Property Tax Change To Affect 800,000 Americans
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Almost 800,000 homeowners in Utah are set to face higher property tax bills as a result of an 11.11 percent increase voted for by the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District board on Monday.
The tax increase, which the board said would help the company stay afloat in the coming years, is estimated to add more than $12 a year for the average homeowner in Salt Lake County and $21 a year for businesses.
It is a relatively small sum, but it comes on top of years of property tax increases for homeowners across the U.S. Between 2019 and 2024, nationwide property taxes surged by almost 30 percent, according to Redfin, reaching a yearly median of $3,500. In Utah, where the effective tax rate is 0.46 percent and the average home value is $530,250, according to Bankrate, the average property tax on a typical home is $2,439 a year.
But the increase is about more than higher housing costs. Local activists say the tax increase will make Utah's municipal water even cheaper than it is now, exacerbating the issue of water waste in the drought-prone state and accelerating the collapse of the Great Salt Lake.
Newsweek contacted the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District board and Utah Rivers Council for comment by email on Tuesday.
Why Are Utah Homeowners Facing an Increase?
The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District board—one of the largest water districts in the state—said that higher revenues would allow it to strengthen its footing in the next five years and implement much-needed changes.
This has to do with the way Utah charges residents for their water use. While Utahns receive a monthly water bill, a significant part of their consumption is paid for through homeowners' and businesses' property taxes. Jordan Valley said the increase in property taxes would not only allow it to keep the cost of water low but also to maintain and build infrastructure vital to keeping taps running in the state.
A "Welcome to Utah" sign near Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Page, Arizona, on July 10.
A "Welcome to Utah" sign near Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Page, Arizona, on July 10."The benefit of it is having a strong financial ability for Jordan Valley because we're growing and building new facilities for future generations," Alan Packard, the general manager of the Water Conservancy District, said in a statement reported by ABC4.
"It's important we have good credit rating and having some of our revenue come from a reliable source like property taxes helps that credit rating and lowers our interest cost we pay when we issue bonds," he added.
According to Packard, higher revenues from property tax bills will allow the district to do things like "expanding out water treatment plants and building major new aqueducts."
Higher property taxes would allow the company to "manage a loss of revenue of $3.1 million not only this year but each year into the future because that's how much revenue will be generated annually and going forward," Packard said.
What Do Local Residents Think?
Many Utahns have voiced strong opposition to the property tax increase in the lead-up to its approval on Monday, and not only because it adds to the financial burden carried by many homeowners already struggling with higher housing costs.
According to Utah Rivers Council, a nonprofit protecting the state's watersheds, property taxes in Utah are used to subsidize municipal water—making it so cheap "that Utahns aren't incentivized to save it, which is why we constantly see sprinklers watering sidewalks and gutters," the group wrote on Facebook.
Stats shared by the group show that the average Utah city consumes 245 gallons of municipal water per capita per day, compared to the U.S. average of 138—placing locals among the more wasteful water users in the country.
For the Utah Rivers Council, the state's property tax should be written off entirely, and the system changed so that residents pay the price of the water they consume. Some tax experts and local homeowners are of the same opinion.
Stephen Kenyon, a longtime Utah resident living on a fixed income with his wife, Julie, told KUTV: "We get nothing out of this. We don't get any part of any increase—just an increase in taxes. We would like to see those in charge look at where you can cut and do better."
In July, The Salt Lake Tribune published an editorial calling for Utah to "stop using property taxes to hide the cost of water" and to change the taxing system to charge for every gallon of water consumed in the state.
Criticism against Utah's property tax system is growing, and it has clearly reached the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District board itself—even if the hike ultimately slipped through.
Two board members of Jordan Valley were against Monday's increase. "Before we, as government, go and ask them for more taxes, we need to do everything possible to cut costs and tighten our belts," Riverton City Council Member Andy Pierucci, one of the two dissenting votes on the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District board, told KUTV.
He added, "I don't feel like we've done that enough yet."
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