What did they say?
Search what Utah legislators said in every 2026 committee hearing and floor debate. Each result links to the moment in the official video, so you can hear it for yourself.
286 times legislators spoke about property tax (showing the 60 closest matches).
Rep. Steve Eliason (R-43) · S.B. 238, Property Tax Adjustments · floor debate · Mar 5, 2026
Presents SB 238, which responds to a performance audit of local property tax processes by addressing truth in taxation hearings, virtual participation, the residential exemption, property ownership changes, and property tax appeal judgment levies.
Uh, thank you Mr. Speaker. In October of last year, the interim revenue and tax Committee reviewed the performance audit of local authorities property tax and shifting tax burden. And the report contained two recommendations to improve the property tax system. Uh, the recommendations are the, the legislature should consider are clarifying the meaning and intent of virtual participation in truth and taxations hearings. And consider whether the statute concerning the primary residential exemption eligibility would benefit from a statewide requirement. Uh, additionally, uh, a number of you remember during 2025 that a number of taxing entities failed to properly hold their truth and taxation, uh, meetings to certify their rate. Uh, also found a number of taxing entities in …
Rep. Thomas W. Peterson (R-1) · H.B. 365, Taxation Notification Requirements · floor debate · Feb 25, 2026
Says constituents are frustrated by property tax increases and not being notified, and the bill requires taxing entities to publicly notify plans to raise property taxes by May 1 so residents can take part in budget processes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, uh, colleagues. What this many of us have heard from our constituents that they have problems with, uh, property tax increases and, and go getting to an an August meeting where they have a truth in taxation, uh, meeting and, uh, the frustration that the public has that they, they aren't being listened to, they aren't being notified that, uh, a property tax increase was coming. What this bill does is it requires that in the event that a taxing entity wants to raise property taxes, they have to notice publicly notice, uh, under the requirements of a, of a property tax increase notification process, that they plan to raise property taxes. And they have to …
Sen. Chris H. Wilson (R-2) · S.B. 238, Property Tax Adjustments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Sen. Wilson presented S.B. 238, covering residential exemption applications, judgment levy notices, truth in taxation virtual participation and compliance timing, and said the bill responds to a property tax performance audit.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Appreciate that. Uh, Senate Bill 2 3 8 modifies several provisions of Utah's property tax code related to the residential exemption, property Tax Appeals judgment levies, and the Truth and taxation process. The bill is intended to improve compliance and administration of the residential exemption, clarify evidentiary standards in valuation, appeals and refine notice hearing and certification requirements for taxing entities that impose judgment levies or seek to increase property tax revenue through Truth and Taxation. Uh, this bill is a response to the performance audit, if we remember, uh, from local authority, property tax and shifting tax burden. That was done. It's a follow up bill. So, so some bills I did both in 2024, …
Sen. Chris H. Wilson (R-2) · S.B. 238, Property Tax Adjustments · floor debate · Feb 23, 2026
Presents S.B. 238, which revises property tax provisions on the residential exemption, appeals, judgment levies, and truth in taxation.
This is the, uh, third attempt, uh, that we are working on property tax adjustments. Uh, this, this modies several provisions of Utah's property tax code related to the residential exemption, uh, property tax appeals judgment, levies, and the truth and taxation process. This bill is intended to improve compliance and administration of the residential exemption, clarify evidentiary standards and valuation appeals and refine notice hearing and certification requirements for taxing entities and impose judgment levies or seek to increase property tax revenue through truth and taxation. Uh, this also has a couple of recommendations that were, that were brought to the, uh, rev and tax interim committee in October of 2025, which we've also put into this, uh, into …
Sen. Chris H. Wilson (R-2) · S.B. 238, Property Tax Adjustments · floor debate · Feb 20, 2026
Sponsor presents S.B. 238, which modifies property tax provisions on the residential exemption, property tax appeals, judgment levies, and truth in taxation, drawing on legislative audit recommendations, and offers to answer questions.
taken the, uh, suggestions from our performance audit from our legis, from our legislative audit team, as they've done, uh, audits of concerning our local authorities, property tax and, uh, shifting the tax burden, what this bill will modify, taken their recommendations. Uh, they came to the Rev Tax Committee, our interim tech committee in October and reported on some recommendations. We've taken those recommendations and others this as Senate Bill 2 38 modifies several provisions of Utah's property tax code related to the residential exemption, property tax appeals judgment, levies, and the truth and taxation process. The bill is intended to improve compliance and administration of the residential exemption, clarify evidentiary standards and valuation appeals and refine notice hearing …
Sen. Karen Kwan (D-12) · H.B. 565, City Library Property Tax Amendments · floor debate · Mar 5, 2026
Explains that H.B. 565 lets Salt Lake County separate the city library tax from the property tax on a residence, which had made the property tax appear to increase substantially.
Senator Kwan, Thank you very much. Uh, Mr. President, this is a bill that came to us from Salt Lake County. Uh, the tax bill, property tax Bill Uintah our residence, uh, that included city, uh, the city library tax and that, uh, made it appear as though, uh, property tax increased by a lot, but it really was the city tax that was included in what this does is it allows, uh, Salt Lake County to separate the two onto in, in the, uh, the bill. And that's what it does. Thank you.
Sen. Jerry W Stevenson (R-6) · S.B. 278, Development Authority Modifications · House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Stevenson explains why the state uses a privilege tax equal to a property tax on state-owned land.
