Davis County to review use of 0.25% tourism tax increase for public‑safety 'mitigation,' decision deferred to budget process

Davis County commissioners on Aug. 26 discussed how to use a newly authorized 0.25 percentage‑point increase to the county transient room tax and agreed to move the matter into the regular budget process for detailed proposals.

County staff explained that statute permits mitigation spending tied to the direct impacts of tourism — examples include sanitation, emergency medical services, search and rescue, law enforcement and road repair. Staff estimated the quarter‑point increase would generate roughly $150,000 a year based on last year’s receipts and recommended including a $120,000 placeholder transfer in next year’s budget while departments refine requests.

Officials stressed that any use of tourism funds must be tied back to tourism activity and documented in the statutorily required report. Commissioners and staff noted recent oversight by the state auditor and urged narrowly scoped, auditable expenditures to avoid compliance questions. Commissioners discussed possible approaches, including direct sheriff’s‑office expenditures (for example, a remote patrol position serving recreation areas) or funding discrete programs such as the county shooting range to free general‑fund dollars for public safety.

There was no final allocation. Instead, commissioners asked staff and the sheriff to prepare detailed, itemized proposals and to brief each commissioner individually during the budget kickoff so a final decision can be made with full fiscal context.

The matter will return to the commission as part of the 2026 budget process.