormon church doesn't force its members to do things. I know the doctrines. Agency was Christ's plan. Forced obedience to guarantee compliance was Lucifer's. I guess we are a city that like Lucifer's plan over Christ's?	Businesses generate on average $1.00 per sq ft per year for the city in direct sales tax. For your persective Macey's is about 43K sq ft. We currently receive about $3M a year in sales tax revenue and $1.8M in property tax revenue. If we added 100,000 sq ft of retail (a bit unrealistic we would add another $100,000 in sales tax revenue. There are costs to the city associated with commercial. The highest is probably related to public safety but there is also wear and tear on our roads due to additional vehicles and trucks. Let's say conservatively that we net $80,000. The city could then lower its property tax rate by 4.4 %. For a $600,000 home this would be a tax cut of about $17 per year. I support the Sunday closure policy and believe there is a net benefit to the city. I did a lot of research on the subject in 2012. See: https://mannkindperspectives.blogspot.com/search/label/Sunday%20Closure%20Laws
59	Work harder with UTA to get better bus service. Highland City Residents are not getting their fair share of service based on the amount of taxes we pay to UTA.	We don't have the density needed to get major improvements with respect to UTA. They are looking to make some minor improvements that will directly benefits us.
60	I feel like any proposed tax hikes should be put the the general vote in November not left to the city council. Not all is been impressed with their pulse on what the city residents want	The city council does not have the option to put a property tax hike on the ballot. That is one of the reasons we include tax related questions on the survey. A 0.1% sales tax that must go to recreation, arts, or parks (RAP tax) go only be implemented with voter approval. I wouldn't be surprised to see this on the ballot in the fall.
61	Zap tax to support the Arts as well as trails	I support implementing a RAP tax
62	Open space is a tax, not a fee - it is inappropriately charged to a minority within the communicate with no requirement to inform the residents they are paying something 2/3rds are not paying. This cannot continue no matter what the outcome of sale of property.	Taxes and fees are both used to pay for government services. The fee for Open Space Subdivisons was established when the property was developed and passes on to subsequent owners. The city allowed for smaller than normal lots in exchange for the developers adding trails, parks, and open space to a subdivision. If the cost of maintaining trails and reservable or large parks is removed the cost to maintain the remaining neighborhood parks and open space is over $20/mo.
63	Would love a new rec facility specifically with multiple basketball courts. There is nowhere for youth to play basketball in the area. The new Provo Rec center is amazing. Each time I've been there I can't believe the beauty, the open light feel and the access to equipment and basketball courts. I wish we had something like that in our area.	See other rec center responses.
64	The tax section in this survey needs to be reworked and sent out again. You can't group new trails and maintenance in the same box. No one will choose very likely with these options like New Trail Construction and Ongoing Maintenance. It should be New trail construction as one option and increase quality of maintenance for essential parks, trails, and roads. we need to fix the stuff that's breaking all over the city before we build new parks etc. its not clear in the tax section. I would absolutely vote for an increase in taxes if the money goes to fixing roads, fixing parks, zero-scaping parks for lower maintenance, decrease water usage, lower carbon foot print, etc.	Fair point.
65	Please invest in parks and recreation for our kids. Highland is lacking a sense of real community because we have to go outside of the city to take our kids to a decent park, or sign up for sports. Cedar Hills is great but doesn't offer REC opportunities for lots of ages so we have to go to American Fork, Lehi, or to a private club and pay more on registration fees. This also diminishes the sense of community when you don't get to know others from Highland because your team is from 3 other cities.	Can you define what you mean by a decent park? We do partner with Cedar Hills for rec program. My understanding is our residents pay the same as Cedar Hills residents.
66	Frustration at the continual turning of the town center area into high-density housing. I don't understand the need to keep selling off what was to be a commercial area to developers that keep crowding the area with more people, cars, etc at the expense of other small businesses that could provide local services and help support a healthier tax base. There seems to be a lack of real vision for the future of Highland and preserving what makes it so great.	The development in Town Center is consistent with the town center overlay and are general plan. Commercial development wants to be along main roads not where the town homes are being built.
67	you keep raising taxes and adding things to city bill makes it really hard on people with fixed incomes	We have raised fees over the years but it has been over 12 years since the city raised property taxes. The city experiences inflation like the rest of us. We do try to be frugal but we have obligations that need to fulfilled (roads, sewer, water, parks, and trails). We have the 2nd lowest property tax rate in N. Utah County and our utility fees are slightly below average for N. Utah County.
68	too manytaxes	From a city perspective what services would you like to see reduced.
69	I feel like the new subdivision have the parks and trails close to them thereby using them more. They also agreed to the extra tax when they moved to that subdivision	Fair point.
70	The $20 monthly fee seems to maintain the park, but the trail system is a massive weed patch. Those of us who have property next to the trails do most of the maintenance. It does make it annoying to pay money every month and then spend time and money doing weed abatement all year. Clearly there is not enough money to care for everything so perhaps you could turn the care of the trail that touches my property over to me and then lower my monthly maintenance fee.	In terms of actual dollars the $20/mo fee covers the cost of maintaining the neighborhood parks and open space. The larger parks and trails are maintained using city dollars. As of last year our trail maintenance budget was more than quadrupled so you will see improvements on the trail over time.
71	We need a larger tax base from retail and restaurants. We should encourage more businesses to come to highland.	One of the key factors used to locate retail establishments and restaurants is "roof tops". As a lower density community I don't see us every having the number of businesses that Lehi and American Fork. We will get businesses that serve our needs like Ace Hardware, QuickQuack, and CVS. BTW it looks like our sales tax revenue will be up about 20% over last year. We normally see 6% to 7% annual growth.
72	I feel like codes are not enforced very well at all. I have a neighbor who has 2 box trucks parked on the street, all day everyday, and they have never had to be moved.	We currently do not have the staff to proactively enforce code issues. We rely on residents bring issues to our attention. There is a "Report a Concern" link on our website where issues can be reported.