Land. The reason we do that is on state property, we can't, we, we just don't charge ourselves a property tax. So when we put this together, we, we put together a privilege tax equal to it will, uh, equal to the, the property tax. Uh, it is really the same thing, but because it is on state property, it's very difficult. It causes a lot of confusion. Uh, I don't know, it causes more confusion or less, but it causes confusion if we, if we revert back and use the word property tax on state property.
Sen. Todd Weiler (R-8) · S.B. 155, Unclaimed Property Amendments · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Presents SB 155, which shares identifying information with the unclaimed property administrator, changes dates for certain tax-deferred and tax-exempt accounts, allows a single claim by multiple claimants for a decedent's property, and sets a filing requirement for decedent claims.
Thank you. Uh, Mr. Chair. I had some misunderstanding of my floor sponsor. I thought he was gonna present this this morning. I, I'm with a man that needs no introduction. Our state, um, treasurer, this bill, um, provides that the state tax commission will share identifying information with the unclaimed property administrator for purposes of returning unclaimed property. It modifies the dates on which the unclaimed property held in certain tax deferred and tax exempt accounts as presumed abandoned. And it provides for the filing of a single claim by multiple claimants for unclaimed property, um, of a decedent. Lastly, it establishes a filing requirement for a claim that involves unclaimed property of a decedent. Um, with that, I'll …
Sen. Lincoln Fillmore (R-17) · S.B. 65, Minimum Basic Tax Rate Amendments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Says the bill changes the allocation of one state-directed property tax levy, and that the constitution restricts income tax dollars but not property tax dollars.
Uh, well, this would change that allocation, right? So now it would be allocated for something new. Uh, you know, our constitution restricts income tax dollars, but not property tax dollars. And so what we're talking about here is one line, you know, uh, one specific property tax levy school districts have, I don't wanna say dozens, but a lot. Um, so this would affect one of those. It's state directed, state imposed. We tell the school districts, in order to participate, you must levy this tax at this rate. And that's the only levy that it, that it, that it impacts. And it's true. Yeah. Passing this bill will change where that is allocated.
Rep. Andrew Stoddard (D-40) · H.B. 565, City Library Property Tax Amendments · floor debate · Feb 26, 2026
Presents H.B. 565, which applies only in first-class counties and lets the county auditor separate library levies from city property taxes so homeowners are not confused by an apparent increase; he says the Taxpayers Association, League of Cities and Towns, and Salt Lake County Auditor's office support it, and asks for the body's support.
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This is a good bill. Okay, good. I saw some chuckles on there. Okay. Uh, this bill's actually very simple. Uh, it applies only in counties of the first class. So in Salt Lake County here, um, what happened is because of some changes we made in the law, it was listing library levees in addition to city property taxes. So, uh, homeowners got their property tax notice and looked like there was a large increase in their city property taxes causing a lot of confusion. So this just allows the county auditor to separate those. Uh, it's supported by the Taxpayers Association, the League of Cities in town, and the Salt Lake County Auditor's office. …
Rep. R. Neil Walter (R-74) · H.B. 514, Utah Energy Council Amendments · floor debate · Feb 26, 2026
Says state assets are exempt from property tax and describes the privilege tax as the replacement tax when a nontaxable entity operates in an area.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, this is also a very good clarifying question. So, um, all state assets, uh, wherever they are in the state, are exempt from, uh, property tax. I'll note that we do have a privilege tax, which is essentially the replacement for a property tax, uh, when the, uh, state or another, uh, entity that is not taxable is operating in an area, there, there is an option and a provision for the implementation of a privilege tax.
Rep. James A. Dunnigan (R-36) · S.B. 78, Property Tax Relief Amendments · floor debate · Mar 6, 2026
Said seniors at his town halls liked not paying property taxes but disliked having to pay the tax when the property is transferred, and that they would prefer the current circuit breaker program.
Thank you Mr. Speaker. So I, I had the opportunity last couple weeks to discuss this at my town halls, which we had a lot of seniors attend. And they really liked the idea of not having to pay property taxes. They get older based on their income. I said, there's only one thing when the property's transferred, transferred, you have to pay the property tax. They didn't like that part at all. And they said, well, we like the part where we don't have to pay it, but we don't have to want to pay it later either. I said, that's not the proposal. And so they said, well, then we'd rather have the current circuit breaker program. So …
Rep. Kay J. Christofferson (R-53) · H.B. 484, Property Tax Changes · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Presented the bill, which caps annual property tax revenue increases by taxing entities at 5% unless voters approve more, and removes the one-year exemption from the school levy equalization requirement.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. Uh, so this last year, I think most of my emails that I got during the, during the year was about property taxes and, uh, And what can people do? And one of the things that, uh, people would say is, yeah, we, we can go, uh, to the truth and taxation hearings and that, but we never get heard. And, and people and the county leaders just do what they want. And then we have this big tax, and, and, and, and then some people say, well, nobody did anything about the tax for years. And then all of a sudden, like we saw in our county a huge tax proposal that …
Sen. Todd Weiler (R-8) · S.B. 155, Unclaimed Property Amendments · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Presents SB 155, which lets the State Tax Commission share certain identifying information with the unclaimed property administrator to return property, changes the dates on which property in certain tax-deferred and tax-exempt accounts is presumed abandoned, and makes other technical changes.
