It is the Mayor’s responsibility to make sure taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly with a taxpayer return on investment in mind. By keeping taxes as minimal as possible, carefully prioritizing spending projects, and focusing on increased revenue through responsible growth, we can ensure our city remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
Provo tax revenue has been fairly flat over the last four years. Sales tax is the economic driver of our city, makes up 30% of our budget, and is the biggest source of our revenue. When sales tax decreases or doesn’t keep up with inflation, it puts more pressure on other sources of revenue. We receive sales tax based on population and point of sale: ½% of all sales tax in the state is divided out to cities according to population, and another ½% is returned to cities at point of sale.
Provo is missing out on a lot of point of sale sales tax, and it is vital that we start bringing some of this back to Provo. Here are four things we can do:
1. Vitalize and better support the businesses that are already here. They create jobs, generate revenue, and give our city its unique character. Provo’s Downtown has the potential to be one of the best in Utah, and there is much more Provo City can do to make it a destination.
Let’s bring back the Rooftop Concert Series and do more things like the First Friday Art Stroll or the Antique Car Show that bring people downtown. The goal is to increase access to businesses and encourage more visitors.
We need a vision and plan for Downtown, and this has become increasingly urgent after the wakeup call from the geyser in July. As mayor, I would collaborate with business owners, city plannrs, and residents to create this vision for downtown. Center Street has to be torn up to replace the pipes, and before we do that, we need to know how we want downtown Provo to be. What would be the best configuration? A couple of the questions we could ask are,
- Do we want a center island?
- Would we rather have wider sidewalks, cafe seating, and parklets?
- Do we want to change traffic flow?
- How do we make it safer for pedestrians and bikers
- What are we going to do about parking?”
2. Support the smart redevelopment of Provo Towne Center Mall and East Bay.
3. Make it easier to open and grow a business in Provo by removing the red tape that holds entrepreneurs and business owners back.
4. In areas that are currently underserved, like West and Southeast Provo, change the zoning to allow for neighborhood friendly retail, restaurants, and services.