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Emery County approves transient room tax increase to 4.5% to qualify for statewide mitigation grants
Summary
The commission authorized raising the transient room tax by 0.25 percentage points (to 4.5%) on short-term accommodations so Emery County services can apply for a new statewide mitigation fund for EMS, search and rescue and related outdoor incident response; travel board recommended the change and commissioners approved it.
The Emery County Commission voted June 17 to impose a transient room tax (TRT) of up to 4.5% on short-term rentals and accommodations, an increase of 0.25 percentage points above the prior 4.25% rate.
Travel-board staff explained the change follows a state amendment to the TRT that creates a mitigation fund for outdoor incidents (EMS, search-and-rescue and similar expenses) and restricts eligibility for the new mitigation funding to counties that adopt the higher local TRT rate. "If the counties do not do the increase ... they are not allowed to apply for that money," a travel-board representative said.
Commission staff estimated the quarter-percent increase could generate roughly $40,000 in additional annual revenue for the county; the travel-board recommended the increase and reported no major objections from local TRT-collecting businesses. Commissioners discussed equity, noting that the tax applies only to stays under 30 days and primarily affects visitors.
A motion to adopt the ordinance authorizing a TRT not to exceed 4.5% passed unanimously at the meeting. Commissioners and travel-board members said the additional revenue would make Emery County eligible to apply for mitigation grants intended to offset tourism-related public-safety costs.
