In a departure from prior years, the Utah State Tax Commission has denied requests for property tax hikes put forward by more than 30 cities, school districts and other taxing entities across the state.
State tax officials, following guidelines spelled out in new legislation that went into effect this year, rebuffed increases sought by 18 cities, six towns, six school districts and five other taxing entities as part of their budgeting for fiscal year 2026.
Collectively, those 35 entities had preliminarily sought $49.87 million more in property tax revenue for the year via the truth-in-taxation process. The six impacted school districts alone accounted for $41.67 million of the total.
Tax commission officials approved the property tax hikes sought by 28 other cities, school districts and other taxing units.
The adversely impacted taxing entities “are upset. I feel for them,” said Jason Gardner, spokesman for the tax commission. Prior to this year, he said, the tax commission would typically deny property tax hike proposals from just one or two entities.
The denials would potentially require the impacted entities to revisit their spending plans for the year and scale back proposed spending to reflect the loss of revenue the tax hikes would have generated. The extra revenue sought by the 35 entities ranges from a low of $290, as requested by leaders in the Millard County town of Leamington, to $17.8 million, as requested by Granite School District officials in Salt Lake County.
What comes next, though, isn’t totally clear.
Gardner said the taxing entities would have to sue in Utah district court to challenge the denials.
North Ogden city attorney Jon Call, however, indicated that North Ogden officials are investigating mechanisms to somehow appeal or challenge the denial of the city’s tax hike plan. North Ogden had initially sought a property tax hike that would’ve generated an extra $475,000 but later scaled that back to $136,000.
“At this point we have submitted a request to be able to appeal. The tax commission initially told us there was no way to appeal their decision,” Call said.
Luke Allen, a spokesman for Granite School District, said officials are still considering their options — whether they have recourse and what happens if they don’t get the tax hike sought. They aren’t yet far along enough in their review to provide additional comment, though, he said.
Reps from Roy, Draper and Kaysville — among the 35 entities denied — didn’t respond to KSL.com queries seeking comment.
Billy Hesterman, president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, a tax watchdog group, said he understands the missteps leading to the denials were relatively minor, not necessarily egregious violations. The new legislation leading to the 35 denials — SB202 in 2025 and SB29 in 2024 — spells out new guidelines taxing entities must follow when they seek tax hikes and requires the tax commission to deny requests if they don’t fully comply with the varied rules, however small the misstep.
“It really is a misstep of dotting some I’s and crossing some T’s that these entities are facing. But the fact of the matter is, if a taxpayer had made these types of mistakes on filling out their taxes and paying them, they would have consequences,” Hesterman said. “And the same needs to be for the government side.”
In years past, Hesterman said, if a city, school district or other taxing unit didn’t fully comply with the guidelines governing the process to raise taxes, they might get “a slap on the wrist.” But it wouldn’t lead to denial of their property tax hike request.
School districts, cities and other entities seeking property tax hikes have to provide public notice of their plans, hold public hearings and follow other steps. Once a school board, city council or other governing body approves a hike, it faces final review by the tax commission. Otherwise, the state limits property tax hikes from year to year, allowing for more incremental change that reflects growth and new development. In the case of the 35 taxing entities denied their tax hike requests, Gardner said they’d still be able to collect taxes, just not at the higher level sought.
“This is just saying they can’t raise taxes,” he said.
Below is a list of the 35 entities denied tax hike requests by the tax commission, grouped by county, and the preliminary dollar amounts the increases would have generated. In some cases, taxing entities actually end up approving increases lower than their preliminary proposals, as in the case of North Ogden.
Box Elder County: Fielding, $4,264.
Cache County: Cache School District, $6.24 million; Hyde Park, $99,302; River Heights, $33,876; Wellsville, $4,060.
Davis County: Clearfield, $195,982; Clinton, $290,683; Kaysville, $1.8 million; West Point, undetermined; Woods Cross, $96,504.
Grand County: Castle Valley, $74,092.
Iron County: Iron School District, $2.47 million.
Juab County: Eureka, $36,782.
Millard County: Leamington, $290.
Morgan County: Wasatch Peaks Ranch Utility District, $190,507; Wasatch Peaks Ranch Road and Fire District, $190,507.
Salt Lake County: Granite School District, $17.8 million; Alta, $98,659.
Sanpete County: North Sanpete School District, $1.88 million; Ephraim, $14,387; Fountain Green, $15,779; Gunnison, $209,130.
Summit County: Henefer, $8,876; Oakley, $23,733.
Tooele County: Tooele County School District, $9.25 million; Stockton, $15,027; North Tooele Special Service District, undetermined.
Utah County: Provo School District, $4.03 million.
Weber County: Harrisville, $19,247; North Ogden, $474,922; Roy, $1.42 million; South Ogden, $229,665; North View Fire District, $364,937.
Draper, which sits in both Salt Lake and Utah counties, sought an increase totaling $935,965. The Central Weber Sewer District, which serves parts of Weber and Davis counties, sought a $1.35 million hike.