73	Slow down developement infrascture first. We are becoming to crowded and looking like California. Whats the deal with the road tax. What have these funds done. I see or hear no info about them	Land owners have a right to develop property. Cities have an obligation to provide infrastructure to support its residents. We are in the 4th year of our 7-year road plan are a spendng about $1.5 million each year on roads.
74	Your police are literally just revenue genertors. The john knottinghams of Highland. You look for any way to rip off the public with taxation and could give a shit less about lower income families while pandering to the upper class yuppies	I don't believe that is accurate. Please feel free to call me and discuss. Specifics would be very helpful.
75	There seems to be no city policy for where and how commercial properties are constructed. Commercial buildings are too close to the roads, have no consistent look or structure. The city needs to consider the general look and feel. Similarly the city is not taking care of open spaces.	You can find our development standards on the city website. If you have specific suggests on what building setbacks please feel free to share them.
76	Please take care of the open space areas and roads already in place before you add more parks, open space, trails, etc. The commercial and residential development is haphazard in design and too close to the main roads and/or other businesses/homes which creates a disordered appearance. The thoroughfare traffic to Cedar Hills, Alpine, and Lehi have combined with the disordered development and lack of code enforcement to create a city that is slowly eroding into unsightly chaos. The large garage structures built on lots with much smaller homes detract from the residential aesthetics. Small guest homes and/or pool houses would be a welcome addition to the city code compared to huge unkept garages in back yards. Thank you for requesting feedback from the residents!	Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
77	Yes to community recreation center with a pool. Yes to raise taxes for this. Yes to a Senior Center and yes to raise taxes for this. Thank you for asking.	You are welcome.
78	The tax is so high. We get collected for open space, fire station fund, road repaid fees, and etc. on top of annual tax. Compare to other cities, Highland's tax and fees are too high. Please reduce them and spend fund wisely!! It is so costly!!	Actually, our property taxes are the 2nd lowest in N. County and our fees are below average.
79	Not in favor of a rec center. Too much taxpayer money	The survey response was pretty clear that will some residents wanted a community center or rec center a clear majority of residents are not willing to fund it.
80	I have never lived anywhere with the ridiculous open space fee for only certain residents. It's absurd. Everyone can use the trail behind my house...why should only I be responsible for paying to maintain it. The trails benefit the entire community. It's a community benefit. Everyone should pay for it and then maybe there would actually be enough money to maintain our awesome trail system and all this nonsense about selling the trails away would be resolved.	Actually, at present the fee you are paying only covers the neighborhood parks and open space in your area. The open space fee applies to subdivisions that we build at a higher density than our standard zone allows in exchange for additional parks and trails. When the Open Space concept was under development one of the items discussed was having each subdivision have an HOA. Obviously, the council went a different route.
81	Don't California Utah by raising taxes. They're already way too high here in Highland.	Our property tax rates in Highland is the 2nd lowest in N. Utah county. Our fees are below average.
82	STOP trying to raise taxes. Get rid of the Road and Public Safety fee as quickly as possible. Adding those fees was an underhanded side-stepping of the appropriate political process and only necessary because of bad prior decisions building the new city building etc and stuff we don't need that got us into debt. Stop trying to provide additional/novel services by taxing us. (fitness center, community center, library etc) STOP it. Stay out of our lives and make as minimal impact on the people as possible by LOWERING taxes and fees. We need less government. We need less public safety personnel contrary to what the chiefs say. SERIOUSLY. This is not an uninformed comment. We will be fine with less. Publicly make a statement that you support freedom and personal responsibility.	Electing to use a fee vs a tax was a deliberate decision based on resident feedback. We asked residents who attended one of 5 meetings about the roads whether rather they would rather have a tax or a fee. About 60% said they would prefer a fee. Generally speaking a property tax distributes costs based on the value of property, a fee distributes cost based on use. Costs for public safety can be reduced especially if residents are willing to have a lower level of service. If you have specific suggestions on how to reduce costs we welcome them.
83	Your public safety fee. Every household pays the same amount. It is very unfair. You will send a greater response to an incidence at a multimillion dollar property than you will to a home valued at 2, 3 0r $400,000,.00 . That fee should be property tax value based. You are putting a disporportional burden on those who can least afford it and giving the wealthy a free ride.	About 80% of the fire/ems calls are non-fire related. Most of the fire calls are small and not catastrophic. The initial response would more than likely be the same whether a home is $500,000 or $2,500,000. The same is true for a burglary or other incident requiring police.
84	Open Space: Seems that developers & city agreed to more condensed housing in exchange for the open space and the $20 fee those residents pay. I am FOR a city wide property tax increase to fund trails, parks, etc. But I am AGAINST a property tax increase when a developer was allowed to build more condensed housing. That is a cost the developer and those homeowners should bear. Otherwise, they should have not been allowed to have the more condensed housing. ROADS: Our roads are horrible. Put the funds and efforts into improving the roads first, then we can focus on other projects like rec centers. I have seen the city workers throw asphalt into a pot hole and drive off. No tamping down. Two days later the loose asphalt thrown down is all over the road and the pot hole is open again. Seems there is a lot of waste in city services. Why is the city paying to fill up the same pot holes over and over and over and over because of poor quality workmanship. A lot of inefficiencies observed first-hand with the road work being done. I would like the City to focus on its existing projects first before there is any discussion of new projects like rec centers. TRASH: Waste Management has been excellent and a very nice improvement from Republic. In the 7+ months with WM, not a single miss, not a single tipped over garbage can, not a single billing error. So glad the City changed to Waste Management. Having trash on days the city is open was a very good change as well. ALPINE: Highland and Alpine's interests are very well aligned with development. I hope (encourage) the two cities to work closer together to keep the encroachment out. MICRON: The facility is for sale. Possible that entire complex gets demolished and turned into housing or a large commercial complex. I hope Highland is proactive about protecting its borders when that happens. Nice to have a "buffer" between Highland and Lehi with that facility there. If Micron goes, the Patterson long-horn cattle property become more critical to create that needed buffer along SR92.	Our roads have signficantly improved over the last 3 years. We are in the 4th year of our 7-road rehabilitation plan so we still have a ways to go. Repairing pot holes in the winter is difficult because we use a cold-mix that doesn't last very long. The Micron facility will more than likely be purchased by someone who will use the existing facility. Micron did sell the land surrounding their facility to DR Horton earlier this year. They are looking to do develop the property they own.
