SALT LAKE CITY — As Utah begins public hearings on numerous proposed property tax increases, the city of Moab and four school districts are proposing the largest property tax increases for 2024-2025.

Topping the list is Moab, whose plans – which the Moab City Council approved Tuesday – would impose property taxes for the first time since 1991. The new tax on the owner of a home valued at $519,000, which is the average in the city, would rise from zero to $613.43. Overall, the tax – which was the focus of a public hearing ahead of the measure on Tuesday – will raise an estimated $3 million a year, which the city says will be used to maintain roads, buildings and other infrastructure.

“We have to fix everything. We can’t keep putting Band-Aids on it,” Mayor Joette Langianese said at the meeting, which drew a large crowd.

Here are the places with the largest proposed tax increases in dollar terms. The data comes from the various tax authorities and a summary of tax increase proposals from the Utah Taxpayers Association:

• The Tooele County School District is proposing to increase taxes on a median home valued at $460,000 by $253.50, or 11.2 percent, to $2,518.87.
• The Piute County School District is proposing a hike that would increase taxes on a home valued at $203,000 by $247.19, or 70.4 percent, to $598.22. Part of that increase would be offset by a reduction in debt service costs, school officials say.
• The Alpine School District is proposing a $188.27 (12.2 percent) increase in taxes on a $489,000 home, to $1,725.31, but part of the increase would be offset by a reduction in the district’s debt service levies.
• Iron County School is proposing a $171.97 (18.7%) increase in taxes on a $418,000 home, to $1,089.73. The district says the bills would still be equal to 2023-2024 taxes after the change due to a proposed reduction in the district’s debt service levy.

School districts typically collect more property taxes than cities, counties and other taxing entities, accounting for about 56% of all property taxes collected annually in the state, estimates Malah Armstrong of the Utah Taxpayers Association. So when they raise taxes, the amount of the increase may be higher than other entities, even if the percentage increase is smaller. This creates the false impression of out-of-control spending.

A better measure of large tax increases is the percentage increase, she said. The following five cities are the top performers by that measure (excluding Moab):

• The Salt Lake Metropolitan Water District is proposing an 89.2% property tax increase, which would mean a $56.63 increase in taxes to $120.12 on a $624,000 home in the city.
• Sandy’s Metropolitan Water District is proposing a 72.4% property tax increase, which would result in taxes on a $682,000 home in the city increasing by $55.14 to $131.29.
• The Piute County School District proposes the above mentioned 70.4% increase.
• The city of Clarkston in Cache County is proposing a 63.6% property tax increase, which would mean a tax increase from $121.99 to $313.81 on a home valued at $429,000.
• The city of Deweyville in Box Elder County is proposing a 50.1% property tax increase, which would increase taxes on a $469,000 home by $57.01 to $170.76.

Another cause for concern for the Utah Taxpayers Association – a watchdog group that advocates for “frugal government and fair and equitable taxation” – is tax increases that are enacted every year. In that regard, Armstrong pointed out that the Central Utah Water Conservation District is proposing a tax increase for the eighth year in a row, this time by 5.3%, which would raise taxes on a home valued at $510,000 by $5.61 to $112.20.

Armstrong also pointed to the case of the Alpine School District in northern Utah County, which proposed a tax increase for the sixth time in ten years.

Taxing authorities are limited by state law in how much they can increase their property tax revenues each year. However, they can increase taxes beyond those limits if they first hold hearings to allow the public to have their say and take further action appropriate to the circumstances of the various school districts, cities and other agencies listed here.

A few more details

Here is more information on some of the proposed tax increases described above:

Moab: The vast majority of Utah cities collect property taxes, which has made Moab — which relies on sales and use taxes — an anomaly. Lacking property tax revenue, Langianese said Tuesday, the city faces an “ever-growing backlog” in needed infrastructure improvements to streets, sidewalks, municipal buildings, parks and more.

Tooele County School District: The proposed increase, district spokesman Brett Valdez said, is intended to help offset the loss of about $50 million in state funding in the 2023-24 school year after the district ended its participation in an online school program. The district implemented spending cuts after the cut that resulted in larger class sizes, fewer opportunities for professional development for teachers and delays or cancellations of capital improvement projects, among other things.

“While we will feel the impact of the $50 million loss for several years, the proposed increase will help us close some of those gaps and allow us to remain competitive and attract and retain essential staff for our schools and students,” Valdez said.

The proposed increase would generate an additional $7.8 million in property tax revenue. A hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Aug. 27 at 6 p.m. at district headquarters in Tooele. “We are committed to making thoughtful decisions that respect our taxpayers while ensuring our students and teachers have the resources they need to succeed,” Tooele School Board President Melissa Rich said in a statement.

Piute County School District: The proposed increase is intended, among other things, to help generate revenue to cover the cost of replacing two elementary schools. The district is set to receive about $18 million in grants from the state for the projects, but as part of the agreement, it must raise taxes to cover the bond costs for the upgrades. The reason for this is the proposed tax increase, according to an informational flyer about the plans.

The flyer also points out that the financing plans eliminate a debt service levy, which would result in a net increase in property taxes on a home valued at $203,000 of about $146. The increase of $247.19 does not take into account the tax savings from eliminating the debt service fund.

The Piute School District tax hearing was scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Piute High School auditorium.

Alpine School District: The increase paid by property owners in the Alpine School District under the proposed tax increase would be partially offset by a reduction in the school system’s debt service tax, one of several elements used to determine the overall tax rate, according to Jason Sundberg, the district’s economic administrator.

The newly generated revenue would go into a construction fund and could potentially be used to build a new high school, he said. The Alpine School District hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 at the district office in American Fork.

The Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy: The district says the proposed tax increase for Salt Lake City and Sandy is due to needed modernization measures and would be the first for the city in 15 years.

“Effective management of water sales and levy revenues has enabled (the water district) to cover operating costs without having to increase property taxes. However, the rising costs resulting from the need to upgrade or replace critical infrastructure exceed what can be generated through water sales,” the company wrote in an online flyer explaining the proposal.

The tax increase proposal will be the focus of a hearing on August 12 at 6 p.m. at the county administration office in Cottonwood Heights.