Phone: (801) 355 9221 Email: service@slcmad.org

Transparency in Taxation


SLCMAD Property Tax Information

The Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District (SLCMAD) acquires operating funds directly from property taxes paid by home and business owners within the District. Every year, the District is required to adopt a Certified Tax Rate for property tax revenues in collaboration with the Salt Lake County Treasurer’s Office and the Utah State Tax Commission by June 22. Property tax estimates are typically mailed by the County to all homeowners during the summer, and a final tax statement and bill is sent in November for collection. Home and business owners can determine individual entity tax rates and contributions by looking at their annual property tax notice; under the Service Provider box on the property tax notice, look for the “SLC Mosquito Abatement” line to see the set tax rate. In the document example below, property owners may see where the tax rate can be found and when SLCMAD’s budget hearings will be conducted.

Property tax graphic page 1
Property tax graphic page 2


To find a Tax Notice, visit the Salt Lake County Treasurer’s website:
https://slco.org/treasurer/
Click on “Find a Tax Notice” under Services:
https://slco.org/treasurer/property-taxes/find-a-tax-notice/
Enter in the address for the property you are looking up; it will show the property owners tax notices.

2024-2025 Tax Increase Purpose


The Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District has historically waited 7-10 years to undergo the truth in taxation process and ask for an increase to the annual budget (tax increase). However, in recent years, the District has been experiencing double digit increases in the consumer price index (CPI) and overall inflation. The District has two mechanisms to increase revenues, new growth and undergoing a tax increase. New growth is a result of new development within our jurisdiction, but this mechanism has only captured a 6.63% increase in revenues in the last three years, while the CPI has been documented at 19.4%. In order to keep up with the continuous rising costs of consumer goods, materials, equipment, services, etc., the District needs to undergo truth in taxation in order to keep up with inflation alone.

In addition to the above, SLCMAD is also continuing to work on increasing its capability of helping the residents and visitors of the greater Salt Lake City area to enjoy the outdoors, their own backyards, and reduce the risk of mosquito-borne disease transmission. As such, we have been working on the expansion of our current facilities and developing a new in-house aerial operation program. These facilities will be to increase our surveillance and control programs, laboratory and field research capabilities, and to increase our aerial operations. The additional facilities include a laboratory facility, simulated semi-field facilities, and a hangar and equipment to house the District’s new in-house helicopter operations and unmanned aerial systems program. We are also making proactive approaches for the future incorporation of alternative mosquito control methods, such as the sterile insect technique.

Our aerial mosquito control operations are currently performed by contracted aerial service agencies that are housed out of Ogden Airport. These contract companies have all used fixed-wing (airplane) aircraft for both larval (larvicide) and adult (adulticide) mosquito control operations. The majority of our control operations rely on larviciding in which we use a bacterial biorational product (Bti) against juvenile mosquitoes. This entails inspectors on the ground (on foot, ATV, or boat) to go out to the larval habitats (wetlands abutting the Great Salt Lake and in the NW quadrant), inspect the areas for mosquitoes, determine larval abundance/species/physiological stage of development, draw a rough GIS shapefile on their phones, come back to the office and have our GIS Specialist create another detailed GIS shapefile which is then sent to our aerial contractor’s GIS expert, who then sends another file to the pilots for the actual application. Valuable information may be lost or miscommunicated during these various steps. Additionally, when making the larval applications, the airplane flies about 150 mph, which makes it difficult to treat the erratic edges of aquatic habitats where mosquito larvae congregate. On the other hand, the helicopter will be housed directly at our facility, at a hangar that we have full control over, close to the aquatic mosquito habitats, and will offer a greater ability to inspect and treat edges of water bodies that are difficult to access by personnel on the ground. The helicopter will allow for greater specificity, efficacy, and efficiency in treatment applications. We can have an inspector go out directly with the pilot, land directly in the habitat for a quick inspection (increased access) and treat the habitat much more quickly compared to using our contracted aerial applicator. This increase in larval (Bti) applications should also lead to reduced needs for adult mosquito control applications. Additionally, although fixed-wing aircraft are a well proven platforms, these platforms are designed for treating large square blocks at higher speeds. In the wetland habitats surrounding the Great Salt Lake, these larval habitats are amorphous and are not large squared off bodies of water. The slower speeds and increased maneuverability of the proposed helicopter makes treatment of the smaller and irregular shaped mosquito sources a better fit.

Bringing the aerial program in-house also gives us more control over the entire operation as the staff will directly report to our Executive Director and not at a remote location. Given that our mission is to control the mosquito populations while being as environmentally conscious as we can, the helicopter operation is a better fit for the District and the residents of Salt Lake City. To accomplish this mission, SLCMAD is planning to acquire an Airbus H125 helicopter to fill this role and be housed in our new hangar on site. This helicopter has a well-documented safety record, is very capable of performing the tasks within our environment, and is becoming the helicopter of choice for mosquito control districts around the nation.

To help us provide these increased services and keep up with inflation, SLCMAD is proposing a tax increase of 19.5% to be initiated during 2024 and received at the end of 2025. The annual tax impact on a $400,000 primary residence within Salt Lake City will be $9.75 or about $0.81 a month. The annual tax on a $624,000 residence would increase from $50.45 to $60.29, which is $9.84 per year. The annual tax on a $624,000 business would increase from $91.73 to $109.62, which is $17.89 per year. If the proposed budget is approved, SLCMAD would increase its property tax budgeted revenue by 19.5% above last year’s property tax budgeted revenue, excluding eligible new growth. The 2024 Certified Tax Rate for SLCMAD is 0.000147, generating $7,029,062 in revenues. The 19.5% tax increase amounts to an additional revenues of $1,370,667 thus brining the new budget (if tax increase is approved) to $8,399,729 with a new CTR of 0.000176. This increase will go to covering construction of additional infrastructure, purchase of an Airbus H125 helicopter and associated equipment, and funding the day-to-day costs associated with the new in-house aerial operations, as highlighted above.

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