85	I'm interested in how the City can bring more businesses and revenue here rather than impose more taxes. Does everyone want a rec center with a pool for four months out of the year? Yes. But we also want mountain ridge park and can't figure out how to afford that (but we spend tens of thousands designing and redesigning it!). Why would we entertain a rec center that will only drain our resources? Highland needs a better library and parks that are worth frequenting before we dig ourselves in a deeper hole by designing, building and maintaining a rec center. Unless Uncle Sam had a rich uncle die and gift him millions of dollars, he better quit day dreaming and get back to work. If he needs a pool his neighbor, AF, has a fully functioning one. So does Lehi.	We ask questions in surveys to get a sense of where residents are at with respect to various issues. Because a question is in the survey does not mean the council intends trying to force something on residents. We will continue to have a modest growth in commercial business over the years. Several new businesses will be opening this year.
86	COVID has been a mess for everyone. It has also allowed the city council & Mayor to ignore the #1 traffic issue in Highland, North County Blvd. With school back to full swing in August and 100?+ homes done south of Lone Peak HS, traffic will be a major issue. Nothing has been done with respect to street lights @ Knight Ave and Ole Bish Lane. Nothing has been done to reduce the 55 to 60 mph that people drive on this road, which still takes place (its not all HS Kids). With a 2-3 more traffic lights on North County Blvd from 11000 N to the AF boundary, traffic would be slowed down significantly and there would be less traffic as people would be less likely to use it since it would not be like the 7th East Van Winkle expressway in SLC. All for paying for a Recreation Center for Highland but before taxes are raised, I am wondering whatever happened with the pressurized irrigation bond we were to pay off in 20 years, back in 1996? That is 25 yrs and the city population has close to tripled in size. Certainly this bond has been paid off??	With respect to N. County Blvd. Our focus has been on getting the Canal Blvd extension finished. It will be opened May 15th. We have also continued our conversations with UDOT about adding another light north of the High School. Something could happen on this front within the next 18 months. The PI bond will be paid off this year. However, the PI will remain where it is at for a few more years to help fund meters we will be installing over the next 3 or 4 years.
87	Please maintain roads and trails. Our taxes shouldn't be so much higher than our surrounding city. Listen to the people. Don't create a road that goes right through an established neighborhood. Listen to the people that voted you in. Our voices are not heard	Our tax rate is the 2nd lowest in N. Utah County and our fees, including road and public safety, are slightly below average. See https://mannkindperspectives.blogspot.com/2020/07/2019-2020-highland-property-taxes-fees.html Not sure which road you are referring to but if it Canal Blvd then the extensions have been on our city general plan for years.
88	Do not feel the city prioritizes open space and parks.	I can see why you would hold that view. We are consistently working to improve park and open space maintenance. If you have specific concerns please let me know.
89	Live within the city's means. Pay off the existing debt on buildings before building others. Those who bought in the open space area did so knowing they had the $20 fee. It isn't right to eliminate it and have everyone pay for it. We didn't like the open spaced concept and we shouldn't have to pay for other's decisions.	We are paying off our debt. Inflation does affect the city too. Most of our revenue comes from soruces that do not adjust for inflation. Property taxes and fees. Unfortunately, some open space homeowners did not inform their buyers regarding the open space fee when they sold their home so I understand the frustrations of the buyers.
90	Do NOT raise taxes during an economic distress situation that we are in. People are struggling even if it doesn't seem like it	I don't see a property tax happening this year. It will in the future but not this year. I can see the council putting a RAP tax (0.1% sales tax that must be used to fund recreation, arts, parks) on the Nov ballot. AF and Cedar Hills have that in place and Lehi will have it on the ballot this fall. Residents will decide the fate of this one. I believe it is a way to have those who shop in Highland help pay for the parks we have.
91	1. I would like to see City Hall reinstate opening on Fridays - at least a half day, but the full working day should be the norm. As a city government, I feel city offices should be more accessible to city residents every weekday. 2. Send out the Utopia survey again. Given the year-long pandemic, with more residents and students having to work from home, it would be interesting to see if the responses to it have changed to being more favorable. I work from home and notice a significant change to my internet service during peak use. 3. Sell off more open space to interested residents. We have a small piece of "open space" in our neighborhood, and the only people that use it are a family that lives across the street (and I haven't seen them use it very much recently). It's not a very big piece of land - not big enough for any kind of park equipment, and no one utilizes it, yet the city has to pay for its upkeep. Thanks for doing this yearly survey!	1. There is a tradeoff between extended hours adding an additional day. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Fridays. 2. The council rejected the UTOPIA proposal because of the risk involved not because of lack of resident interest. The requirement was for the city to cover the difference in revenue UTOPIA would get if the subscription rate for their service dropped below 50% of households any given year for 25 years (excluding the first 2 years). 3. The city has a process for selling property. This year we reviewed all property and identified a number of parcels that we believe we would benefit from selling. Residents can make requests as well. We go through this process on an annual basis.
92	Many people have been out of work over the past year or furloughed. Why does every government entity always want to increase taxes. Look across the broad picture at the enormous increases we are facing, especially at the Federal level. When is enough, enough?	Highland occassionally raises taxes and/or fees largely due to inflationary pressure and needed capital improvements. 70% of our revenue (property taxes and fees) do not adjust for inflation. This year we are proposing a $3.00 per month increase in culinary water fees due to the need we have to drill a new culinary well (one of our 5 wells is no longer producing because the aquifer water levels have dropped. The cost of a new well will be over $1.5M. The last time city property taxes were raised was 2008. We actually had a small reduction in 2010.