Thank you Mr. Chair. I did see I just left, uh, two 15. I did see Senator Baldry waiting to testify in there. Um, and so this is a bill that, uh, was requested by, I believe it was the division of finance. And, um, it's somewhat technical in nature, but what it does is it provides for the state tax commission to share certain identifying information with the unclaimed property administrator for the purpose of returning unclaimed property. So again, this isn't like a privacy thing where we're going after you, they're like, Hey, we've got somebody's property and we wanna give it back to them. Um, but we need some more information to help find them. And it …
Rep. Steve Eliason (R-43) · H.B. 77, Tax Modifications · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Describes changing the indigent individual definition to remove the county-only limit on extreme hardship and allowing appeals of all property tax relief denials.
Uh, modifies the definition of indigent individual and the property tax release statute by removing language that limits the finding of extreme hardship to counties. The last component, extreme hardship remains one of the determining factors of the indigent individual definition allows a taxpayer to appeal a county's denial of the taxpayer's property tax relief application based on late filing. This change extends appeal rights to all grounds for denial of property tax relief.
Sen. Kathleen A. Riebe (D-15) · S.B. 65, Minimum Basic Tax Rate Amendments · floor debate · Feb 17, 2026
Opposes the bill, saying constituents are uncomfortable with state tax going into the income tax fund, that property taxes should stay local, and that school districts, superintendents and rural schools do not support it.
This was the bill that I intended to speak upon the last time this bill was, um, voted on last year. And then it was vetoed. People were upset that we were taking our property tax and moving over to the state fund. We had it, um, we had many emails about this bill. Our, my constituents do not feel comfortable about their state tax being put into the income tax and then possibly diluted into other buckets so that they could pay for other things. Uh, our property tax is already increasing dramatically and it should stay where it's local. So this is the bill that we saw last year that people did not like and it was vetoed. …
Rep. Jason B. Kyle (R-8) · H.B. 300, School District Taxation Amendments · floor debate · Feb 10, 2026
Presents H.B. 300, which would give school districts a five-year hold-harmless period so they need not raise taxes each year when property values rise.
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, uh, Mr. Speaker, um, the thing I hear about most from my constituents is about property taxes. They are sick of rising property taxes, and we have a, a policy that in our, in our code that incentivizes school districts to raise their taxes every year as our assessed values go up. So our, our, uh, so in areas where everybody knows that property taxes, your assessed value times your rate, and that equals your revenue, and as your assessed value goes up, your rate goes down. And our our code currently requires that we have, uh, a a, the school, local school districts will have 20 tax increments to get the full state guarantee. …
Rep. David Shallenberger (R-58) · S.B. 236, Property Tax Exemption Process Amendments · floor debate · Mar 6, 2026
Presents the bill, saying it would give counties and property owners a transparent process for property tax exemptions, with a required March application date, a written response from the county if it denies an exemption, and an appeals process.
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This comes outta the counties. It's trying to help them create a, a transparent process for property owners and the counties alike. Where, uh, if the property owner wants to apply for a property tax exemption, there's a required date in March each year where they can apply. And then on the flip side, if the county does not issue it, they have to wr uh, provide a written response as well as an appeals process, just providing, providing transparency, uh, across the counties with different property owners so they know what to expect on each side of the, the transaction. That's it would be welcome. Uh, would welcome any questions or comments. Thank
Sen. Calvin R. Musselman (R-4) · S.B. 97, Tax Revenue Amendments · floor debate · Mar 3, 2026
Argues that a home used as a residence should get the same tax treatment whether owned or rented, and says property tax changes on rentals would likely be passed on to tenants.
Yeah. Um, I'd make the assertion that the property is being used as someone's home. It should receive the same residential tax treatment, whether the occupant owns the home or whether they rent the home. And commercial triple net leases, the, um, the, uh, tenant is, is responsible for the tax. Um, in almost every residential agreement I've ever seen, when the taxes are adjusted, the, uh, the landlord has the right to be able to, uh, adjust the rent appropriately to, to account for the tax. Which means in practice we can talk about kind of the fantasy world, but in practice for certain, the, the, any adjustment in that tax is gonna be passed on to the tenant. …
Rep. Andrew Stoddard (D-40) · H.B. 565, City Library Property Tax Amendments · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Presented HB 565, which would list city library levy amounts separately from other property taxes in first-class counties, after Murray City raised concerns that combined tax notices looked like an increase.
Uh, Representative Stoddard, the time is yours to present HB 5 65 City Library Property Tax Amendments. Thank you Mr. Chair Committee. And I apologize for my tardiness. Um, I'm a charge to drop off and just gotta the capitol and ran up here. So if I'm outta breath, that is why, because I'm also outta shape. So, uh, this is a simple bill. It was brought to me by Murray City. So they had an issue where their tax notices went out and people saw a large tax increase or what looked like a tar large tax increase. And the reason is, is there were some recent changes in law that made it so that the county auditor in …
Rep. Hoang Nguyen (D-23) · H.B. 484, Property Tax Changes · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Said truth-in-taxation is being made more transparent and that capping property tax would hinder local elected officials' ability to fund city operations.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I have a couple of comments, really. So, we recently in the house passed a bill by representative Corinne Peterson that made it so that the, um, truth and taxation process is more transparent in the passed 72 0, now it's in the Senate for consideration. And that was an important legislation to make sure that that, uh, constituents, that people who live in the communities know when, when, and why taxes are being raised and get to give their public comment when it comes to property tax. That is the only taxing control that cities, uh, have to be able to really control, you know, have for their budget, generate funds to pay for …
Sen. Brady Brammer (R-21) · S.B. 279, State Homeless Campus Neighbor Tax Credit · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Argues the income tax source may not reach the property owners the credit targets and suggests the property tax may be more appropriate.
