Council’s Corner

Washington City Is Open For Business

With a population of over 31,000 residents, Washington City is the second largest city in the County. However, our residential development has far outpaced our commercial development. In fact, in the last eight years, 98% of the City’s development has been residential. When this occurs, residents must travel to neighboring municipalities for work and to purchase goods and services. Property taxes and a small portion of sales taxes are the two largest revenue sources for municipalities to provide services to its residents such as roads, water & sewer, police, fire protection, parks and recreation facilities, ect. New commercial development within Washington City means residents benefit not only from better access to products and services, but from the property taxes generated from capital investments into the area as well.  WalletHub.com has ranked Washington City as the fourth best city in the nation to open a business. With partners like SITLA, Dixie State and Dixie Tech to train and educate a future workforce and the need to provide well paying jobs to help in addressing the affordable housing crisis. The city is poised to finally be truly, “Open for Business”.

The City’s development goals, strategies and actions focus on optimizing our resources to provide the following benefits to residents and businesses:

1. Establish a well-balanced and sustainable economic base through strengthening the City’s: sales tax base, property tax base, and buying power through well-paying jobs.

2. Preserve, enhance the identity of the downtown.

3. Create friendly neighborhoods and centers that focus home, jobs, shopping, and recreation into places where residents and others can gather and interact regularly.

4. Encourage well organized and efficiently planned community development zones that provide regional benefits.

5. Invite and encourage commercial development within Washington City by creating an efficient, supportive, and Reliable commercial development process.

Washington City’s current combined tax revenues are Property Tax at 35% and Sales Tax at 65%. Even with a relatively low percentage of the City’s development being commercial, the impact of commercial sales and property tax revenues is significant. The adage, “retail follows rooftops” reminds us that we all have a stake in building a dynamic, accessible community. We have the rooftops now is the time for retail.

 –Kurt Ivie, Washington City Council

                               WashingtonCity.org/council