93	NOTHING has been done to mitigate speed on Canal Blvd prior to the light and road opening. What a sham. You have ruined the quality of life for many families and endangered children, walkers, runners and bikers. In addition Highland is so quick to fill every corner with condos or houses. Poor planning of green space. Why can't you make a pleasant city center area? Quaint Shops, good restaurants instead filling it with Condos. Why don't you allow more business in so taxes aren't so high? There's no Rec center, youth programs or ANYTHING. Our community can be kept quaint and enjoyable and still allow businesses, but poor planning has not allowed for any of that. Now you want to put tons of houses on a lot to get the money you need	I believe that before money is spent we wait and understand what the issue will be. When we last did a traffic count in 2019 2.8% of the traffic exceeded 40 mph while 1.3% exceeded 50 mph. There were an average of 926 trips per day. For comparison on 10400 north 7.1% of the traffic exceeds 40 mph while 0.07% exceeded 50 mph. The average trips per day on 10400 N is 3,888 Businesses have to choose to come here. The city does not create businesses. Our low density contributes to the lack of a sufficient market to support quaint shops and restaurants. A rec-center would significantly increase the city's costs and a tax increase would be needed to fund one.
94	No more taxes.	Taxes and fees will rise over time because 70% of our revenue (property tax and fees) come from sources that do not rise with inflation.
95	Mitigating impact or compensating for impact of commercial growth in and next to what was recently the peaceful core of Highland. Growth will happen but if Highland residents are receiving positive benefits for increased commercial/retail access then shouldn't those who are impacted negatively also receive some benefit through development of buffers or decreased taxes?	There is no provision in the law to allow for selective discounts for residential property tax.
96	Not likely, but lower property tax for those w/out children.	That would not be legal.
97	Please stop raising taxes and please please stop allowing homes with small property sizes! Keep the lot size larger!!	Taxes and fees will rise over time because 70% of our revenue (property tax and fees) come from sources that do not rise with inflation. Note, once the current approved subdivisions are developed we will be 90% built out. We will be a larger lot community for a long, long time regardless of zone changes. Note, the only "smaller lot" developments that have been approved in the last few years are those identified in the general plan as mixed-use zones which are intended to include small lot developments.
98	Say no to more taxes	Taxes and fees will rise over time because 70% of our revenue (property tax and fees) come from sources that do not rise with inflation.
99	I really think that people move to Highland more in spite of the government not because you have created this wonderful place to live. I get the impression that you recognize that there is one very valuable commodity of Highland and that is land. You tax it, leverage it, place fees on it, require permits to use it. People move here because of where the land is, not because you have made it attractive. The land you maintain control of is poorly kept and you have never held the government responsible for your poor performance. yes I am a little bitter how poorly (I feel) you have treated Wimbleton subdivision but that doesn't change the fact that you have poorly executed your responsibilities. Now our neighborhood park has become a busy stop for numerous sport teams. If that is your intention to have neighborhood parks be practice fields then I think it is wholly unjust that I should have to pay a fee when many people outside of the neighborhood use the park, thus exponentially increasing the traffic by my house. You may say that having open space is a luxury that I should pay for, but now it has become a crappy, poorly maintained field with tons of traffic that everyone uses whenever they want. On another topic, I think it is ridiculous that the city feels the need to dictate when they can be open. I think government should not be involved with that. If you think your residents are not shopping, working, consuming on Sunday you are mistaken. That issue has likely caused issues with creating a tax base to support services. (back to the land centric mentality of the administration). It seems there is a lot of talk about things that we need to do, but no money to do it. It also seems that the only ideas for creating revenue go back to taxing the land, or imposing a fee. Seems a bit narrow minded to me. Just Saying	I believe the council is more concerned with the rights of land owners and residents than "looking at land as a revenue source." Yes, the city could always do better in maintaining parks and trails but we are undeniably making progress. With respect to Open Space subdivisions, they were developed with smaller footprint lots in exchange for shared open space. Do people outside the neighborhood benefit from the shared open space, yes, but not nearly to the same degree as those that live in them. I've reviewed this issue extensively and agree that parks which are reserveable or large should not be included the costs covered by the open space fee (think Wimbelton South, Mitchell Hollow, and Beacon Hills). If we take those out of the mix as well as trails the cost to maintain the remaining open space is still over $20/mo per household. Would it be fair to those who live outside the open space subdivisions and have larger lots (which cost them more to maintain) to make them pay for subdivisions that don't live in? Sunday closing or a community day of rest, I believe has a net benefit to the community. It is not about "control" any more than speed limits, restrictions on noise, and hours of operation. Highland and Alpine (the only 2 cities in Utah with Sunday closing) consistantly are at the bottom or very near of the bottom of crime rates and are among the communities with the highest property values and income levels in the state. Does Sunday closing have an impact. I believe so but what can't be said is that it hurts those statistics.
100	As a tax payer for Highland Glen park, it is sad that every time we go there, it is overwhelmed with people, and pets off leash, and garbage, and dirty bathrooms. I understand that it is a public park, and anyone can use it. But I know most of the people that are there don't pay for it, and the crowds, and mess are keeping a lot of Highland residents away. It seems like the better a city park is, the more people it brings in from other areas. Can you charge some sort of parking fee etc. for non residents?	We could possibly charge for non-resident parking but there would be a cost associated with it. We would need to have residents get some kind of vehicle id which would but a burden on the city and residents. Or we could do a toll both but would then need to staff it. It is an issue but I don't really see a practicle solution. On the positive side we did put new bathrooms in this year which vandalism resistant. Also, the last I heard the Dry Creek lake park (just east of Smith's) in Lehi will be open next year which should take some of the pressure of Highland Glen Park.
101	Love the Murdock canal trail. Please make sure the contractor puts in wider dirt shoulders. Lots of people run on the shoulders to avoid knee injuries and in some of the newly constructed areas the shoulders are very narrow. There is a lot of dog poop on he shoulders of the Murdock canal trail. Some trails I've seen have an occasional sign with rules and a big one is to let people know it is against city ordinance not to pick up after your dog in public places and water some times. . I think PG even has some dog bag dispensers on the trails. There are too many ducks at Highland glen park. I Like the ducks but there are too many. Too much duck muck on grass, public areas. I support funding in Highland but my property taxes skyrocketed in the past 3 years and there are lots of people moving in which adds even more to property taxes so it's not clear why the county can't contribute more to the City to help fund these things rather than adding sales tax to our local business. Are city leaders able to advocate for Highland City funding from the county? We need more of those fun staying in neighborhoods we live in. Property crime seems to be increasing. That is a concern. We don't like Drapers plans to build high density housing on the hills above us.	The Murdock Canal trail is managed by the county. We get an assessment from the county each year, like the other cities it runs through, to help maintain it. Would you pay more taxes to fund the dog bag dispensers? The city hasn't raised property taxes for over 12 years. The school district regularly does and accounts for abou 70% of the property tax you pay.