I'm, and the reason why I say that is I'm trying to understand, like trying to think if, if I were consulting with someone on how to structure something to take advantage of this tax credit, um, now I wouldn't do the tax side of it, but I would be doing the entity side of it. You know, it, most of those entities are passed their entities, so they have no income per se. Correct. Everything goes to either another corporate entity or to an to a person, and then it's part of their tax bill. So, um, I just worry that it's not hitting who you want if you do it out of the income tax. Whereas the property …
Sen. Wayne A. Harper (R-16) · S.B. 206, Tax Amendments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Presents SB 206 and the substitute, which replaces the Multi-County Appraisal Trust with a fund manager, clarifies Tax Commission Division of Finance oversight of the statewide property tax system, and says day-to-day operations will stay the same.
Thank you. I'd move to DeLeT and Title and Body Senate bill 2 0 6 and replace with first substitute Senate Bill 2 0 6. Um, maybe I can just do this has some technical cleanups to what we're doing. Um, the underlying purpose of this is to clarify how the administration of Utah statewide Property Set tax system is handled. Um, it transfers the responsibilities of multi-county appraisal trust to designated fund manager and clarifies Utah State Tax Commission Division of Finance's role in own in oversight. As you know, uh, the MCAT currently, uh, handles the statewide property tax system known as Cam or Puma, depending on who you talk to for valuation property. There's a designated, uh, …
Sen. Wayne A. Harper (R-16) · H.B. 77, Tax Modifications · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Asks whether the change treats tangible personal property as bundled with the rental asset for sales tax purposes.
Transfer of possession or control of real property, tangible personal property or product transferred electronically for. So really what you are, really what this does, if I, I'm just reminding myself from interim, really what this does is it says that the tangible personal property is coupled with the asset for the purposes of taxation, such that their effort to try and exclude it from that saying it wasn't subject to taxation because of other tangible personal property limitations. They're saying you can't tax those components of it. Is that correct? That
Sen. Daniel McCay (R-18) · S.B. 60, Income Tax Rate Amendments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Responds that income tax does not fund social services, that income tax is a volatile revenue source, and that revenue projections are conservative and February numbers may change the picture.
Yeah, it's great. Um, first of all, remember with our prohibitions, uh, you know, with the constitutional wall on income tax, income tax isn't spent on social services. Uh, and, and for the most part, when we're trying to balance those cuts, we're trying to deal with general fund dollars. You know that better than I do, but I'm helping the public, right? Yeah. Um, the, the other part too that, that's important to consider is that income tax is actually, um, after tangible personal property income tax is our highest variability tax. In other words, it has the most volatility. And when you're dealing with taxes that have high volatility, you get less certainty and less certainty means less …
Sen. Daniel McCay (R-18) · S.B. 97, Tax Revenue Amendments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Presents the bill, covering a cap on property tax increases, limits on fund balances, the residential exemption, the new growth definition, reserve account interest, and tangible personal property, and says the bill is not final.
Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Um, this, this started as an interim bill where, uh, and the interim committee, uh, supported it. Um, and really we were looking at caps and what I've, uh, you know, looking at caps and looking at ways of trying to, uh, you know, trying to deal with, um, escalating or variability of property tax. Our property tax system system is fantastic, uh, as it protects. Um, uh, it protects the government institutions with revenue, but it is, uh, terrible sometimes from the taxpayer standpoint because the taxpayers seize variability every year. Uh, and it can go up a little bit, go down a little bit, or if they go through ation, it goes …
Sen. Kathleen A. Riebe (D-15) · S.B. 60, Income Tax Rate Amendments · floor debate · Feb 9, 2026
Opposes the bill, saying income tax cuts shift burdens to property taxes and reduce funding for retirees, students, and people with disabilities.
Thank you Mr. President. Uh, I would just like to stand in opposition of this bill. When I think about my two neighbors and home, they both are retired individuals that are now having increased property taxes, thrust upon them. And, um, when we keep cutting the income tax, we are actually pushing that burden to our communities. And this seems like, um, everybody hates taxes, but when I look at some of the bills that we have coming through this body, everybody's has a fiscal note that is attached to the income tax. And when we think about our students and how we're funding education, that's through the income tax. So in this lean year where we're asking everybody …
Rep. R. Neil Walter (R-74) · H.B. 514, Utah Energy Council Amendments · floor debate · Feb 26, 2026
Says state assets are exempt from property tax and that a privilege tax can apply where an exempt entity operates.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, this is also a very good clarifying question. So, um, all state assets, uh, wherever they are in the state, are exempt from, uh, property tax. I'll note that we do have a privilege tax, which is essentially the replacement for a property tax, uh, when the, uh, state or another, uh, entity that is not taxable is operating in an area, there, there is an option and a provision for the implementation of a privilege tax.
Sen. Keith Grover (R-23) · S.B. 236, Property Tax Exemption Process Amendments · floor debate · Feb 23, 2026
Presents S.B. 236, which sets a filing deadline for property tax exemption applications, requires counties to grant or deny exemptions within a set timeframe, and provides an appeal path to the State Tax Commission.
