Utah County sets truth‑in‑taxation process and proposes $25 million ceiling; first public hearing Aug. 15

Utah County commissioners voted to begin the statutory truth‑in‑taxation process and set a proposed ceiling of $25 million for the county general fund and $1 million for the assessing and collecting fund.

County staff explained that initiating the process (under Utah Code 59‑2‑919) requires posting a resolution, mailing notices to property owners and holding a public hearing after 6 p.m. The tax-administration spreadsheet presented to commissioners translated the proposed $25 million general-fund increase into a proposed tax rate (roughly 0.000965) and estimated the average homeowner impact at about $95 per year. For the assessing/collecting fund staff presented a proposed $1 million increase (about $3.46 per year on the average home) and a percentage change of 10.86%.

Staff described the main drivers for the potential tax change as criminal-justice and public-safety needs — including more prosecution and public-defender resources, Children's Justice Center expenses and planned improvements and staffing for the jail's mental-health and medical wards (staff estimated an additional staffing cost of a little over $2 million for those improvements). Commissioners discussed timing, sales-tax revenue variability and the plan to revisit the ceiling as budget numbers are refined. The board set the first public hearing on Aug. 15, 2024, at 6 p.m. in Room 1400 of the County Administration Building, 100 East Center Street, Provo.

Commissioners also directed staff to publish a TNT landing page with a calculator so homeowners can input assessed values and view personalized tax impacts; staff said that tool should be available before the budget open-house sessions in September.