State board finance committee directs staff to convene working group on voted-and-board levies and truth-in-taxation

The Utah State Board of Education finance committee voted Thursday to ask staff to convene a working group to study the voted-and-board local levy guarantee, truth-in-taxation timing and transparency and consider potential statutory amendments.

The working group will include business administrators from local LEAs, local board members, legislators, Utah State Board of Education staff, the Utah Taxpayers Association, the state tax commission and a county representative. Chair Cindy Davis moved the recommendation and the committee approved it in a voice vote; Member Christy Boggess recorded opposition.

Committee members and staff said the request grew out of sustained public concern — voiced during the meeting’s public-comment period — about rapid property-tax increases this year, the mechanics of the state’s “voted and board” equalization program and the timing of the Truth in Taxation (TNT) process. Public commenters said districts sometimes adopt budgets before TNT hearings…