102	The taxes and city fees are way too high! You need to allow more comercial development to help off set the taxes imposed on the residents	Our taxes are the 2nd lowest in N. Utah County (cities include Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, Lehi, Saratoga Springs, and Eagle Mountain) and our fees are below average. We are not stopping commercial development. One of the biggest "impedements" to commercial development is that we are a comparative low density community. Note, most Highland residents prefer that we remain a low density community.
103	I would pay more taxes for roads	Thanks, we are in the 4th year of our 7-year road improvement plan. I don't believe we could execute it much faster with more money of the inconvience it would cause to have more roads in any given year under construction.
104	don’t feel like $20 open space fee is utilized effectively .Upkeep is fair to poor.Beacon Hill park was left unfinished& needs garbage cans	The $20 fee only covers the cost of maintaining smaller neighborhood parks and native open space. The balance comes from the general fund. We have been putting more money into trails and have started adding or improving amentities in existing parks.
105	We don't need more taxes !	Taxes and fees are used to fund the services the city provides to residents. This includes: drinking water, pressurized irrigation, sewer, roads, public safety, building inspection ... . Property taxes and fee do not adjust for inflation and do need to be increased from time to time to ensure that the city can continue to provide services. In my experience the council is very cautious when raising fees and taxes.
106	I have been upset/unhappy with the $20 open space fee. It should be charged to ALL Highland residents	While there are some that share your view many don't.
107	Pay off projects before adding new ones to our bill. Pay off road tax	The road fee is scheduled to run until 2027 but is subject to review. If we get our roads into shape and the maintenance cost goes down then fee could be reduced prior.
108	like city trails, don’t want property taxes to increase	I don't see a property tax increase this year. Possibly within a couple of years. 70% of the city's revenue comes from sources that do not increase with inflation.
109	I don't support raising taxes for additonal projects. I feel like tthere are creative options to help us better manage open space. Save existing dollars for projects -for example the curvy sidewalks . Create more linear feet of walk edge to maintain/mow. Residents in high density communites should continue paying fee for their open space. Other city residence rarely if ever use spaces inside housing like that . In addition these residents are still using the general parks in the cit with their other tax dollars	Thanks for your input. Good point on curvy side walks.
110	Property taxes are high enough Do not raise them!	For 2020 the top three contributors to property tax were: 1. Alpine School District - 70.6% 2. Highland City - 12.6% 3. Utah County - 10.1% Highland has the 2nd lowest tax rate in N. Utah County. Lindon's is 3% lower.
111	Very pleased with the response in sidewalk repair. I support the RAP tax way more than increasing our taxes for open space we don’t live by	Thanks. I agree on the RAP tax.
112	fix the roads -its embarassing to have friends & family visit only to get a blow out of tires or realignment issues! We pay extra tax for that-so fix them-6800 W to lehi	The 2.2M 6800 W project is a funded regional project that was scheduled to be completed this year. However we are having some issues with right away acquisition that may push the project into next year.
113	learn how to cut costs rather than raising taxes	We do regularly find ways to reduce cost. Specific suggestions are always welcome. However, 70% of our general fund revenues come from sources that do not rise with inflation (property tax and fees) so we occassionally do need to raise them.
114	Would be nice to have a Rec. facility with all the tax dollars we pay . Including ice skating, roller skating, tennis , pickleball. Also the country club entry way road is way overdue to have a new road to put in. Highland Fling -nice to have rides similare to AF steel days. Have a map sent out with all the trails.	You can pick up a trail map at city hall or look it up on our city website. I don't see a rec center coming in the near future. A signficant majority of residents do not want to pay for it using tax dollars. The revenue we currently collect doesn't come close to being able to fund a rec center.
115	I do not support higher taxes. We do not use the buildings we have now so new ones are not needed. Maintenance (snow removal is poor at best. Trails are not maintained	Out of curiosity hhich buildings do we not use today? I agree we could do better at snow plowing and we are working on improving trails. How do we purchase more snow plows and staff them without increasing revenue?
116	Areas that Highland city maintains is very poor. I don’t feel we should have additional properties of maintenace until proven otherwise. Snow remal is taken care of very poorly.	Are there specific areas you believe are not well maintained
117	I think that the next four years we should not be raising taxes for anything under 5 question category .	I believe a property tax increase will be needed in 1 to 3 years. 70% of the cities revenue does not increase with inflation.
118	Large lots originally accoummodated large animal rights for Highland residents,preserving a somewhat "rural" feel for citizens. Why does Highland allow construction companies to park and run large heavy machinery and trailers for construction businesses in neighborhoods that increase noice, pollution and traffic.	Please report such businesses to city staff.
119	Remove the city wide Sunday closure. Removing this and allowing businessses to choose to open or not , that would provid more revenue for the city and it could reduce taxes, stop allowing personal religious beliefs to control the city!	In my view Sunday closing is a net benefit to the city as did a majority of residents when it was voted on. I believe the estimated negative impact on business is generally overstated. Highland gets about $1.00 per year per sq. ft. of retail business. Macey's is about 43,000 sq. ft. There are costs associated with businesses, for example traffic and crime. - there is no free lunch. There are benefits as well. Jobs, more convenient services for residents, additional tax revenue. We have had a steady growth of new business in Highland but become of our low density an distance from the freeway our opportunities are somewhat limited.
120	It seems more fitting for more residents to pay the trails fees. We live in an open space neighborhood but have a .76 lot. And nothing is done not even landscaping on the parking strip. Perhaps we could have a higher fee than others but the fee for everyone	Thanks for sharing your thoughts. The open space fee only covers the cost of maintaining the smaller neighborhood parks and native open space. The rest of the cost is covered by the general fund.
