Davis County officials OK 0.2% sales tax hike, which will generate an extra $15.98M per year

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Davis County Commissioners approved a 0.2% sales tax hike effective Jan. 1.
• The increase, from 7.25% to 7.45% in most Davis County cities, will generate $15.98 million annually, largely for transportation and public safety.
• Some $3.99 million of that will go to Davis County's cities with the rest earmarked for the county and, later, FrontRunner expenses in Davis County.

FARMINGTON — Davis County Commissioners approved a 0.2% sales tax hike, which will boost the overall rate in most cities in the county from 7.25% to 7.45% when it takes effect on Jan. 1 next year.

The hike will generate an estimated $15.98 million a year in new tax revenue, mainly meant for transportation and public safety expenses, with 75% of that, $11.99 million, initially going to the county. The remaining $3.99 million will go, by and large, to the county's 15 cities. On Oct. 1, 2029, the county's share will shift to half the total, or around $7.99 million a year, with the remaining $4 million earmarked for FrontRunner expenses in Davis County, per state law.

The increase will boost the collective sales tax rate in all but three of Davis County's 15 cities from 7.25% to 7.45%, including the share that goes to the state and for other uses. In Fruit Heights, Sunset and West Point, the rate will go from 7.15% to 7.35%.

In unanimously approving the new local option sales tax on Tuesday, similar to a hike Weber County officials approved last June, some noted that it could forestall the need for property taxes going forward around Davis County. Davis County officials approved a 14.9% property tax hike last December that will generate around $6 million a year despite the opposition of many. Several other locales around Davis County and the rest of Utah approved property tax hikes in August.

The funds from a new sales tax could also help cover the county's share of the state-led initiative to build a new $172.1 million Davis County Justice Center, around $31 million.

The 0.2% sales tax increase "will aid not only the county but the cities in the future as far as trying to stay away from any more tax increases," said County Commissioner Bob Stevenson

He also said a portion of the funds could help with justice center costs, particularly the share attributable to building the portion of the structure that will house the Davis County Attorney's Office. Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings spoke at Tuesday's meeting in favor of the increase, noting that, as is, county attorney functions are spread around four places.

With the state pressing for a new justice center building, moving to new space "is not going to be a choice that we have," Rawlings said. Moreover, if the public wants the county attorney's office to continue providing quality service, "we're going to need adequate infrastructure, facilities, technology to do it as well."

Commissioner John Crofts voted against the 14.9% property tax hike last December, but voted for the 0.2% sales tax hike, in part because of the needs of the Davis County Attorney's Office. "We need to make sure that we have dangerous criminals off the street," he said.

Given his usual stance against approving new taxes, he apologized to voters who cast ballots for him based on that position. "It wasn't a very easy decision for me ... but I think that given the challenges that we have, it needs to happen," he said.

County officials met with city leaders on the matter last August, with many voicing support for the proposed increase, according to minutes for the meeting.

Layton City Manager Alex Jensen "argued that political leaders must have the vision to make tough, practical decisions for the greater good of the community rather than operating out of fear of taxpayer backlash," the minutes read.

Still, one speaker at Tuesday's meeting, Ron Mortensen of Bountiful, voiced opposition to the sales tax hike. The new sales tax will boost expenses for a family of four by around $128 per year, he said, and comes on top of the property tax hike approved last December. "Your job is to protect the citizens, not to fleece them," he said.

Funds generated by the 0.05% sales tax hike earmarked for Davis County cities can be used on certain transportation expenses. The county's share is apportioned differently, with funds from another 0.05% of the increase to be used for transportation or public safety expenses. Until Oct. 1, 2029, the county may spend funds generated by the remaining 0.1% hike for purposes of its choosing. After that, the 0.1% hike will be split: half will go toward FrontRunner expenses in Davis County, and half will go to the county for certain transit expenses.

Here's how much funding each Davis County city will get each year owing to the hike:

• Bountiful, $442,254
• Centerville, $232,797
• Clearfield, $299,466
• Clinton, $207,075
• Farmington, $328,451
• Fruit Heights, $44,135
• Kaysville, $327,787
• Layton, $974,760
• North Salt Lake, $288,241
• South Weber, $69,277
• Sunset, $41,004
• Syracuse, $300,517
• West Bountiful, $98,545
• West Point, $94,080
• Woods Cross, $201,017

Another $46,226 per year will be allocated for unincorporated Davis County.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Tim Vandenack

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Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.