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Price City Attorney outlines land-use limits and flags ballot option for tax increases
Summary
Price City Attorney Eric Johnson told the council that private-property land-use rights constrain municipal discretion and recommended the council consider a future agenda item on the budget; he noted raising wages would either require reallocations or a tax measure that could be placed on the November ballot.
Price City Attorney Eric Johnson briefed the Price City Council on land-use constraints and budget options during the July 23, 2025 meeting, urging the council to treat tax increases as a future-agenda item rather than an immediate action.
Johnson emphasized that local governments must allow lawful private property uses that conform to general rules and that the city’s regulatory authority is limited by private-property rights. He described the budget as an area where council decisions require department leaders to implement those choices and warned that if department heads publicly resist council-decided budgets it can impede municipal operations.
On wage increases, Johnson said there are two basic options: reallocate funds from other departments or increase taxes. He explained that, in Utah, the council could place a measure on the ballot to ask voters whether they want a tax increase and indicated there is time to prepare such an item for the coming November election if the council elects to pursue that route. "If the council wanted to put an item on the agenda, to call an election and hear the voice of the people... there would be enough time to do that and get something on the ballot for this November," Johnson said.
Johnson framed his remarks as advisory and suggested the topic return as a formal agenda item for council consideration; no formal motion or vote occurred on taxation at the meeting.