121	Fix the roads , quit rtying to raise taxes&fees. Stop new programs	No one is trying to raise taxes to raise taxes. Council members are all residents and are impacted like everyone else. We ask the question almost every year so that council understands residents.
122	I am concerned that "new" people moving in are changing the good things about Highland- open space/closed Sunday /bedroom comm./low taxes/concervative attitide	That is a valid concern.
123	1) Recreation ad Fitness Center: A nice concept, but rtather than going into debt we should finish paying for our last exttravagance (city complex) then save at the debt rate for new facilities. 2) Open Space Fee: The concept of small lots in conjuction with open spaces to comply the the acre density concept in Highland was a great benefit to the developers and probably results in lower cost housing for those purchasing the small lot homes. The result is lower cost homes. with private neighborhood park (I know, they are available to everyone) subsidized by taxes from the rest of us. Not only do I disagree with the proposal to reduce the homewner fees for the maintenance of thei private parks, I think their fees should be raised to $30 to cover the entire cost of the park maintenance. 3) Wimberly Park: My comments on ope space fee applies here as well. The city graciously bent the zoning rules to allow higher housing density for the subdivison with the agreement that the developer would provide open space and trail amentities. I don't have all the information, but it appears that the local residents want now to privatize this dscount given to the developer and susequent homeowners for their own private island. Would the open space and trails still be available to other city resdients? Without all the information, I'm included to oppose this transaction. 4) Increased Taxes for General City Operations: I have always been a strong advocate of keeping Highland rural and pristine. I have always also supported tax increases if required to maintain this concept in our city. I have never supported other means (commerical development, small lot sizes, etc.) to finance our beatiful city. Let's be judicious in the use of our financial resources and avoid the tempation to be etravagant (city center, pavilion in Heritage Park, poor use of the old city building, world class pickball courts, etc.) when we diviert the money we from our needed operations and road maintenance. Why do we keep spending money to hire economic development experts and do economic studies which will only degrade the quaility of life in Highland? Let's maintain and enjoy what we have.	1) I believe your view is aligned with the majority of Highland residents. 2) The land for homes in Open Space subdivisions is valued 20% more than similar sized lots in adjacent non-Open Space subdivisions. The homes themselves are generally quite nice so the net effect is these generate a fair amount of tax for the city. If we take our trails and larger parks that are reservable from the cost of maintaining open space in open space subdivisons the $20 fee almost covers the cost. 3) The council approved the sale of over 1 mile of trail (there are about 17 miles of city trail in Highland) and over 5 acres of land in the Wimbleton subivision. The trail would be removed and the land would be sold to individual home owners. Personally, I am not in favor of the decision to sell the trail. 4) Thanks for being consistant on tax policy and not wanting lower density without being willing to pay the cost. With respect to ecomonic studies. It is important to know what we can reasonably expect in Highland. The answer has been we are close to buildout in terms of what our area can support in terms of retail and office. I do believe that having a grocery store, a hardware store, dentists, restaurants ... adds to the quaility of life rather than detracts from it. These are businesses that serve the need of our community.
124	I would very much like a rec. building but I do not want a tax increase . Lets pay off our existing debt and then pave money for a tri city rec building	Good point.
125	bring businesses back in Highland to help with taxes	We have had a steady growth of business in Highland. A limiting factor is the low density (limited # of customers) another is the growth of online shopping.
126	Not wise to discourage businesses to come to Highland with the laws. If we had more tax revenue form businesses we may not need to raise personal taxes	Businesses in Highland tend to perform near the top of their peer groups. That said according to an economic study we did a couple of years ago we are approaching build out in terms of what the market can support with respect to retail and office. We have had a steady growth in business over the years.
127	Thanks for repaving Highland BLvd Not interested in new taxes. Let residents entertain themselves not out job to pay for others enjoyment	You are very welcome. The Highland Blvd improvement was much needed.
128	Encourage our city to take care of all existing projects and daily maintenance requirements before going into debt and raising taxes to pay for new ones. Do not lower our lot sizes to accommodate developers	I agree with improving maintenance and personally appreciate the policy the council has generally followed to save for what we need rather than go into debt.
129	I feel that the high volume of traffic on SR 92 justifies an additional traffic light at the dance studio near Meiers. It is vey dangerous to access the shopping areas.	There is a light planned there. SR92 is a UDOT road and while it is planned there isn't enough traffic on 5600 W to move the light up the priority list yet.
130	pay off our debts! No new taxes	Our debt will be paid off in 2027. Taxes and fees will rise over time because 70% of our revenue (property tax and fees) come from sources that do not rise with inflation.
131	do not raise taxes! Pay off debts first	Our debt will be paid off in 2027. Taxes and fees will rise over time because 70% of our revenue (property tax and fees) come from sources that do not rise with inflation.
132	Finish the east west corridor! I am a senior on SS only . Any raise in taxes is negative to me	The east-west connector will be open May 15th.
133	I see roads being resurfaced that arent that bad yet our small street has holes since the widening of County road. Also taxes are high enough for us old people that live on fixed income/ hard enough to pay taxes	It seems counter intuitive to work on good roads but it is much less expensive to maintain a good road than to fix a bad one. We are in the 4th year of our 7-year rehabilitation plan so we have a few more to go before we've addressed all the bad roads.