Yes. Thank you again. This bill addresses a very narrow but important, important gap in the current property tax law. Uh, today there's no clear deadline for when a property tax exemption application must be filed. Something I'm sure you've all been worried about currently hearing must be held for every nonprofit application, even if all that is needed is simply some additional information from the nonprofit applicant. So this bill establishes a clear deadline to apply for the exemption, requires a county to grant or deny the exemption within a set timeframe and provides a clear appeal path if needed to the state tax commission. That's the bill.
Sen. Keith Grover (R-23) · S.B. 236, Property Tax Exemption Process Amendments · floor debate · Feb 20, 2026
Presents the bill, which sets a deadline for property tax exemption applications, requires counties to grant or deny exemptions within a set timeframe, and provides an appeal path to the State Tax Commission.
Addresses a very, very narrow but important gap in the current property tax law today. There's no clear deadline for when a property tax exemption application must be filed. Currently a hearing must be held for every nonprofit application, even if all that is needed is simply some additional information from the nonprofit applicant. So this bill establishes a clear deadline to apply for an exemption. It requires the county to grant or deny the exemption within a set timeframe and provides a clear appeal path to the state tax commission. That's the bill.
Rep. R. Neil Walter (R-74) · S.B. 206, Tax Amendments · floor debate · Mar 6, 2026
Says the substitute clarifies how personal property tax is treated in tax increment and other public finance tools.
Yes. It just clarifies the proper treatment of property, uh, personal property tax, uh, in a, um, uh, at the end of a tiff or a, uh, uh, other kind of public finance tool. So it just, it's proper treatment to, uh, of personal property tax.
Rep. R. Neil Walter (R-74) · S.B. 206, Tax Amendments · floor debate · Mar 6, 2026
Says the substitute clarifies the proper treatment of personal property tax in tax increment and similar public finance tools.
Yes. It just clarifies the proper treatment of property, uh, personal property tax, uh, in a, um, uh, at the end of a tiff or a, uh, uh, other kind of public finance tool. So it just, it's proper treatment to, uh, of personal property tax.
Sen. Keven J. Stratton (R-24) · H.B. 46, Taxpayer Information Sharing Amendments · floor debate · Mar 4, 2026
Explains that the bill lets county auditors use driver license addresses to verify domicile for the owner-occupied home property tax exemption, limited to that purpose, to improve property tax integrity and avoid inappropriate county-to-county shifts.
Thank you Mr. President. What we're, what this bill does is it, it, uh, opens up an opportunity for the, the audit, the county auditors to have access to the driver's license, uh, locations to verify domicile for the homestead, not the homestead, but the home exemption. The, the owner occupied home exemption arm, property taxes. It's a real helpful tool that we can use. It's limited strictly to that and, and allows us to have better integrity in our property tax system. Avoiding, uh, uh, county to county shifts inappropriately. That'll be glad to yield.
Rep. Carl R. Albrecht (R-70) · H.B. 231, Restaurant Tax Repeal Amendments · floor debate · Mar 3, 2026
Opposes the bill, saying rural counties with large federal land holdings depend on tourism-driven taxes and suggesting the bill could be split.
Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro. Tim, I I want to approach this from a little different angle. I appreciate the good representative from Provo and his comments, but let's talk about taxes for a minute. Overall, we got income taxes, we got property taxes, we got sales taxes. I know I've heard the speaker say that he would like to get rid of taxes, all of those in the state of Utah. Some states have Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama. But look at those states compared to the state of Utah. What's the difference? I'll tell you what the difference is. In Utah, we have 67% of our land that is owned by the feds that cannot be taxed. And so …
Rep. Jason B. Kyle (R-8) · S.B. 60, Income Tax Rate Amendments · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Said he supports the bill and urged the committee to examine property taxes, class sizes, and funding priorities.
Yes. Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. I, I support this tax code. I think it's good policy. I think it does help everybody around. Um, one thing that I wish we would do as a body though is, uh, you know, our income, our, our taxing is, you know, the three-legged stool. And I, I think we really need to look at, at property taxes and what we can do. I know they always say, Hey, that's a local thing, but it, it really is a balance between us. Like over 50% of our property taxes are for education. And I, I think, um, I think we fund a lot of things. I, I'd like to do this and also …
Rep. David Shallenberger (R-58) · S.B. 236, Property Tax Exemption Process Amendments · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Presented the bill on behalf of Senator Grover, saying it sets uniform statewide guidelines for property tax exemption applications, including a March 1 application deadline and appeal rights for counties and cities.
You. Yeah, I'm speaking for Senator Grover. I'm the floor sponsor for Senate Bill 2 36. This comes from Salt Lake County and it, uh, helps, uh, deal with property tax exemptions. And so that's why we're here. And it's just trying to create a little bit of a uniform standard so that both the taxpayers and the different counties or the administrators, uh, are all lined up on the same guidelines across the state. There's some uniformity settings. So if somebody is applying for a property tax exemption, they have until March 1st of each year to apply for that exemption. And then, uh, on the county side or whoever's on the municipal city side that they have, uh, …
Rep. Thomas W. Peterson (R-1) · H.B. 115, Motor Vehicle Sales Tax Amendments · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Gives closing remarks that vehicles are taxed with sales tax each time they change hands and that this policy should be reviewed.
