Davis County homeowners are facing property tax increases of up to 30%. Salt Lake County residents are staring down a nearly 20% hike. County leaders say they have “no responsible alternative” to fund essential services like public safety and state-mandated programs that arrive without funding.
Meanwhile, Utah’s elected officials continue writing blank checks to billionaires.
While counties scramble to fund basic services and working families watch their tax bills climb, state and local leaders keep handing out corporate welfare packages worth hundreds of millions of dollars with no guarantees these investments will deliver anything for taxpayers.
The Delta Center renovation provides the starkest example. Utah pledged $900 million in public funds to renovate a privately owned arena for a billionaire sports franchise owner. The deal includes $300 million in direct state bonds plus $600 million from a tax increment financing district that will divert downtown Salt Lake City sales tax revenue for three decades.
What did taxpayers get in return? Promises. No binding commitments. No job guarantees. No community benefit agreements. Just trust that a billionaire will do right by Utah.
This isn’t economic development. It’s economic malpractice.
The jobs created will largely be temporary, part-time and low-wage. While Smith Entertainment Group profits from every event, taxpayers assume all the risk if revenue projections fall short. Meanwhile, the deal diverts sales tax revenue Salt Lake City desperately needs for affordable housing, public transit, mental health services and public safety.
This pattern extends beyond sports stadiums. Across Utah, local governments compete to offer tax breaks and subsidies to lure corporations. The promise is always the same: Trust us, this will create jobs. The result is that companies take the incentives, deliver less than promised and leave taxpayers holding the bag.
When $900 million flows from taxpayers to billionaires, those billionaires should sign binding agreements guaranteeing specific, measurable benefits. They should commit to hiring local workers at prevailing wages. They should guarantee that public investment generates public return.
The current approach insults working families who play by the rules. Teachers, nurses, tradespeople and small-business owners pay their taxes because they believe in funding shared services. When they see those tax dollars subsidizing billionaires while their own property taxes spike, that social contract frays.
These county tax increases are warning signs for Salt Lake City. When counties can’t fund basic services without raising taxes, cities face the same pressures, especially cities that have already pledged future revenue to private developers.
As a candidate for Salt Lake City Council District 3, I’m drawing a line: I will oppose any property tax increase until we conduct an external independent audit of city government. Before asking residents to pay more, we need to prove we’re spending wisely what they already give us.
An independent audit would answer the questions taxpayers deserve: Where is city money going? What return are we getting on economic development incentives? Which programs deliver value and which waste resources?
Until we can answer those questions honestly, raising taxes is indefensible.
What we cannot do is continue raising taxes on families while giving away revenue to billionaires with no accountability. That’s not fiscal responsibility. It’s a transfer of wealth from working Utahns to the already wealthy, and it needs to stop.