134	I appreciate our elected officials for most of what they're doing in our little community however, this issue with the open space behind our house has been a nightmare, at best. It could be argued that the verrbiage used on this survey likely will influence property owners against the already approved, decision to remove the short trail in Wimbleton Subdivision. Why? Note: Choice #7 on the aforementioned survy asking, ... Howe likley would you be to support the City removing or lessening the Open Space Fee and replaicing the revenue with a city-wdie property tax increase? GEEZ! Im guess that every single response you recived with be emblazoned with NOT LIKELY. So, be leading with survey question #7 and THEN asking propety owners to decide, unknowningly, on question #8 you're baiting them with question #7 it seems they're going to be voting for one the the last two ovals. That would be their safest option. My undersanding is that we, (Wimbleton subdivision property owners) were STILL going to be paying the $20.00 fee for the open space in Highland Citty regardless of whther this trail were here. Which, I might add, we were more than willing to do law or no. One more thing. Is it LAWFUL for you to change some and not all for the the opn space that ALL AND ANY are using? You've stated in your survey that there will be a city-wide property tax increase SHOULD Open Space fees be elminated. Of couser there will be which is how it should have been handled at the onset but who's going to jump up, raise their hand high in the air and say, "Yeah, baby!" to higher taxes? Anywa, I should run for office. When elected officials use their position to strong-arm its citizens, citizens become wary of those they've elected. Your carefully worded survy is classic. Now we wait until the November vote to see what happens with a sad little trail that wishes someone would love and take care of it.	Here are the survey results: Would you support replacing the Open Space Fee with property tax: very unlikley: 59% unlikely: 18% likely: 10% very likely: 13% Referendum: Vote in November: 37% Council overturn: 23% Don't have enough info: 40% Is the open space fee legal? The city attorney believes so today and an earlier did when the fee and service district was established.
135	Would like to know how else Highland City is looking to increase revenue other than to continue to raise taxes, there should be more sustainable way like other cities	We have the 2nd lowest tax right in N Utah County and our fees our below average. If we want to be more like other cities we would raise our property tax by 48%
136	We love the large lots open country feel. Thank you for your service	Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
137	Keep the great open feeling!	I like it as well.
138	the city should not raise of add taxes to the residents for any reason. Rather it should increase number of businesses in Highlnad and the amount of money people spend in our citiy. Police need to do more to stop people speeding in neighborhoods	70% of the city's revenue comes from revenue sources that do not rise with inflation (property tax & fees). Over time these need to be increased. Additional business is helpful (~$1.00 per sq ft per year for retail - Macey's is 43,000 sq. ft.) but it is not a silver bullet. According a a recent market study there is a limited amount of retail growth available because of our location (low density and distance from freeway).
139	Stop raising residential property tax & get people to spend more money in our city. Bring in more businesses and let them decide what days of the week to be open. Also, There are people constantly speeding down our road. We have no sidewalks and on Snowey days children have to walk in the road to and from the bus stop. I have asked for increased police patrolling with no success (meaning no police). Please close off 5100 W to through traffic, install speed bumps and have an officer present to catch speeding drivers because right now nothing is being done to ensure our safety. I see ops posted on high speed non residential roads often, but would like to see them actually trying to "protect and servce the residents. I love the areas where we live. One more thng, Highland Glenn Park gets so overcrowded during the summer. Consider adding a toll booth and increasing parking.	70% of the city's revenue comes from revenue sources that do not rise with inflation (property tax & fees). Over time these need to be increased. Additional business is helpful (~$1.00 per sq ft per year for retail - Macey's is 43,000 sq. ft.) but it is not a silver bullet. According a a recent market study there is a limited amount of retail growth available because of our location (low density and distance from freeway). We cannot close of 5100 W to through traffic. Speed bumps are really not an option. Perhaps an active speed sign (one that shows the speed you are travelling) would help. The police will see your comment. I wouldn't be surprised if they have patrolled your road but you missed it. There are a lot of roads in Highland where speeding happens. Next year Dry Creek Lake park with open (just east of Smiths) that should take pressure off of Highland Glen.
140	Communication :especially like the Highander videos . #7: Residents who pay open space fees KNEW & AGREED to them when they bought here. Taxing residents who do not live near an open space should not be fair	Unfortuntely some owern of open space homes did not inform their buyers of the open space when they sold them so for the new owner it was a surprise. That doesn't remove the obligation.
141	please find a way to stop raising propery taxes	We haven't raised property taxes since 2008 and in fact to a small decrease in 2010. Note, city property taxes were 12% of the property tax bill last year.
142	no property tax increase. Everything in Highland is always about property tax. We need a business tax base. Eliminate the "closed Sunday" rule. We pay a road repair fee fix the roads. The open space fee is also a joke. The church and volunteer projects maintain the trails	Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Wth respect to Sunday Closing my view is that it provides a net benefit. According to a recent economic study we did we are approaching the limit of office space and retail that we can support in the area. In fact once the commercial is completed behind the Blue Lemon and on the SW corner of N. County Blvd and Canal we will be nearly built out. Retail generates about $1.00 per sq ft per year - Macey's is 43,000 sq ft in local taxes. On a $10M general fund budget retail helps but it is not a silver bullet. I would like to understand why you believe the Open Space fee is a "joke". It does cover the cost of maintaining the neighborhood parks and open space but not the trails and parks that can be reserved.
143	Highland needs an indoor swim pool, check out the cities that have pools in or adjacent to Jr /HS Should reduce the tax cost if incluced with school tax	Residents by a large majority do not want to fund a rec-center / pool with tax dollars.
144	Please do not go in debt & raise our taxes. Pay off our debts& save money to buy cash things we need. It used to be like that -We can say no to wants	Pay as you go is the general policy of the council. The last bonds we did were in 2007 and 2008.
145	Please appropriate a tri city rec center with a pool through increased property taxes. Alpine /cedar hills /Highland parnership could be very successful	Our residents, by a large majority do not wish to fund a rec-center with tax dollars. Rec-centers operate at a loss excluding the debt required to build them. They normally cover about 70% of the operating costs. I haven't been approached by either Alpine or Cedar Hills about a joint rec center.
146	Being retired all the added taxes hurt . I don't think the quality of road repairs are that good for the cost we pay	Actually, we are getting a decent value from our road vendors. The exception was a new vendor we tried out a couple of years ago because the had the low bid (sometimes you get what you pay for) and when we checked them out.they seemed to pass
147	Citizens over 65 & on a fixed income less than $40,000 can not afford your constant tax and utlity increase! Give us some relief	Unfortunately, the city is subject to inflation like all of us. We haven't increased taxes since 2008. We have increased fees to cover the cost to provide the respective services. We did add a road fee and public safety fee rather than put in a property tax. The road fee had a sunset clause (2027).
