Who is considering raising taxes in 2026?
A recent joke I read went: “There are two things you can count on in life: death and taxes. But death only happens once.”
The joke isn’t wrong. At the same time, we do enjoy many government services while we are alive, and those services cost money. Someone has to pay for them. We rely on police and fire protection, roads, schools, clean drinking water systems, and many other public services. The costs for these things hardly ever go down. That is why it is important for taxpayers to work with their elected officials to ensure the must-haves are funded and the luxuries that tempt government officials are avoided.
To increase public involvement in property tax decisions, we worked with Rep. Karen Peterson, R-Clinton, and the Utah League of Cities and Towns to craft a process that gives residents earlier notice when their property taxes might be going up — and what those taxes would be spent on. After the passage of Rep. Peterson’s HB 236, fiscal year taxing entities, including cities, school districts, and some special service districts, now need to declare in a public meeting in the spring if their proposed budget includes a property tax increase.
Because of this, taxpayers can now be informed earlier in the budget-making process and have a greater opportunity to work with elected officials to craft a budget that does not include a property tax increase — or at least lessens the burden of an increase. It still requires taxpayers to be involved by following what their local governments are doing, but we hope they are doing that already.
I have personally seen this play out. Recently, I attended a South Salt Lake City Council meeting where officials reviewed their tentative budget proposal and declared that the budget includes a proposed tax increase. The residents of South Salt Lake were informed right then and there that they needed to get involved. The elected officials were also quick to explain to those in attendance that this was only the starting point and that a tax increase was not certain yet, but they wanted residents to be part of the process.
That was the goal of HB 236: to get taxpayers informed and involved sooner so they have more say in the final product.
I should note that if an entity does determine it wants to increase property taxes, it still must follow the truth-in-taxation process that has been in place for decades. This legislation simply increases public involvement earlier in the budget process. We hope that with this earlier involvement, taxpayers will feel more ownership of the final budget that is adopted at the end of the process.
To that end, we are now starting to get an idea of which entities are considering a tax increase as they craft their budgets. This list is not final, and some cities and school districts may ultimately determine that a tax increase is not needed. My hope is that if you see your city or school district on this list, you will get involved now with your elected officials and help find ways to protect taxpayers from bad spending programs and wasteful ideas.
Your elected officials do respond when residents get involved — and the sooner, the better. If you need help contacting them or have questions about getting involved, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at Billy@utahtaxpayers.org.
Entities Considering a Property Tax Increase
- Roy City
- Hooper City
- Nephi City
- Alta Town
- Farmington City
- Providence City
- Hyde Park City
- Brian Head Town
- Lehi City
- Saratoga Springs
- Draper City
- Orem City
- Brigham City
- Pleasant Grove City
- Kaysville City
- Washington Terrace City
- Salt Lake City
- South Salt Lake
- West Valley City
- Heber City
- Morgan
- Canyons School District
- Provo City School District
- Morgan County School District
- North Sanpete County School District