I would, I would just say in some of the comments that were made, I, property tax is the only other thing that I can think of to say that there are several things I would just disagree. I think property tax is one of those things that we continually pay, but I can't think of any other commodity that we buy that we, every time it trades hands, we pay sales tax on it again and again and again. Sometimes 10 times you pay sales tax on the same item. And I think that we need to fundamentally look at that. I thank you for your support.
Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost (D-22) · H.B. 337, Nicotine Product Tax Amendments · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Rep. Dailey-Provost argued that an addictive, deadly product whose costs fall on others should not be compared to property or sales taxes.
You just drew parallels to every other taxing structure we have. So you said that it shouldn't, it should be treated the same. And my question is to you, to you is why should something like this, given the nature of what we're taxing, why should it be compared to a property tax or a sales tax or any other tax? This is a fundamentally different market structure with completely different forces. We're talking about addiction and nicotine and a product that actually kills people and transfers the cost of that onto the rest of us. So why wouldn't we treat it differently?
Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost (D-22) · H.B. 185, Carbon Credit Amendments · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Asks whether farmers would face double taxation if they pay the carbon tax and later sell their land.
Um, one of the concerns that I, I would like, I I'd like you to address as well as the private versus public ownership. If we're gonna tax farmers, um, for selling carbon credits and then tax them again, if they sell their land, do you, do you have any concern about double taxation there? Because they could be charged, you know, income tax if they sold their land later. So they would be paying taxes twice on that if they sold the carbon credits and then later sold their, If I could ask you to clarify this. So if, if a farmer has an oil well on his property and the oil well produces oil, but the state taxes …
Rep. Steve Eliason (R-43) · H.B. 77, Tax Modifications · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Describes a House amendment on the qualifying increase report threshold, the higher county reporting trigger, the indigent definition change, and allowing taxpayers to appeal a late-filing denial of property tax relief.
Thank you. Um, th there was a, an amendment made in the house, um, from the bill that passed committee regarding the, uh, adjusting the qualifying increase report. Uh, the interim committee had set it, uh, changing the trigger for the automatic review of, of all property from 150% to 350%. There was an amendment in the house that, uh, took it back to the 150% just for residential property. Um, so that's one the only difference between this bill and what was in the interim bill that might consider taxpayer friendly. Um, it does increase the county reporting trigger threshold from 50,000 to 250,000 and requires counties to report the reasons for the property value increase to the tax …
Sen. Brady Brammer (R-21) · S.B. 97, Tax Revenue Amendments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Says school districts pay most of property tax bills and that local governments have raised property taxes, and questions exempting school districts from the cap.
And, and I think this is, you know, part of the issue is, um, we've had so many local governments raising property taxes, but it largely falls on school districts at 75 to 80% that have been of most people's property tax bill.
Sen. Wayne A. Harper (R-16) · S.B. 78, Property Tax Relief Amendments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Said the bill addresses constituent calls about rising property taxes and that he likes the element that freezes taxes and defers growth.
Thank you. Appreciate these comments. I think one of the benefits of this bill is addressing the calls that I get receive on a weekly basis. And sometimes when the notices come out multiple times during the day saying, can you stop, prevent me from paying more property taxes. Can you lock me in right now? Can you find a way this does, it goes and freezes the, the property tax that you're paying and defers the growth to a, you know, to a future payment that helps an enormous amount of people. And I, I like that element of the bill.
Rep. Steve Eliason (R-43) · H.B. 445, County Government Land Purchasing · floor debate · Feb 20, 2026
Eliason asked the sponsor to consider making the property tax change prospective rather than retroactive, saying it could add costs for counties that bought property under the existing rules.
Um, my question would be is at some point along the process of this bill, would the sponsor, obviously it'd have to be in the Senate probably, but, uh, be open to m making the property tax change prospective. Uh, the reason why generally, uh, in the legislative world, it's very, very rare to do something ex post facto. In the case of this particular bill, as I understand it, having, uh, communicated with officials in my county, uh, this could, uh, create an additional cost for the county. And of course, one of their major sources of revenue is property taxes. I'm, I'm not saying this would necessarily, uh, result in a property tax increase, but yet it would …
Rep. Mark A. Strong (R-47) · H.B. 445, County Government Land Purchasing · floor debate · Feb 20, 2026
Strong explained the bill's tax provision, under which counties that buy property in other counties would need an agreement with the host county on taxes, and said the provision also applies to property purchased in the past.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, um, been working for the last little bit on some details on this bill. Um, just to clarify a few things, we had some questions about the tax portion of the bill. So just to take a step back, so everybody understands when a county is going to purchase property in another county, they need to get a vote from the legislative body in that county to, in order to approve that. Once they do that, they now own land in another county, but TA counties are tax exempt. So it creates this issue where now a county owns property in another county and they, uh, they don't have to pay taxes. So it …
Sen. Ann Millner (R-5) · S.B. 65, Minimum Basic Tax Rate Amendments · floor debate · Feb 17, 2026
Says the bill moves the state into property tax, which has been kept at the local level, by dedicating income tax funds to it, and has concerns about that.