148	On a fixed income, don’t tax us out of our homes	Staff and council work hard to limit increases but the city is subject to inflation like everyone else (70% of our revenue does not grow with inflation - e.g. property taxes and fees).
149	stop spending tax money like this is a big city. Get revenue from other sources than home owners	At the end of the day individuals pay all taxes. If we tax a business the cost is reflected in the cost of their goods or services. We do have the 2nd lowest tax rate in N. Utah County and our fees are slightly below average.
150	Financial- show more restraint in spending and raising tax. Give the trails to homeowners. Welome industrial & commercial business to lessen the tax burden on residential home owners	If you have specific suggestions with respect to financial restrain please share them. I published a high level overview to the 2020-2021 budget with a link to the detail on my blog (see https://mannkindperspectives.blogspot.com/2021/05/highland-city-council-preview-4-may-2021.html).
151	The police need to be nore kind to people, instead of being such hard asses-we have feelings too	Please let me know if you have a specific example. Preferrably as soon as possible after the event. The chief and I both care about this.
152	like to know when you are going to repair the road on Alpine cir. I feel like we are forgottoen	Alpine Circle and the other roads on the west side of the country club are scheduled for repair in 2024.
153	I am not going to answer questions 16 &17. Not your business. We still DO NOT have the current bonds paid off for the city and police buildings. STOP raising taxes. STOP FINDING WAYS TO SPEND MONEY.	70% of the cities revenue does not adjust for inflation. We do need from time to time to raise taxes or fees to cover the cost of current services.
154	Please don't tax us out to make room for California; Some of us were here before the city was. If you want more taxes lay it on the people moving in.	Not sure how to answer this one. We moved here from California in 2003. Should my family be taxed more because of that :)
155	No higher fees and taxes!!	Fees and taxes will rise over time to keep pace with inflation.
156	Taxes and fees are too high already. Please don't add "stuff" and raise them further!	Our tax rate is the 2nd lowest in N. Utah County (from Lindon north) and our fees are slightly below average.
157	No new taxes! How about lowering something! Anything! Property taxes stay high - AND my monthly charge was $70 when we moved here. Now more then doubled.	We actually have lowered some fees over the years and the last property tax change was a reduction in 2010. True the net fees have gone up but the city is subject to inflation like all of us.
158	I didn’t make an agreement/ or build a home knowing I would pay for open space - that’s between the City and the subdivision. Not my taxes/fees. My high City Bill is my highest Utility Bill. Sell them the open space or maintain it!	Fair point.
159	PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put in 12-16 pickleball courts! And the open space fee is a joke. The whole city uses what we pay for.	The new Mountain Ridge Park will have 8 courts when it is completed. The open space fee covers the cost of maintain neighborhood parks (not the larger reservable ones), other open space and native areas. The fee does not cover the cost of maintaining any trails.
160	We really need to bring in more businesses to help with the tax bace	Business growth is largely limited by the market. We are in a low density area with proximity to a majory freeway (where most car dealers are located near them and they generate by far the most revenue for cities that have them). According to a study we did a few years ago we have a limited about of growth potential for retail and office.
161	Please be mindful of older residents who have seen several adjustments to their bills and property tax. Give us a break from it all for awhile.	The city property tax is 12% of the total property tax bill. The last change the city made to property tax was a reduction years ago. Unfortunately fees on whole have risen as the cost of providing services have increased.
162	Raising taxes on residents is not the answer to every need the city has. Allowing businesses to be open 7 days a week would raise revenue, and would attract more high revenue organizations to be here.	Taxes and fees are used to cover the cost of government. Most of our revenue does not rise with inflation (e.g. property tax and fees). Opening on Sunday will not drastically increase our revenue. According to a recent econonmic development study we can only have a limited amount of retail and office space growth because of demand.
163	The RAP tax needs to go for a Recreation Center with room for a theater!!	Residents by a wide margin did not want tax money to be used for a rec-center. BTW, it would take years for the RAP tax to create enough money to build a rec center. If we bonded for one the RAP tax would not even cover the bond let along offset the operating losses almost every rec-center has.
164	Instead of wanting to spend more and tax more why can't we focus on paying our loans quicker and saving more to avoid having to pay financial fees and interest?	Our PI bond will be paid off this year. Our other two bonds will be paid off by the end 2027. We don't have the funds to pay the bonds off early and we did refinance recently to get a lower rate (agreeing not to pay it off early got us an additiional rate reduction). We have adopted a pay as you go approach for future capital projects. It is why we are raising the ulinary water fee by $3.00. We will need to drill a new well in the next few years as the aquifer has dropped to a point where it is negatively implacting the production of one of our culinary well. It will cost $1.6M to drill as new well.
165	Is recycling being recycled or trashed? RAP tax should include arts, not just Parks. People who bought homes in Open Space subdivisions knew about $20 fee - no change.	Most of the recycling does get recycled to my knowlege. A fair percentage does not, in part because what is put in the recycle is not recyclable. If I remember correctly our % of unrecyclabe material has been as high as 30%.
166	No new taxes!	Taxes will rise over time to cover the cost of inflation.
167	Please do not raise taxes. Great job on the library updates. It is very inviting!	Thanks. Library staff appreciates your feedback.
168	I would like to see taxes not raised	Most of us would not like that either.
169	Limited Govt! Basic services, nothing more! Keep taxes low!	Would be interested in what you consider basic services to be. Drop me an email.
170	Regarding #17 - open space development I paid less for lots, Have lower taxes. Benefit directly from their parks. If anything they should pay more than $20 a month for amenities.	Actually, lots in open space areas are valued about 20% higher than similar sized lots in adjacent non-open space subdivisions according to county tax data.
171	L.Adult Comments	L.Adult Replies
172	not interested in using taxe $ to pay for library expansion	The library's primary source of funding is the library property tax. Friends of the Library does fund raising projects for them.
173	Offset fee to Salt Lake County Library (even partially) membership	This an action the city council would need to take and I don't see that happening. It is not something I would support.
174	L.Youth Comments	L.Youth Replies
175	None we already pay taxes for the schools to teach.	Thanks for sharing your perspective.