The Utah Legislature should be commended for its work in the 2017 legislative session to increase transparency in the taxes and fees that governments on all levels collect.
Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, sponsored SB 150, which will ensure voters understand the full cost to taxpayers when a bond is being asked for on a ballot. Her legislation made a major change for taxpayers who are considering approving bonds. Under the bill, the first piece of information on the ballot after the question of whether to approve a bond will now be the actual cost of the bond.
Previously, the full cost of a bond figure could have been placed toward the bottom of the description of the proposal. With Henderson’s legislation the first piece of information given to voters is a transparent perspective on what is being asked of them when a bond is being proposed. This information, now placed first, will also give taxpayers a full understanding of how much their taxes will go down if the bond is rejected.
Another bill that provides more transparency for taxpayers was sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan. This bill dealt with taxation by Utah’s local districts, also known as special service districts. These districts provide essential services such as water, garbage or sewer.
Fillmore recognized a problem in state law that allowed some of these districts to have taxation power without accountability at the ballot box. His bill, SB 94, now requires that special service districts that fall into this category send representatives to the district’s member entities to give a report on the district’s proposed tax increase in a public meeting, such as a city council meeting, before the tax increase can be approved.
More could be done in this area to improve representation in taxation for taxpayers in these districts, but this is a step in the right direction.
When it comes to tax increases being proposed on the ballot by an initiative, a taxpayer now may not get the full scope of the tax change by simply being informed of the rate change being proposed. Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, sponsored HB 255, which requires ballot language for initiatives to also include the percentage of the tax increase and not simply the change of the rate. This will give taxpayers a greater understanding of the tax impact on Utah’s families and businesses by any tax increase initiative.
Another bill passed by the Legislature adds transparency to certain fees charged by cities. Some of Utah’s cities provide services such as power and water directly to their residents. What residents may not know is that the fees being charged for these services may be more than the cost of providing the service. This means the city is collecting more money than is needed to provide power or water, as an example, to its customers. Cities then transfer the excess from the fees to the city’s general fund. Rep. Jefferson Moss, R-Saratoga Springs, a former city council member himself, determined that the public needed more notice about this practice.
Moss’ bill, HB 164, requires cities to send out notices to those who benefit from the service about the fund transfer. This will inform residents that they may be paying more for their service than is required and allow the cities the opportunity to inform residents about how the city collects revenue from a variety of sources, not just taxes.
Transparency in taxation is paramount. If government is taking money from its people it needs to make certain the public is fully informed of how that money is being collected and spent. The Utah Taxpayers Association appreciates all of Utah’s legislators for passing these bills and bringing greater light to the taxation process in Utah.
Billy Hesterman is the vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association.