So, uh, I know this is all money. I I understand that, um, um, Senator Fillmore has been clear about its money, uh, whether it's property tax money or it's from income tax, it's still all money, but one of the things that has been good to say up here is we've been able to say property tax is done at the local level, not at the state level. And that's, I think, been helpful for us in terms of policy making that there's a fairly, um, not totally clear dividing line, but pretty close. Um, we do a little bit of it in order to be able to do, um, to do some equalization, but it, it's small. This …
Rep. Mark A. Strong (R-47) · H.B. 445, County Government Land Purchasing · floor debate · Mar 6, 2026
Explains that the substitutes give owners of property in another county a three-year period to decide whether to sell it, pay the tax, or agree with the county on how tax is paid, and that transportation reinvestment language was removed.
Yes, I would. Um, so when the bill left here, we made, it's actually had a couple substitutes. Um, this is regarding counties purchasing property in other counties and, um, we added three years so that if you own a property in another county, you have a three year, say previous to this bill, you have a three year period where you can decide what you wanna do with that, that property, um, whether you wanna sell it or, or pay the tax on it or make an agreement with the county on how tax should be paid. Um, and then there was just, uh, they took out some language, uh, that about transportation, uh, that wasn't needed. Uh, transportation …
Rep. R. Neil Walter (R-74) · S.B. 78, Property Tax Relief Amendments · floor debate · Mar 6, 2026
Presented the bill, saying it repeals three state property tax programs including the renter's credit, lets counties choose whether to offer an abatement, and converts the state-funded 9 million dollar abatement into a deferral at 3 percent interest repaid on transfer, with surviving spouses and special needs trusts protected.
Presentation. Thank you. I appreciate that. So, uh, I'm gonna be brief, uh, colleagues, I know where we're out of timewise. Uh, Senate Bill 78 is a bill that was, uh, heard last year. It passed both bodies. Uh, it was vetoed by the governor. There was some improvements that were made this time. It took a long time for those improvements to be made, which is why we're here at this late hour. Uh, so let me briefly articulate what the bill does. First of all, it repeals three existing state property tax programs. The renter's credit, the homeowner's credit and abatement for indigen individual state property tax relief. I'm just gonna note that in some previous conversations I'd …
Rep. Raymond P. Ward (R-19) · S.B. 206, Tax Amendments · floor debate · Mar 6, 2026
Supports the bill, saying it adds reporting that would let residents see original and current property values and how tax increment money is spent.
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I just wanna rise in support of this bill. Um, this is just such an important step as we have created tax increment district after tax increment, district after tax increment district, each with different rules, even the very basics of reporting of how things are going that we have had forever for the old type of redevelopment areas that we made just have not been in place. A person who wanted to know how much was that property worth when we made it, how much is that property worth now, what is the basics of how the money is being spent, has not been able to find that information and this is just a great …
Rep. Steve Eliason (R-43) · S.B. 238, Property Tax Adjustments · floor debate · Mar 5, 2026
Responds that the bill requires taxing entities to post a consolidated county list of truth in taxation hearings on their websites.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that it is, it requires taxing entities to publish the consolidated list of all the taxing entities within a county that are undergoing truth and taxation hearings on the taxing entity's main page of their website.
Sen. Daniel McCay (R-18) · H.B. 445, County Government Land Purchasing · floor debate · Mar 5, 2026
Explains that the bill bars a county from acquiring real property in another county without that county's express permission, except joint acquisitions under an interlocal agreement, and makes county-owned property outside its boundaries subject to property tax.
Thank you very much. President. This is the bill that, that's been worked out with the counties. Um, the, uh, what ended up happening, uh, is inside of a county boundary. If a county acquires land in the other, in the other county's county boundaries, they get defacto land use control of a neighboring county's property. And so the idea here is not to extend the incorporation boundaries of a county by purchasing property in another county. Okay. And, uh, so what the bill does is it, it it prohibits a county from acquiring real property in another county through exchange, purchase or lease unless the county where the property is located provides express permission. And the county's acquisition is …
Rep. Andrew Stoddard (D-40) · H.B. 489, Water Infrastructure Amendments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Presents HB 565 second substitute, which separates city and library taxes on property tax notices for first-class counties so the notice does not appear to show a large increase.
Okay. Um, this is a really simple bill and It only applies to counties in the first ca class. Uh, some people in the house missed that and ended up hearing from their librarians and voting against the bill accordingly. Um, so it really only affects two cities, Murray and Salt Lake City currently, who have their own libraries. So because of recent changes in the law, our property tax notice included city taxes along with library taxes, and it looked like a huge increase. So this is just saying that those are separate, just provides transparency in terms of where our tax dollars are going.
Sen. John D. Johnson (R-3) · S.B. 309, Single-family Home Rental Modifications · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Said the reduced property tax for corporate-owned homes raises costs for residents and that the excise tax was designed to offset that.
Well, the other side of that too, if I may, Mr. Chair, um, is that, you know, if, if you think about, uh, even our taxing structure, right? Uh, allowing, uh, allowing a reduced property tax on a corporate owned home, you know, people will say that, well, that, that makes the rent lower. I don't, I don't believe it really does. Mm-hmm. You know, but, but you think about you, you think about doing that, right? So now all residents are paying more, and, and in effect, that's giving the corporate owners e even bigger incentive, right? To be in this market. And this, this tax, this excise tax was actually created to kind of offset that balance. Yeah. …
Rep. Jason B. Kyle (R-8) · H.B. 300, School District Taxation Amendments · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Rep. Kyle presented HB 300, which would change the school district tax increment requirement from one year back to five years, giving local districts flexibility and reducing the incentive to raise property taxes.
