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State’s HB456 raises transient room tax, creates mitigation grant; counties must adjust spending buckets
Summary
A Utah Tourism Industry Association representative told Emery County officials that House Bill 456 raises the statewide transient room tax, clarifies allowable county uses, creates an Outdoor Recreation Mitigation Grant and tightens reporting. Counties must consider revenue tiers and may adopt a local option increase to be eligible for the mitigation grant.
Selena Sinclair, executive director of the Utah Tourism Industry Association, told the Emery County Travel Bureau on May 13 that House Bill 456 makes multiple changes to how counties collect and spend transient room tax (TRT) revenue. The measure raises the statewide TRT, narrows allowable uses at the county level and creates a new Outdoor Recreation Mitigation Grant aimed at reimbursing visitor‑related emergency and safety costs.
Sinclair said the bill increases the statewide transient room tax by 0.75 percentage points, a change the Utah State Tax Commission will implement automatically on July 1, 2025. She said counties additionally may adopt a 0.25 percentage‑point local option increase, bringing some counties’ county TRT ceiling to 4.5% if they pass a local resolution.
The legislation also separates three spending “buckets” officials commonly use for TRT revenue. Sinclair said establishing/promoting, promoting and projects are now explicitly independent categories, with a new, narrower…
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