Trick or Fee? The Strange Charges Hiding in Utah City Halls

by | Oct 1, 2026 | Blog, The Utah Taxpayer | 0 comments

With Halloween around the corner, we went looking for some of the stranger, and in a few cases, spookier, fees lurking in Utah city halls.

Fees generally are used to cover the cost of government providing a specific service to a particular resident or business. If a resident wants to rent a pavilion at a city park, for example, a rental fee may help cover cleaning and maintenance costs. If a business wants to hold a large public event, it may pay fees to help cover city costs such as public safety, traffic control or cleanup.

Other fees can be a little more frightening because residents pay them month after month without always noticing them. Some Utah cities place fees on utility bills to help fund transportation, parks or public safety. It may be worth taking a closer look at your next water, power or sewer bill to see what regular city fees are hiding in plain sight.

And because it is Halloween, we couldn’t resist looking at cemetery fees. Utah cities charge for everything from grave openings to disinterments, headstone work and weekend burials. One city even charges $5 to register a feral-cat colony— a fee that seems almost tailor-made for a Halloween roundup.

Of course, an unusual-sounding fee is not necessarily an unjustified one. Many exist to recover an identifiable cost associated with providing a service. But residents should be able to understand what they are paying, why they are paying it and whether the amount reasonably reflects the cost involved.

If you come across a fee that seems excessive or unnecessary, contact your city council and ask how the amount was established. Residents can also ask elected officials to adjust or eliminate fees that no longer serve their intended purpose.

Here are some of the fees that jumped out at us as we looked through Utah city fee schedules:

City

Fees that caught our eye

Salt Lake City

$586 — monitoring the installation of an oversized cemetery headstone, with a variance also required.

$4,600 — disinter an adult and lower the remains to double depth.

$437/hour — certain cemetery work after hours, on Sundays or on holidays. 

West Valley City

$75 — replacement garbage container when damaged through misuse or abuse; the city specifically lists “burnt” as an example.

$232 — wind-turbine permit.

$21.20 — wood-stove permit. 

West Jordan

$350 + cost of signs — request to change a street name.

$4,600 refundable deposit — street-vacation request.

$8,500 resident / $12,750 nonresident — cemetery cremation bench.

Provo

$20 — chicken-coop license.

$250 — Covey Center theatrical snow machine, including the “snow.”

$775 — use of the orchestra pit; the rate sheet indicates a minimum of 12 technicians for setup and restoration. 

St. George*

$5 per vendor — special-event vendor sublicense.

$150/day — special-event fee shown in city records for certain events.

$250/day — Town Square parking lot use approved in city records for the Saint George Market. 

Lehi

$60 — permit for candles or other open flames used as decor on buildings. 

$100 — carnival with more than 10 attractions.

$10 — annual/agricultural burn permit. 

Orem*

$300 each — 10th and subsequent public safety false alarms.

$490 resident / $631 nonresident — Saturday cemetery burial surcharge in the latest exact cemetery schedule located.

$92.50 per half-hour — cemetery overtime after 4 p.m. in that schedule. 

Sandy

$550 — first impound of a dangerous dog; another offense within 12 months doubles the previous amount.

$2 — “finder adoption fee.”

$10 — parking-stall fee for a fast EV charger after the first two hours. 

Ogden

$5 per chicken annually — backyard-chicken license.

$1,800 — nonresident adult Saturday cemetery interment.

$325 — cemetery overtime after 4 p.m. 

South Jordan

$5 — replacement for a lost or transferred cemetery certificate.

$24,750 resident / $32,670 nonresident — family columbarium.

$720 — weekend/holiday infant or cremation cemetery service, compared with $220 on a weekday. 

Layton

$25/person — Community Emergency Response Team course.

Double the normal fee — street-cut excavation permits during the winter period.

2% — credit-card surcharge for transactions over $75.

Eagle Mountain

$49.99 or full replacement cost — damaged or broken city virtual-reality goggles available to rent from the city library. 

$25 — permit for motor-vehicle access to open space.

$800 — city recordation fee. 

Millcreek

$100 — two-hour Alpenglobe rental.

$1,970 — annual “disproportionate” fee for a convenience store, in addition to the base business-license fee.

$50/day — dumpster or moving pod remaining in the public right-of-way longer than seven days. 

Herriman

$100 or $200 — special-event application depending on how close to the event it is filed; the city’s event guide also provides for an additional late fee in some circumstances.

$2,250 — Saturday opening of the first grave in a double-stack burial.

$5/month — residential park-maintenance fee. 

Saratoga Springs

$3,600 resident / $6,000 nonresident — disinterment from the lower position of a double-depth grave.

Double the regular rate — Saturday cemetery opening and closing.

$200/hour — cemetery overtime after 4 p.m. 

Taylorsville

$5 — feral-cat-colony registration.

$50 — pet shop selling only fish.

$250 — animal exhibition involving multiple events. 

Logan

$75 per device — inflatable amusement device on city park property.

$25 per sign — A-frame sign-holder rental for special events.

$10 — four-hole golf loop. 

Murray

$160 — regulatory fee for fireworks or Christmas-tree sales.

$200 — mobile painting business.

$150 — amusement device. 

Draper

$15 — regular license for an altered dog; $50 if the license is late.

$100 — rental of a large animal trap.

$3,000 deposit + $10/day — hydrant-meter rental. 

Spanish Fork

$50 — unpermitted helicopter landing.

$1,000 — unauthorized aircraft-fuel activity.

$150 nonrefundable deposit — aircraft tie-down waitlist.

Riverton*

$100 each — false alarms after the first three in a rolling year in the latest exact schedule located.

$400 initial + $250/day — road closure.

$200/hour — cemetery overtime after 4 p.m. in that schedule.

Bountiful

$10 — unsecured landfill load.

$20 each — mattress or box spring disposal.

$20 — refrigerator disposal. 

Tooele

$8 — spectator golf cart.

$1 — rental of a life jacket, towel or pool noodle.

$250 each — sixth and subsequent false/nuisance fire alarms. 

Cedar City

$3/hour — coin-operated arena lights.

$10/bag — arena shavings.

$1,000/day — ticketed arena event. 

American Fork

3% — credit-card payments on permit, development and impact fees over $300.

$3,500 — court-ordered double-deep cemetery disinterment.

$250 — removal of an upright headstone. 

Syracuse

$25 per car + $15 renewal — car-restoration permit.

$1,500/day — large special event using an entire park.

$900 + $55/hour staffing — nonresident City Hall lobby rental for a large event with food. 

Roy

$1 — Roy Days Bookmark Contest entry.

$525 — fair, circus or carnival business fee for the first day.

$1,050 per machine — gaming-device business charge. 

Pleasant Grove*

$3 — city historical walking-tour booklet.

$250 — 10th and subsequent false fire alarms.

$80 — nonresident library card in the latest exact fee schedule located. 

Washington

$50 — special Planning Commission meeting.

$1.50 each — required mailing notices for certain land-use applications.

$50 for the first home + $10 each additional home — model-home application. 

Midvale

$320, nonrefundable — film-permit application review.

$100 — special-event application in the latest exact consolidated schedule located.

$375 resident / $500 nonresident — full-day City Park Amphitheater rental in that schedule.