All right. Tha Thank you Mr. Chair. Uh, I dunno about you guys, but I think the number one issue I hear about most for my constituents is property taxes. And, uh, they, uh, um, and when my school district, uh, raised their property taxes last year, my social media visits went up 5000%. So, um, not 500%, not five, not 55000% because they were looking for somebody to help them that wi with the issue. So I, um, looked into it and I, I, I called my, my school board and they said, well, we have to keep ra. And this was the, the, it had been raised the, for three times in four years. And they said, well, …
Rep. Jill Koford (R-10) · H.B. 484, Property Tax Changes · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Asked whether a 5% cap would incentivize local governments to take the full increase every year, noting neighboring states with similar caps are struggling.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I so appreciate what you're trying to do. I hear about property taxes on repeat, and I know that I've shared this, that on many, in many places, in many times, I have in my district, people whose property taxes over the last five years have, have gone up an astronomical amount. These are you, these are, are homes in South Ogden and Washington Terrace, where the home values have just skyrocketed. And their, and their property taxes have kept up and largely because of the increase in the rate on the, on the local level. Um, my question and my, my, my question is, if we, if we tell cities and municipalities that they're …
Sen. Derrin R. Owens (R-27) · S.B. 225, Public Corporation Amendments · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Says the bill increases tax increment, that the port will adopt a board policy on minor boundary adjustments, and lists the port's contributions to Great Salt Lake protection.
Okay. Alright. I would like, I did make just a couple of quick comments Sure. To the comments have been made here. Uh, first of all, uh, someone have said, we're giving away the taxes. If you go look at the property that's being developed, it generates no taxes at this time. Or if it does it's grazing rights at best. Uh, if you look at that on a, it may be a few dollars an acre would be the, the tax generation, the tax increment created. Now, when you develop that property, it will create millions of dollars of tax increment. And, uh, the, the, the money that the inland import uses or what we give back or what …
Rep. Steve Eliason (R-43) · H.B. 77, Tax Modifications · Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Describes changing the sales tax definition of short-term rental to cover renting the entire property, and asks the commissioner whether he wishes to add anything.
Moving into the sales and use tax area, modifies the definition of short-term rental in the sales tax statute to include short-term property rentals. This does not do anything to change the definition of short term rentals from a regulatory perspective, rather just in the sales tax area, um, to make it clear that you're renting the entire property and people can't get crafty of just saying, well, you're just renting the, the beds and stuff like that. You want to add anything there?
Sen. Todd Weiler (R-8) · S.B. 155, Unclaimed Property Amendments · floor debate · Feb 6, 2026
Presents S.B. 155, which lets the State Tax Commission share certain identifying information with the unclaimed property administrator, makes some technical changes, and allows a single claim by multiple claimants for a decedent's unclaimed property.
Thank you Mr. President Pro tem Senate Bill 1 55, uh, provides for the State tax commission to share certain identifying information with the unclaimed property administrator for the purpose of returning unclaimed property. And, um, it provides some technical changes, uh, and allows the filing of a single claim by multiple claimants for unclaimed property of a decedent. Uh, with that I'll yield to any questions.
Rep. Calvin Roberts (R-46) · H.B. 507, State Coordination of Regional and Local Economic Development Projects Amendments · floor debate · Feb 25, 2026
Presents the bill, which would sunset four tax increment tools and replace them with one, prohibit non-contiguous project areas, require disclosure to home buyers, create automatic dissolution of project areas once debt is retired, and create a summer working group on the property tax base.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker colleagues. Our property taxes have increased, partly because we've given away so much of our property tax base in the form of economic incentives. We've recently seen a proliferation of state tax increment finance tools. What this bill does is it tries to Sunset four of those tools and replace them with one tool that's less rich in the economic incentive, and that lasts for a shorter time of duration. The other thing the bill does is it tries to reform PIs. It does three things. Number one, it disallows or prohibits non-contiguous PIs. Number two, it, um, it requires disclosure for ultimate home buyers who are in these pit districts who oftentimes don't have any …
Rep. Calvin Roberts (R-46) · H.B. 507, State Coordination of Regional and Local Economic Development Projects Amendments · floor debate · Feb 25, 2026
Says the bill sunsets four tax increment tools and replaces them with one tool with less incentive and a shorter duration, reforms PIDs by prohibiting non-contiguous districts, requires disclosure to home buyers, and creates automatic dissolution once debt is retired, and creates a summer working group on protecting the property tax base.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker colleagues. Our property taxes have increased, partly because we've given away so much of our property tax base in the form of economic incentives. We've recently seen a proliferation of state tax increment finance tools. What this bill does is it tries to Sunset four of those tools and replace them with one tool that's less rich in the economic incentive, and that lasts for a shorter time of duration. The other thing the bill does is it tries to reform PIs. It does three things. Number one, it disallows or prohibits non-contiguous PIs. Number two, it, um, it requires disclosure for ultimate home buyers who are in these pit districts who oftentimes don't have any …
Sen. Kathleen A. Riebe (D-15) · S.B. 238, Property Tax Adjustments · floor debate · Feb 23, 2026
Asks whether the bill would make it easier or harder for elderly constituents who are not computer savvy to appeal property taxes.
Thank you. Um, my two neighbors are elderly couples and they have expressed a lot of frustration with the increase in property tax. Would this make it easier or more difficult for them if they were not computer savvy to appeal their property tax, um, concerns?
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