Brian Head council removes proposed property tax increase and delays transportation fee after public input

Brian Head Mayor Clayton Calloway and the Town Council directed staff to remove a proposed $150,000 property tax increase and to delay implementing a Transportation Utility Fee (TUF) from the town's FY2027 tentative budget, citing difficult recent snow seasons and concern for local businesses and residents.

Town Treasurer Shane Williamson told the council the tentative budget included a proposed $150,000 property tax increase, an estimated 12.85 percent rise in the proposed tax rate, to fund an annual transfer from the general fund to capital for the pavement management plan and gravel road maintenance. The tentative budget originally paired that increase with a TUF scenario intended to cover a roughly $250,000—0,000 funding gap in road maintenance.

The council opened a public hearing on the tentative budget. Thom Thompson, a Rainbow Meadows cabin owner, questioned why his property would be affected, noting it receives no town services and is taxed by the county. Mayor Calloway and Town Manager Bret Howser clarified the proposed increase would affect only properties inside Brian Head town limits and not properties outside the town's boundaries such as Rainbow Meadows.

The council then considered the Property Tax Impact Schedule required by state law. After hearing fiscal context and acknowledging prior outreach that showed limited public support, Mayor Calloway said he intended to direct staff not to proceed with the tax increase because recent snow seasons and rising living costs made the timing inappropriate. Council members agreed but asked staff to identify other funding options to avoid repeating the same shortfall the following year.

On the Transportation Utility Fee, Bret Howser introduced a presentation by Marcus Keller of Cruze and Associates. Keller described the TUF's methodology using ITE trip-generation rates and Equivalent Residential Units (ERUs). The study identified a legal maximum of about $684,000 annually (roughly $30 per month per ERU) but recommended a $12-per-month-per-ERU rate that would generate approximately $270,553 annually. With council direction earlier in the process, staff had modeled a reduced scenario targeting $100,000 from TUF revenue and applying a 75 percent commercial discount; that scenario would lower the per-ERU fee to about $6.50 per month.

Public commenters offered mixed views. Jim Vincent, a cabin owner, spoke in support of a TUF. Tom Pettigrew, general manager of Brian Head Resort, said the resort is not opposed to the concept but raised three issues for staff to address before the June 9 meeting: whether the ERU methodology accounts for the resort's existing enhanced-service business license contributions, how the ERU approach separates traffic on SR-143 (a UDOT highway) from town-maintained road impacts, and legal durability of a fee that would target a single large business. Pettigrew requested a brief meeting with staff to review the final fee structure ahead of further council action. Resident Troy Benson urged consideration of a lift-ticket fee shifted to visitors rather than businesses.

Council members agreed the town's visitor and business access pattern ' in which many users arrive via State Route 143 ' complicates a standard TUF model and could expose an ordinance to legal challenge if it does not distinguish state highway traffic from town-road impacts. Several councilors supported continuing work with the resort and exploring alternative revenue or voluntary arrangements rather than adopting the TUF in its current form.

Consensus of the council was to remove both the proposed property tax increase and the TUF from the FY2027 budget as adopted and to continue working on a revised TUF structure, potentially with a small working group including resort participation and the option of implementing a revised TUF via a mid-year budget amendment if an acceptable framework can be developed. Town Manager Bret Howser confirmed a TUF can be adopted mid-year and that the budget brought back on June 9 would exclude both measures.