Salt Lake County auditor asks Taylorsville to link tax-notice QR code to city landing page

Salt Lake County Auditor Chris Harding visited the Taylorsville City Council on March 5 to explain the county's annual property-tax "notice evaluation" and to urge local taxing entities, including Taylorsville, to provide a short landing page the county can link to from a QR code on the mailed notice.

Harding said the notice evaluation is the county auditor's office "attempt to try and explain to the public who's where your property taxes are being split up," and that the QR-linked landing page would let each taxing entity (for example, a city or a school district) explain why it is or is not seeking a tax increase.

The mayor and council were told the QR code will be active in late July, with Harding saying residents should expect the mailed notice "right around July 24"; the electronic landing pages will be live at the same time. Harding said the county will coordinate virtual town halls and work with each taxing entity's finance staff to populate the pages.

Harding emphasized the QR pages are intended as explanatory tools, not an automatic tax increase: "I'm not saying Taylorsville is raising taxes," he told the council, but encouraged officials to use the space to "point out some main parts of your budget" so residents can see where money is spent.

Council members asked timing questions about when residents receive the mailed notice; Harding reiterated the late-July mailing window. The auditor said his office will contact Taylorsville staff and the city's finance department to arrange the landing-page content and a virtual meeting with city finance staff.

Next steps: the Auditor’s office will email city staff about the landing page and schedule follow-up sessions; the QR-enabled notice is expected to go live with the mailed notices in late July.