SALT LAKE CITY — At truth-in-taxation hearings across the state last year, city councils, school boards and county commissioners heard from angry residents about property tax hikes.
Some communities sought extraordinarily high increases after going decades without raising taxes. But they found themselves in a budget crisis to pay for essential needs like snowplows, water and sewer systems, police officers, firefighters and pothole repairs. One community proposed a stunning 225% increase in property taxes.
Rep. Tiara Auxier, R-Morgan, is planning a bill to push back on communities that try to enact double-digit tax increases.
"If they want to increase it? They’re going to have to justify it," she said in an interview Monday with FOX 13 News.
Rep. Auxier said her bill would craft a property taxpayer's "Bill of Rights" whenever a community proposes a significantly-sized property tax increase by imposing "a constitutional limit on spending and revenue growth that would be tied to inflation and population growth."
"If we want to raise our taxes above that? It would require a vote of the people," she said.
Rep. Auxier pitched it to a meeting of the Utah Taxpayers Association, which says it has some concerns.
"We’re open to it and looking at it, we just want to make sure it doesn’t inspire government to look at fees and other ways to generate revenue that’s less transparent than the current property tax system," said Billy Hesterman, the watchdog group's president.
Rep. Auxier said she has adapted her bill to block a government entity from switching to fees instead of facing voters with a tax increase. Her bill will be among many the Utah legislature will consider when it comes to taxes in the 2026 session.
"If you look at where we are going in terms of the concerns of our constituents, property tax we’re hearing is consistently too high," House Majority Leader Casey Snider, R-Paradise, told FOX 13 News. "Gas tax? we’re hearing it’s too high. Housing and affordability."
Republican legislative leaders are looking to provide property tax relief after hearing from a lot of constituents across the state. But Hesterman warned that there could be consequences with proposed increases in commercial property taxes.
"That’s certainly where the focus is and that’s why they’re looking at things that will potentially bring some relief to a homeowner," he said. "But if they’re a small business owner also? They’re going to see that burden undone on the other side."
House Republican leaders have been pushing a bill that is generating a lot of pushback from Utah's oil and gas industry. Rep. Cal Roberts, R-Draper, has proposed cutting the tax consumers pay at the gas pump in half — and then raising it by the same amount on refineries and oil exports.
At Monday's meeting, Rep. Roberts joked about lobbyists for petroleum companies filling the room. Afterward, FOX 13 News spotted several cornering him to express concerns about the bill. Rep. Roberts said he would still go for it.
"If we thought they could just pass this onto the consumer, why are they opposing it?" he said. "They oppose it because they can’t pass it on to the consumer. It’s got to come out of their margin."
Rep. Melissa Garff Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, has introduced a bill that would eliminate the so-called "marriage penalty tax" in Utah. She said it would save taxpayers money and help to reduce reliance on social safety programs.
"Especially the lower-income individuals, encouraging them to file jointly, get married, instead of having one getting the head of household status and the other trying to get multiple welfare programs," she said.
Another income tax cut, a favorite of Republicans on Utah's Capitol Hill, is still up in the air. The "Big, Beautiful Bill" championed by the Trump administration already resulted in an income tax cut for some Utahns, so there may not be the money for it. Governor Spencer Cox did not propose one in his budget to the legislature (the income tax is also earmarked for public education in Utah).
Still, Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, who chairs the Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee, has introduced a bill for a modest half-percent cut.
In an interview with FOX 13 News, Sen. McCay said he believed then final fiscal statements are in to the legislature by mid-February, there could be room for another income tax reduction.
"Taxpayers feel overburdened by Utah’s tax system," he said. "We looked at the math and it doesn’t look like that much, but there is room for relief. I feel like getting people the relief they need is really going to build trust with their government and that’s really important this year."
But one lawmaker told the Utah Taxpayers Association she would prefer to see no tax cuts. House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said what her Republican colleagues offer isn't that much relief so she'd rather see it spent to help lower-income Utahns.
"I'd rather not save money when it comes to $48 on my income tax and make sure that money is going to our social safety net," she said.
