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House corrects cap on Unified Fire Authority property tax to match operating needs
Summary
Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1,003 to raise a property tax cap for certain county service areas—most immediately affecting the Unified Fire Authority in Salt Lake County—adopting an amendment that lowered the senate’s proposed cap from 0.0023 to 0.0021 before passage, 69–1.
The Utah House passed Senate Bill 1,003 on April 20 to correct a statutory cap on property-tax levies for certain county service areas, a change designed to align the cap with the Unified Fire Authority’s operating needs.
Representative Kevin Hutchings (name as spoken in the House) explained the bill corrects a technical oversight from 2004: when the Unified Fire Authority was created, operating expenses required a rate of 0.0019 but a separate statutory cap remained at 0.0014. "All this addresses is just simply the cap," Hutchings said, noting that the senate had amended the bill to set a proposed cap at 0.0023 but that the House ultimately adopted a lower amendment.
Representative Ferry moved to amend the proposed cap on line 32 from 0.0023 to 0.0021. Ferry argued the lower number would provide roughly 12% room for growth and be sufficient for two to three years of operations while retaining protections under Truth-in-Taxation. Hutchings opposed the lowering on procedural and policy grounds but acknowledged Truth-in-Taxation procedures remain intact.
After debate that included questions about which counties the change would affect (Hutchings said it applies to counties of the first class and specifically Salt Lake County), the House adopted the amendment and then passed the bill by voice with a recorded tally of 69 yes and 1 no. The bill was referred back to the Senate for further consideration.
Representatives emphasized that Truth-in-Taxation processes and revenue-neutral rules remain in place: Hutchings said repeatedly that the change is a technical correction that does not alter the requirement that any increment must follow truth-in-taxation hearing and notice procedures.
The House’s action changes the statutory cap to better reflect current operating expense levels for the Unified Fire Authority and similar affected service areas in counties of the first class.
