The Logan City Council has voted unanimously to raise property taxes by nearly 23%.
The change will bring roughly $1.4 million in new revenue for the Cache County city.
That translates to about $59 more a year on the average $530,000 home — nearly $5 a month.
But Rich Anderson, the city’s finance director, said Logan’s increase to its share of property taxes may not make much of a difference to residents’ tax bills.
That’s because the Cache County Council voted earlier this year to reallocate the Cache County Fire District tax burden away from taxpayers in Logan.
County Executive George Daines explained at the time that the change was made to more fairly handle the county’s expenses. Because Logan has its own fire department, Daines said city taxpayers were being double-charged for fire services.
Logan’s tax hike doesn’t come without some caveats.
“This effect is complicated by the fact that Cache County also increased their general levy in November of 2025,” Anderson said. Tax burdens also shift as the county assessor’s office updates home valuations.
Logan’s additional funds, Anderson said, would go toward three items:
- Nearly $1.2 million for a new fire station in the northwestern part of the city
- About $131,000 to hire a new police officer
- More than $54,600 to cover cost increases to run existing streetlights
Although city officials said they sought to raise taxes in a way that would make less impact on taxpayers, some residents questioned the need.
Bonnie Hoth asked the council members to consider if the increase was really necessary, especially given the rising cost of living.
“It’s immoral for government entities to continue to raise taxes on citizens,” she said. “Many citizens are struggling just to afford groceries and gas, housing and utilities.”
Brett Roper wondered if Logan needs more funding for streetlights and suggested getting rid of some of them.
“Our city has too many lights,” he said. “In my neighborhood, at least a third of the streetlights are redundant due to churches or other houses. … There are certainly places we need streetlights, but we don’t need them everywhere.”
Council members countered that the city has to pay the expenses it faces as Logan grows.
Council member Jeannie Simmonds pointed to the recent Canyon Road Fire in east Logan as an example of the need for expanded firefighting resources.
“Heaven forbid that someone’s house went up in flames while that fire was happening,” she said, “because you didn’t have the resources or the humans to do all of it.”
As for streetlights, City Attorney Craig Carlston warned Logan could face legal expenses if car accidents or crimes occurred in dark places and people claim the city should have lit the area.
Council member Ernesto Lopez said he wished residents could have pocketed the savings from the county redistributing its fire service tax burden.
Realistically, though, he didn’t think it would be prudent to not raise taxes.
“That’s the part for me that is hard,” he said, “because I feel like if we don’t pass this, we’re actually not being good stewards.”
